Transitions at the Top: What Organizations Must Do to Make Sure New Leaders Succeed

3 Errors of Execution

Alan was the longtime chairman/CEO of a company where he had worked for most of his career, moving up through the accounting and financial management paths to become CFO, and then into the top job. He was fiercely proud of the company's traditions and heritage and described himself as a “conservative traditionalist.” He believed that a reliable, well-designed product would attract customers on its own, that brand management and advertising were much less important areas in which to invest, that small, safe steps were better than large, bold strategic moves, and that keeping costs low, even if cost-reduction might jeopardize innovation, was one of the most important tasks of a CEO. He abhorred taking risks. It was, therefore, ...