At the ASAE and the Center Annual Meeting last month, I went to a session about surviving the first 100 days as a new CEO. One of the dynamics the presenters described was the challenge of taking over from a “legend” CEO. The September Fast Company issue (a good one, obviously, as this is my third blog reference to it) has a nice article on just that topic. Their tips:
Stay true to your style
Give time to grieve
Embrace your predecessor
Break traditions you don’t support
Forget your epitaph.
It’s a balancing act between standing firm and being flexible, between focusing on yourself and focusing on others. Come to think of it, it’s not much different than leadership in any context, is it?