February 4, 2008

Bangkok Post - 'Khun Kriengsak, I will start as a CEO in a new company, what books should I read?" Suvit, a good friend of mine, asks. ...

"I recommend The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins and The Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey," I tell him. "Let me share with you today some parts of The First 90 Days. The book describes in detail 10 steps to integrate yourself into a new role. The first step is: Promote Yourself."

"What does that mean?" Suvit asks.

"This book reminds me about my past mistakes," I explain. "When I moved from management consulting to be a head of marketing and sales in a consumer bank, I lost my focus in the first six months. People knew my background, they asked me to do training for them: customer services, presentation skills, and so on. I enjoyed it because those were my strengths from the previous role.

"Unfortunately, I did not deliver what I was supposed to in my new role as head of marketing and sales. Later, my boss guided me back to what I was supposed to do. That was a bad example - I had failed to promote myself from the previous role.

"Then, the book talks about accelerating your learning. The point that I would like to warn you about is cultures. When you move to the new organisation or new role, watch out for three cultures: organisational, professional, and geographic.

"Each organisation has its own culture. Organisational culture is expressed in the way people treat one another (friendly, formal, relaxed), the values they share (honesty, competitiveness, hard work), the routines they follow as they hold meetings and exchange information, and so on.

"Professional culture refers to the professional groups such as engineering, finance or marketing. Each has its own characteristics. Marketing is interested in innovation, finance in detail and numbers, and so on.

"Geographic culture refers to territory. People in each location share common values and beliefs. Again, I learned the hard way. I went to some companies and couldn't stay long because the organisational and professional cultures were not aligned with my own values. You have to realise this fact."

"What should I do if I find out later that my cultures weren't aligned?" Suvit asks me.

"What do you think?" I ask back.

"I have two choices," he says. "First, I observe and then accept the new cultures. Then I modify my approach. My second option would be in a drastic case. If those cultures are not aligned to the extent that I know I could not possibly compromise, I will leave as soon as I can. It will not be in the best interest for both the organisation and me if I stay."

"The next point that the book recommends is matching the strategy to the situation," I continue. "Basically, there are four scenarios that each organisation faces at different points: Startup, Turnaround, Realignment, and Sustaining Success. Each has its opportunities and threats. You have to identify the situation and use the right strategy to match it.

"My strengths fit with Startup the most. I don't enjoy those other three situations. Looking back over my career, this idea of matching strategy to situations explains a lot about why I did not succeed in some roles.

"Now let's talk about how you work with your boss."

"I'm very interested," Suvit says.

"The first tip: Don't trash the past. You should not blame the person that you replaced," I say. "You need to understand the past, but concentrate on making future change. Nobody wants to hear you blame the person who left.

"I believe strongly that you also should not complain about your previous boss. Usually, people do that because they feel insecure. You do not need to prove anything about the past even if it's true. Focus on the future!

"The second tip: Don't stay away. Blend in with the new team.

"The third tip: Don't surprise your boss with unexpected bad news. Make sure you provide very good progress reports. There is no such thing as over-communication. Usually, it's the opposite - under-communication.

"The fourth tip: Don't try to change your boss. Your boss is here because he or she must have several strengths. Usually, we want to change our bosses because we tend to look at styles different from ours as weaknesses.

"My final piece of advice, Khun Suvit: Buy this book and avoid these mistakes. Don't learn the hard way like me."

Kriengsak Niratpattanasai provides executive coaching in leadership and diversity management under the brand TheCoach. He can be reached at coachkriengsak@yahoo.com. Copies of previous columns are available at http://www.thaicoach.com

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