Accelerating Business Performance in a New Role
Accelerating business performance is critical for the new leader. Not long ago I met with someone who had recently taken on a major executive role in a support function with a mid-sized life sciences company. They described their typical day as “drinking from a firehose.” After painting a picture for me of the many challenges, they asked me a question that I suspect many of us have had when we have taken on a new role, “where should I focus to make the most difference?” Now this was a seasoned executive and yet we all can relate to how it feels when you are in this situation…..a new company or a new role, a new boss, high expectations and a strong desire to show that the confidence placed in you is well-founded. Perhaps most importantly, you took the job because you wanted to make a difference!
I believe that every new leader builds credibility by quickly understanding and solving problems, identifying and delivering quick wins and making meaningful connections with those that matter. My advice to this new leader was three-fold:
- Look at the business and figure out a few vital things where your department can accelerate top-line growth. Growth has never been more important to company survival than it is now. Try to start with those things that have the most impact, are the easiest to get to and are least expensive to implement.
- Align your strategic resources to focus on those vital few things and be prepared for the organizational headwinds!
- Assess your current budget and create headroom to drive the growth, meet your budget targets and possibly even give some savings back to the company. You may need to re-think how you deliver services in order to shift time, people and money to where it needs to be.
If you have more interest in this topic, please see a recent article I authored in our Knowledge Center entitled “Creating Budget Headroom for Change.”