Highlights
[!note] “They put me in the job because of my skills and accomplishments,” the reasoning goes. “So that must be what they expect me to do here.” (Location 367) This is misconcept, doing what you are good at or experienced with might make you efficient but not necessarily effective for your scope of work. Pay attention to this! Stop saying “i have done xx”.
[!note] At the broadest level, preparing yourself means letting go of the past and embracing the imperatives of the new situation to give yourself a running start. (Location 371)
[!note] You also need to learn to strike the right balance between keeping the wide view and drilling down into the details. (Location 384)
[!note] Rethink What You Delegate (Location 387) As IC, think what your mgt is delegating and see what problems you can help him to solve.
[!note] you build a team of competent people whom you trust, you establish goals and metrics to monitor their progress, you translate higher-level goals into specific responsibilities for your direct reports, and you reinforce them through process. (Location 389) **- form a competent team
- establish goals and metrics
- assign responsibility
- monitor, guide and mentor**
[!note] Decision making becomes more political—less about authority, and more about influence. That isn’t good or bad; it’s simply inevitable. (Location 398) Higher in the position, less you can tilt the direction by simply delegating, the more you need to communicate the vision, come up with correct strategy, provide enough incentives and influence others with your charisma.
[!note] To avoid this, you need to establish new communication channels to stay connected with what is happening where the action is. You might maintain regular, direct contact with select customers, for instance, or meet regularly with groups of frontline employees, all without undermining the integrity of the chain of command. (Location 408) As an IC, you could be the selected employee and get closer to the management
[!note] what does a leader look like at your new level in the hierarchy? How does he act? What kind of personal leadership brand do you want to have in the new role? (Location 419)
[!note] Leaders joining new companies often are making lateral moves: they’ve been hired to do things that they’ve been successful doing elsewhere. Their difficulties lie in adjusting to new organizational contexts that have different political structures and cultures. (Location 425) You are hired to do somwthing you are experienced but need to adjust to the new context and process
[!note] total quality management, lean manufacturing, and six sigma. (Location 446)
- “a bull in a china shop,”
[!note] Joining a new company is akin to an organ transplant—and you’re the new organ. If you’re not thoughtful in adapting to the new situation, you could end up being attacked by the organizational immune system and rejected. (Location 473)
[!note] Remember: you don’t want to be meeting your neighbors for the first time in the middle of the night when your house is burning down. (Location 494) Building cross functional stakeholders relationships is important
[!note] newly hired leaders can easily come to believe that they have more latitude to make changes than is actually the case. (Location 500)
[!note] from an authority-driven, process-focused culture to a consensus-oriented, relational one. (Location 506)
[!note] Likewise, every organization typically has a shared language—a long list of acronyms, for instance, describing business units, products, processes, projects, and other elements of the company. So it’s essential that you invest early on in learning to speak like the locals. (Location 513)
[!note] Influence. How do people get support for critical initiatives? Is it more important to have the support of a patron within the senior team, or affirmation from your peers and direct reports that your idea is a good one? (Location 531)
[!note] Meetings. Are meetings filled with dialogue on hard issues, or are they simply forums for publicly ratifying agreements that have been reached in private? (Location 532)
[!note] Execution. When it comes time to get things done, which matters more—a deep understanding of processes or knowing the right people? (Location 534)
[!note] Conflict. Can people talk openly about difficult issues without fear of retribution? Or do they avoid conflict—or, even worse, push it to lower levels, where it can wreak havoc? (Location 535)
[!note] Recognition. Does the company promote stars, rewarding those who visibly and vocally drive business initiatives? Or does it encourage team players, rewarding those who lead authoritatively but quietly and collaboratively? (Location 536) No matter what the conpany values, i will be my true-self at work: a collaborative and supportive team player that empowers the team and others to succeed.
[!note] Ends versus means. Are there any restrictions on how you achieve results? Does the organization have a well-defined, well-communicated set of values that is reinforced through positive and negative incentives? (Location 537)
[!note] After thirty days, conduct an informal 360-degree check-in with your boss and peers to gauge how adaptation is proceeding. (Location 565) 不用这么卷吧
[!note] problem preferences (Location 579)
[!note] Your preferences have probably influenced you to choose jobs where you can do more of what you like to do. As a result, you’ve perfected those skills and feel most competent when you solve problems in those areas, and that reinforces the cycle. This pattern is like exercising your right arm and ignoring your left: the strong arm gets stronger, and the weak one atrophies. The risk, of course, is that you create an imbalance that leaves you vulnerable when success depends on being ambidextrous. (Location 581)
[!note] You need to discipline yourself to devote time to critical activities that you do not enjoy and that may not come naturally. (Location 634) This is critical for you to succeed in your role. Now you
[!note] Beyond that, actively search out people in your organization whose skills are sharp in these areas, so that they can serve as a backstop for you and you can learn from them. (Location 635) Find your backstop in the area that you are not good at and cultivate relationship with them people above you: your mentor people same level: alley people below: your cover and representative
New highlights added June 24, 2022 at 9:27 AM
[!note] What did Chris do wrong? Like many new leaders, he failed to focus on learning about his new organization and so made some bad decisions that undercut his credibility. (Location 724) The thing exists for a reason. You should study and observe first then decide whether big changes need to be made or not.
[!note] The first task in making a successful transition is to accelerate your learning. Effective learning gives you the foundational insights you need as you build your plan for the next 90 days. (Location 725)
[!note] learn. Planning to learn means figuring out in advance what the important questions are and how you can best answer them. Few new leaders take the time to think systematically about their learning priorities. Fewer still explicitly create a learning plan when entering a new role. (Location 736) Learning about the new organization tech-wise and culture-wise is the highest priority for a new joiner. Read as much as you can and talk to as many people as you can!
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[!note] Effective leaders strike the right balance between doing (making things happen) and being (observing and reflecting). (Location 743) Brilliant quote. Balance your doing and your observing!
[!note] Remember: simply displaying a genuine desire to learn and understand translates into increased credibility and influence. (Location 746) Be humble and show your eager to learn, this is to build your credibility. Take your time!
[!note] you do not focus on learning, you can easily make poor early decisions that undermine your credibility, alienate potential supporters, and make people less likely to share important information with you. The result is that you make more bad decisions and enter a vicious cycle that can irreparably damage your credibility. (Location 749) Translate to my actions: Do not through big ideas to complicated problems: SA code review issues Documents issues Customerized flow issues Unmaintainavle codebase issues Observe the discussions, look into the history and delve into the tech and process to learn more before you give any major opinions While about the team culture, comminication pattern and project management process, ask about the team members and understand their opinions. Do not propose anything promptly.
New highlights added June 27, 2022 at 9:37 AM
- no good deed goes unpunished.:: 好心遭雷劈
[!note] To understand your situation, you must put on your historian’s hat. (Location 1095)
[!note] Use the table to identify the mix of STARS situations you face. First, identify which elements (projects, processes, products, perhaps even complete businesses) in your new responsibilities fall into the various STARS situations in the first column; list those elements in the second column. You need not have something in every category. Everything may be in turnaround, or it may be a mix of two or three types. Then use the third column to estimate the percentage of your effort that should be allocated to each category in the next 90 days, making sure it adds up to 100%. Finally, think about which of these situations you most prefer to do. If you also assigned that situation the highest priority, be sure that your preferences are not overly influencing your priorities. (Location 1122) S: start up T: turnaround A: accelerated growth R: realignment S: sustaining success
[!note] In turnarounds, leaders are often dealing with people who are hungry for hope, vision, and direction, and that necessitates a heroic style of leadership—charging against the enemy, sword in hand. (Location 1197)
[!note] Realignments, in contrast, demand from leaders something more akin to stewardship or servant leadership—a more diplomatic and less ego-driven approach that entails building consensus for the need for change. (Location 1203)
[!note] Whether any leader in transition can adapt her personal leadership strategy successfully depends greatly on the ability to embrace the following pillars of self-management: enhancing self-awareness, exercising personal discipline, and building complementary teams. (Location 1209)
[!note] It is not the case that people are drawn to the easy situations. Rather, they are drawn to situations that are (1) more fun and (2) get more recognition. (Location 1232) Startup and turnaround situation are being evaluated as the easier situations while are preferable by people as they provide more visibility and sense of self achievement
[!note] Don’t go in without at most three things you really need to share or on which you need action. (Location 1341)
New highlights added July 3, 2022 at 11:05 PM
[!note] “I want to operate on a 90-day time frame, starting with 30 days to get on top of things,” (Location 1294) Create and share your plan
[!note] There are some basic do’s and don’ts. Let’s start with the don’ts. (Location 1325) Don’t Dont stay away Dont surprise Dont approach with only problems Dont run down checklist Dont expect your boss to change Dos Clarify expectation early and often Take 100% responsibility to make the relationship work Negotiate timeline for action and plan Aim for early wins