Advice for New CEOs

• Put your ear to the ground and listen without an agenda.

• Leave your ego at the door. Be humble enough to know what you don’t know.

• Forget the offsite executive team powwows. Wander the halls instead, dropping by offices for a chat. Be on their turf.

• Ask what you can do to make work lives better. Find out—and fix—the little irritants first. Then tackle the big questions.

• Conduct in-depth research into the organization’s history, value proposition, past strategy, challenges and opportunities prior to Day 1 on the job.

• During the first 100 days, reach out to senior executives and managers to understand company nuances—products, processes and systems that are in working order or broken.

• Take pains to understand the culture of the organization.

• Be prepared for resistance. Changing the culture takes an evolutionary process.

• Honestly assess the stability of the organization’s business model, its competitive position and the strength of its financial condition.

• Be patient in the senior management selection process.

• Get the right people in the right roles focused on the right projects; assess key executive’s strengths and match roles to strengths.