Right from the Start: Taking Charge in a New Leadership Role

by Michael Watkins, Dan Ciampa, Michael D. Watkins, et al.

Book Overview

Whether you are succeeding a much-admired boss or charged with implementing sweeping, potentially unsettling change initiatives, a new role is fraught with obstacles. To ensure that your first steps in a new job will lead to enduring success, Right from the Start lays out an action-oriented framework to follow during the early months of a transition. Dan Ciampa and Michael D. Watkins prepare you for the often-treacherous task of navigating an organization's...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591397928
• ISBN13: 9781591397922
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Length: 316 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Outstanding approach

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has helped me and my fellow co-workers navigate through our new leadership roles, which seem to change frequently! Book is well-written and straightforward.Also recommend the popular new manager's book "The Leader's Guide: 15 Essential Skills."

Great gift for a friend strarting a new job at a new company

I bought this book for a friend who was leaving one investment bank to head up a group at another bank. After reading the book, he told me that the situations described and issues discussed were dead on correct. He had thought that the challenges he faced were unique, but amazingly this book had illustrated the many common issues facing managers in a new company and gave useful guidance in how to deal with them. Oddly, he said that he couldn't put the book down--praise usually reserved for a thriller. Evidently, it applies when a book can improve your life as well.

Wish I had this book 12 years ago

Twelve years ago I began work as a department manager for a medium sized (150 people) privately held service company working directly for the president and chief owner. I had mixed success. Reading this book and looking backwards, I can see where several pieces of its concise, direct, and practical advise would have made this experience a resounding success rather than a mediocre one. (I did survive the 3 year period. Being 12 years older wouldn't have hurt either!) I recognize both several of my successes and several of my failures in the reading. I borrowed the book from a library, but I think I will buy it for my permanent collection. Well worth a read! Even though it is addressed to the second fiddle to a CEO, I think it would benefit any person in a leadership role, even a volunteer one.

A 'must read' for any leader entering a new organization

I found Right from the Start an extremely well researched and comprehensive set of tools which will greatly benefit any senior executive entering a new organization. It is the only book I have read which so clearly outlines the management pitfalls awaiting any new leader in his first few weeks on the job. I find it hard to imagine how even the most talented and experienced manager could not benefit from such a practical and common sense approach to the challenging task of taking over the leadership reins of a new organization, regardless of its size. As a venture capitalist and LBO investor, I plan to give copies to anybody entering the executive suites of all the companies in which my money is invested.

Excellent practical guide for anyone in a new job

I found Right from the Start to be an invaluable resource for anyone taking a new job. Although it was written for top managers hired from outside companies, most of the lessons can be applied by managers at all levels, including those who are making internal moves. The book is intensely practical, offering hands-on guidance for succeeding in a new position. The advice about how to get early wins, learn, and build supportive coalitions is particularly valuable.