From incumbent to competent

What challenges will a new officer face? When Zhou Weikun of IBM came to China to take office, the challenge he encountered was "tooth and stomach". His predecessor told him that you should be prepared to eat 10 times a day; Jiang Jianning of CYTS faced challenges after taking office. "Sleep", he has insomnia one day a week; He Chunsheng of Advantech's challenge after taking office is "smile": why are there no smiles on the faces of employees? It doesn't seem like they're very happy...

You see, the challenges new officers face after taking office are all sorts of things, but it's very simple: new officers need to gain trust, or they need to prove their leadership to those around them force.

Sociologists John French and Bertram Raven in 1959, the widely accepted theory of the "5 sources of legitimate personal power" may explain what exactly new officials face. challenge. The two scholars divide power into five sources: "legitimate power" - others obey because of the position of the power holder; "reward power" - others obey because the power owner can provide rewards; "coercive power" - others obey because Fear of punishment; "expert power" - others obey because they believe in the knowledge and qualifications of the power holder; "relational power" - others obey because they respect or like the power holder.

When the new official took office, he only had the first power with certainty: "legitimate power", and he had this position. As for the last four powers, they are all followed by a "?", which are all challenges.

How to burn the "three fires"

Because of the new officials taking office, they are faced with the challenge of proving themselves, so there is a saying that "the new officials take office three fires", but how to burn the "three fires"? Think carefully.

Just be tough? Eight years ago, when Jiang Jianning came to CYTS as president, he set fire to "three fires": a few days after taking office, he "moveted individual cadres", and the general manager of one department was transferred by him to be the deputy general manager of another department. The manager went. The real reason was that he felt that this department would develop in the future and should strengthen its strength. But this time, there was an uproar, and everyone felt that the cadre did not make a mistake. This time, Jiang Jianning was reminded: the concept of employees here is not easy to accept change.

However, Jiang Jianning did not stop, but continued to "ignite": canceling the shuttle bus, the company no longer pays for the management's communication expenses, and stops paying the property fee and heating fee for the employee's house. In the appointment and removal of personnel, he still maintains a drastic style. Over the past 8 years, more than 30 cadres have been demoted or removed by him. Jiang Jianning succeeded. Under his leadership, CYTS has transformed into a modern enterprise, and its performance has grown rapidly.

In 1994, Dong Mingzhu was appointed as the deputy director of Gree Electric's business department, in charge of marketing. At that time, she was facing a backlog of 19,000 air conditioners in the middle of winter, and a dealer with an annual sales of 150 million yuan demanded special treatment and was arrogant. Dong Mingzhu's fire burned on him, and the dealer was expelled from Gree's marketing network. This made everyone gasp for breath. As a result, Dong Mingzhu also succeeded, and the dealer served her.

Don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean that when a new officer takes office, it's enough to just use force, it's not at all. Because the following is an example of failure:

Lu Chunchu, who is known for his firm style and strong will, came to Greater China from Oracle South Asia as a managing director, and set up "three fires" and implemented the "iron fist policy" "He performed major operations on the channel and implemented tough process management internally. As a result, in the two years he took office, Oracle China's employee turnover rate was as high as 70%, and performance declined. In the end, Lu Chunchu had to leave Oracle.

The fire that many new officials burned after taking office did not ignite people's enthusiasm. Instead, they burned their seats into a hot chair, and the final result could only be to leave.

What should I consider before "burning"?

Then the "three fires" are also burned, why do some people succeed and others fail? The key lies in whether there is a careful investigation and thorough consideration before the fire is set, whether it has gone deep into the grassroots and faced the reality.

For example, how did Jiang Jianning burn the "cancellation of the bus"? He asked people to make records every day: the number of passengers on each bus, the maintenance fee and maintenance fee for the six buses, and the salary of the bus driver. The records were recorded for one month in a row, and the average was calculated. The conclusion is that the company needs to take the bus for each bus. of people pay more than 20,000 yuan per month. Jiang Jianning showed them the data, and everyone felt that it should not be done. The final result was that all the buses were sold, and the driver went to drive the tourist bus. The transportation allowance for everyone has increased.

A cadre of CYTS, who is also a new official, started "three fires" in his department when he took office. As a result, he was strongly opposed by employees. For the first time in CYTS history, employees wrote a letter to oppose it. He was very distressed and asked Jiang Jianning: Why is your reform so strong, and I react so strongly when I move?

Jiang Jianning said, "My past reforms were much more intense than this, but do you know how these reforms were introduced? In the eyes of the employees, I am a light weight, but in fact I am a light weight. With each reform, I will calculate the interests of those who will be hurt, how deeply and how much it will hurt, who will applaud and who will be neutral.

Because of Jiang Jianning's consistent strength, the staff of CYTS may not see his "tender" side, but the management of CYTS all know that Jiang Jianning has a "problem" after coming here - he can't sleep one day every week. He said to them: "Do you know what I was thinking when I stayed up all night? The cadres who were dismissed and demoted by me were the ones who thought the most. Many of them did not make mistakes, but were dismissed or demoted because of the requirements of enterprise development. I always feel that we should respect them in terms of personality, and treat them kindly whenever we have the opportunity."

From the perspective of "5 sources of legal personal power", the appointment and removal of personnel and the cancellation of buses reflect his "remuneration power" " and "coercive power" - he can influence the interests of employees and punish those who make mistakes; and in the investigation done to cancel the shuttle, he got "expert power" - because I investigated, I know better In the end, he gained "relationship power", he said, as a manager, it is impossible to always do what is pleasing, but do what is respectable, because what he does is to the whole enterprise Responsible and therefore he is respected by his employees.

Similarly, in the event of dismissing the dealer, Dong Mingzhu not only showed the "remuneration power" and "coercive power" that could affect the interests of the dealer, but also embodied the "expert power". Years later, when she talked about this matter, she revealed the mystery of why it was so bold at the time: her previous experience in the market had made her calculate the pros and cons of this matter clearly. This dealer accounted for Gree at the time. One-fifteenth of the total sales of electrical appliances, but Dong Mingzhu analyzed his marketing model and found that he did not do it himself, but relied on many dealers to complete this task, so she was sure that it would not affect him after she fired him. The sales performance of Gree Electric Appliances really proves her analysis.

He Chunsheng, general manager of Advantech China, has been a heartwarming "fire" since he took office. This person who has worked for HP for many years has a deep feeling for the warm culture of HP's big family. After he took office, he found that the employees did not seem to have any enthusiasm for their work, and they all disappeared as soon as they got off work, which is indeed relatively rare in an IT company. He went to find out and knew that there was no bus here, and the bus departed at 5:30, so the first thing he did was to adjust the departure time of the bus to 6:00.

Don't think he just wants employees to work overtime, he improves the working environment, goes deep into the employees, writes to them, chats with them, sings karaoke with them, and even kicks people in their 50s football. Although he is very strict with everyone at work, the employees all like and respect him, calling him "Chunsheng", and it is clear that he has acquired "relationship power".

Looking at Lu Chunchu, he used powerful means to regulate the management of Oracle China, but it seems that he did not take into account China's unique situation too much. Fluent in English, he basically does not recognize Chinese, so that there are fewer and fewer staff in mainland China at management meetings. In the three months before his departure, the meeting was largely attended by people from Singapore and Hong Kong. This can't help but make people feel that he is superior. It can be said that he shows "remuneration power" and "coercive power", but "expert power" and "relationship power" have not been recognized.

Do you have to burn "three fires"? What needs to be reminded is, does a new official have to burn "three fires" when he takes office? For example, Yang Yuanqing took Liu Chuanzhi's class. In this case, "burning fire" may not be necessary. "Xiao Gui Cao Sui" is the ancient wisdom of the Chinese, and it is actually a choice for new officials to take office. This is not to say that new officials do not need to make a difference, but that in some cases a "smooth transition" is more important.

When is a "fire" required? When the company's management is chaotic; when the company encounters a crisis - everyone is waiting for you to turn things around, how can you not take action; when the company invites paratroopers - high salary invites you, always Show it off.

Actively manage superiors

Generally speaking, people think that as new officials gain positions and gain "legal power", they also gain "remuneration power" and "coercive power", but This is not the case. Even if the new officer is already at the level of CEO, there is no guarantee that he will be able to obtain the corresponding "remuneration" and "coercive power". Many senior managers of private enterprises will "pour bitterness" like this: the boss will not let go of power! Yao Jiqing, who was pushed to the front desk by Vantage's seven bosses as general manager in 1999, was once known as the "first professional manager" in the home appliance industry, but his power was actually very small. In Vantage, signing the three characters "Yao Jiqing" often took a lot of trouble to count. Without the power commensurate with the position, it was impossible for the new officer to win the challenge. After two years, he reluctantly left.

What about managers of foreign companies? In the past, whenever a new official, the general manager of Microsoft China, took office, it was predicted how long he would be able to do it. It is an exaggeration to say that the old lady who sells popsicles knows the job is not easy to do. From Du Jiabin to Gao Qunyao, Tang Jun, etc., they have not been able to sit firmly in this chair, because the problem of power commensurate with their positions has not been solved. It seems that this problem has not been solved until Chen Yongzheng came to Microsoft as the president of Greater China.

So when Gao Qunyao, who had experienced this kind of pain, returned to his old club Autodesk, and before the new officer took office as the president of Greater China, he made an "innovation" in management to help him win the challenges he was about to encounter. His "innovation" needs the cooperation of his superiors - he and Autodesk global president Carol Bartz (Carol Bartz) planned to set up a "China Special Affairs Committee" and established a direct train with the headquarters. Through this committee, he gained the power to communicate directly with the highest decision-making level. Through this organization, Gao Qunyao put forward many measures suitable for China's national conditions and have been implemented. He has truly gained power that matches his position, and the performance of the Greater China region under his leadership has also improved rapidly. After returning to Autodesk more than two years later, he was promoted to President of Autodesk Asia's largest developing region.

What Gao Qunyao solves is actually the problem of how to "manage upwards", which is a problem that new officials cannot ignore when taking office. Without the power commensurate with the position, it is impossible to fully exert the management methods, and in fact, it is impossible to obtain "expert power" and "relationship power", and finally a vicious circle will be formed, the power will be further reduced, and the manager will fail in name only.

Learn to build a team

In 1995, when Zhou Weikun came to Beijing as the general manager of IBM China, in order to discuss things with customers, he really had to eat several dinners a day. At that time, IBM had very few people in China, and the general manager had to do everything by himself. The first challenge he saw himself facing was to quickly build a team that could help him share the work. He has clearly won this challenge, and IBM Greater China has formed a strong team of managers to ensure the company's continued performance growth.

When a new officer is building a team, it is a process of embodying "remuneration power" and "coercive power", as well as a process of acquiring "expert power" and "relationship power" - the new officer is in the process of motivating and helping subordinates Establish prestige and gain respect.

Gao Qunyao said: "Before you become a manager, your success is to improve yourself; when you become a manager, your success is to improve the team." Gao Qunyao is a master of team building, and he returned to Ott After gram, many of the backbone of the team formed were members of the team he formed when he first came to Autodesk 10 years ago, and these veterans were willing to work for him. He said: The boss should be the employee's friend, teacher, and coach, who can make the employee enthusiastic. In many cases, a boss can have an impact on an employee's life.

What's the most common mistake a first-time manager makes? Compete with subordinates.

It's still a story in IBM: Ma Hongyu, who had left IBM to start his own business, graduated and joined the company in 1993. At the end of 1995, he was promoted to manager. For the next year, he worked very hard, leaving get off work at eleven or twelve every day, but he was not recognized. At the end of the year, his boss summed up for him: He made the most common mistake new managers make - competing with subordinates. He is hands-on, always working overtime. The subordinates are very relaxed, but there is no sense of accomplishment. Almost all of his subordinates left him this year. But over the next year, when he saw his subordinates do a good job and was happy from the bottom of his heart, he found the feeling of a manager.

Boldly endure loneliness

Have you been promoted? congratulations! But at the same time you have to be mentally prepared that you will endure more loneliness than before. In 1987, Sun Zhenyao was promoted two levels in a row at HP, but he was not happy because he found that the atmosphere around him had changed and his colleagues were estranged from him. It used to be that during lunch, if he didn't come back, everyone would wait for him to eat together. Now at 12 o'clock, everyone disappeared and left him for dinner. He felt very alone.

He even wanted to leave the company, but then figured it out - learn to think in the employee's shoes. After becoming a manager, although I feel that my relationship with everyone is still the same as before, the other party feels that they have distanced themselves from you. So when he walked into the elevator of the office building and found that the atmosphere inside became very serious, he would take the initiative to say hello to everyone.

Although you can eat, drink, sing, and chat one-on-one with your subordinates to shorten the distance between each other, loneliness is the price you must pay on the road to promotion. "It's too cold at the top", you will find that you have fewer companions as you go up. If you have risen to the level of CEO, you have almost reached the pinnacle of power, but look around, maybe you will feel more lonely.

This loneliness also includes situations where you need to stand up, make decisions decisively, and take responsibility. You will also feel lonely at this time.

Dulac always refers to the responsibility of managers, he believes that managers' responsibility is always greater than power. In his last speech before his death, when talking about the role of the CEO, he said: The first thing to say is that the CEO has responsibility, not power.

After Jiang Jianning served as the president of CYTS, he faced such a problem: due to the investment mistakes of his predecessor, the assets of more than 100 million yuan invested in the Suzhou Taihu project faced a sharp depreciation. His first business trip after taking office was to Suzhou. What should I do? Are these investments just thrown away? Although he was firmly opposed to this project when he was a director of CYTS, after going to Suzhou many times, he is determined to increase investment, because only in this way can it be possible to make up for the loss. Many people advised him: Forget it, this project was not done by you, and the loss is not yours. But if you continue to invest more, the front and back are all yours. But Jiang Jianning is determined to continue, with a sense of responsibility to the enterprise. Because he felt that if he didn't do it, the loss would be too great for CYTS.

He invested more than 100 million yuan to buy all the 500 mu of land along the Taihu Lake. This investment is 5 years. During these five years, he went to Suzhou dozens of times, but never entered Suzhou City. Every time I get out of the airport, I take the expressway, and I go straight to the dark land next to the Taihu Bridge when I get off the expressway. Every time I go, I stay for two nights, the first night I barely sleep through the night, and I often have meetings with the local manager until 2 am. So as soon as the local managers knew he was coming, they hurriedly went to bed to save enough energy to stay up late. The first thing Jiang Jianning did after he came was to go to the field by himself and walk two kilometers back and forth. Until October 2004, Jiang Jianning went to Suzhou for the last time to sign an agreement. CYTS sold all the land and recovered all the previous investments and still had profits. That night, Jiang Jianning was relieved. For the first time, he stayed in Suzhou City for one night and took a look at Suzhou City.

This story contains the joy of success, suffering, and in fact, loneliness. Jiang Jianning said, this is a true portrayal of a professional manager. Have the courage to endure loneliness. Therefore, when new officials take office, they also need the courage and preparation to endure loneliness.

Author RICHARD LI writes editor for World Manager Magazine

From incumbent to competent

Free Alerts on newly added products!