The biggest mistakes I see executives make when hired in from the outside are (1) trying to recreate the organizations they left behind and (2) overestimating their change mandates. Both set up vicious cycles that can end in outright derailment for the new leader. And you can usually see these problems start during the recruiting process.
The temptation to try to clone a business model or system that you’ve had success with elsewhere is great. You understand it deeply, struggled hard to make it work, and achieved great things. In fact, your success in making something wonderful happen at your old company is likely a major factor in why your new company wanted to hire you. During the recruiting process you may have been explicitly encouraged to “bring the great ideas you have to us.” So it’s natural to want to try and replicate your previous success.
But efforts to do so all too often go astray. Sometimes it’s because the mode or system simply doesn’t translate well to the new organization. Sometimes it’s because the new organization has a powerful immune system that rejects outside ideas (and people) even though they would in fact contribute to improved performance. But regardless of whether the new leader fails to customize or socialize her ideas, the result is the same. The effort misfires and the new leader loses credibility.
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