First–Time Leader: Foundational Tools for Inspiring and Enabling Your New Team

Praise for First–Time Leader Incredible insight essential to leaders at all levels. I will refer back to these often. Jaime Mazza Human Resource Manager This book will help first–time leaders be BRAVE and inspire others to be BRAVE through its worksheets, steps, acronyms, lists, insights, real life stories which really provide color commentary to the content, and even simple stuff like running meetings. Kris Adler Program Manager BRAVE is very useful to apply to many different leadership challenges from setting strategy to crafting effective communication plans. Loved the stories. MaryBeth Schroeder Director Talent Development and Internal Communication Combines crisp identification of critical leadership concepts with detailed and comprehensive resources to assist leaders (both new and experienced) of organizations of any size or function. Seth Gardner Executive Director Where was this book as I cruised up the corporate ladder at P&G, PepsiCo and Paramount? First–Time Leader is the quintessential book for new leaders – written with clarity, conviction and common sense, foundational to helping new leaders and their teams deliver better results faster. We found George and Gillians approach with B.R.A.V.E. and the three secrets of happiness as the new backbone for leadership and voted this book in our top 10 MUST read for this year! Make this book your North Star. Rick Tocquigny Host Life Lessons Radio Americas Favorite Lessons Show

Acknowledgments xi Part I Getting Started 1 Chapter 1 Overview: Congratulations! It’s Great to Be a Leader. You’ve Earned It. And Your New Job Is Going to Be a Wild Ride 3 Part I: Getting Started 3 Part II: Build Your BRAVE Leadership from the Outside In 5 Part III: Leading Small, Medium, and Large Teams 7 Chapter 2 Take Charge of Your New Team 11 Moving into Your First Leadership Role from Outside 11 Tool 2.1: Onboarding Risk Assessment 13 Tool 2.2: BRAVE Onboarding 16 Getting Promoted to Your First Leadership Role from Within 26 Summary: Take Charge of Your New Team 34 Chapter 3 The BRAVE Leadership Success Framework: Behaviors, Relationships, Attitude, Values, Environment 35 Behaviors: How You Get Things Done through Other People 35 Relationships: The Heart of Leadership 36 Attitude: Make Crucial Choices around Your Team’s Strategy, Posture, and Culture 36 Values: Align Yourself and Your Team with the Organization’s Mission, Vision, and Values—More or Less 36 Environment: Get Clear on Your Mission and Fields of Action 36 Building up the BRAVE Leadership Framework from the Outside In 37 Part II Build Your BRAVE Leadership from the Outside In 39 Chapter 4 Environment: Get Clear on Your Mission and Fields of Action 41 Understand Context 42 Tool 4.1: 5Cs Situation Analysis Guidelines 44 Align around an Interpretation of the Situation Assessment 47 Tool 4.2: SWOT 49 Tool 4.3: Profi t Pools 50 Make Clear Choices around Where to Play and Where Not to Play 50 Tool 4.4: Where to Play Choices 56 Summary: Where to Play 56 Chapter 5 Values: Align Yourself and Your Team with the Organization’s Mission, Vision, and Values—More or Less 59 The Secret of Happiness 60 Link between Happiness and Purpose 61 Mission 61 Tool 5.1: Mission 62 Vision 63 Tool 5.2: Vision 64 Values 64 Tool 5.3: Values 66 Coherence 66 Summary: What Matters 67 Chapter 6 Attitude: Make Crucial Choices around Your Team’s Strategy, Posture, and Culture 69 Strategy 69 Tool 6.1: Strategic Planning 73 Tool 6.2: Business Plan Elements 74 Posture 75 Tool 6.3: Posture Mapping 77 Culture 77 Tool 6.4: Culture Assessment 81 Summary: How to Win 83 Chapter 7 Relationships: The Heart of Leadership 85 Communication Frameworks 85 Tool 7.1: Communication Planning 93 Tool 7.2: Writing Guidelines 98 Tool 7.3: BRAVE Meeting Management 100 Tool 7.4: Press Interview Management 104 How to Hire Great People 105 Tool 7.5: Recruitment Methods Analysis 111 Tool 7.6: Recruiting Brief 112 Tool 7.7: Job Requirement Checklist 113 Tool 7.8: Candidate Sourcing 116 Tool 7.9: Interview Guide 122 Tool 7.10: Interview Debrief Form 123 Tool 7.11: Reference Inquiry Authorization Form 124 Tool 7.12: Reference Inquiry 125 Bringing New Hires into the Team 127 Tool 7.13: Offer Closing Process 128 Tool 7.14: Announcement Cascade 129 Tool 7.15: Accommodation Checklist 131 Tool 7.16: Assimilation Checklist 132 Tool 7.17: Acceleration Checklist 133 Managing People Who Are Doing Well—and Not So Well 136 Tool 7.18: Career Planning 138 Tool 7.19: Development Plan 139 Tool 7.20: SMART Goals 141 Tool 7.21: Team Charter 142 Tool 7.22: People Management Tools 145 Tool 7.23: Managing Behavior 146 Tool 7.24: Performance Assessment 149 Tool 7.25: Succession Planning 151 Summary: How to Connect 153 Chapter 8 Behaviors: How You Get Things Done through Other People 155 Delegating, Innovating, and Negotiating 155 Tool 8.1: Innovation Guidelines 159 Tool 8.2: Negotiating 162 Sales and Marketing 163 Tool 8.3: Purchase Funnel 163 Tool 8.4: Strategic Selling 165 Tool 8.5: BRAVE Creative Brief 166 Operating Processes 168 Tool 8.6: Senior Management Trip Planning 169 Tool 8.7: Milestone Management 173 Tool 8.8: Quarterly Cadence 177 BRAVE Crisis Management 178 Tool 8.9: Crisis Management 100–Hour Action Plan 183 Summary: What Impact 186 Part III Leading Small, Medium, and Large Teams 187 Chapter 9 With Teams of Less Than 10 People, Adopt a Start–Up Mind–Set 189 Why the Way You Lead Today Is Going to Be Inadequate Tomorrow 189 Solve a Problem Shared by Many 191 Assemble a Team of Like–Minded Individuals with Diverse Strengths 192 Lock in Values 194 Summary: Start with Environment and Values 199 Chapter 10 Lead Teams of 10 to 20 Like an Extended Family 201 What Matters 201 How to Win 201 Managing the Evolution of Your Start–Up’s Corporate Culture 201 Why Culture Matters Today 202 The Building Blocks of the Vocus Culture 202 Sustaining and Building Culture 203 Team Expansion 203 People Management and Operating Practices 203 Feedback 204 Summary: Evolve Attitude 204 Chapter 11 If You’re Leading More Than 30 People, Hierarchy Is Your Friend 205 Work on the Organization 205 Enabling Practices 205 Embedding Operational Practices 206 Vision and Values 207 Summary: Team Evolution 208 Notes 209 References 213 About the Authors 215 Index 217

GEORGE BRADT has a unique perspective on transformational leadership based on his experience as an executive, consultant, and writer. After two decades in sales, marketing and general management around the world, now he is a Principal of CEO Connection, Managing Director of the executive onboarding group PrimeGenesis, author of a weekly column on Forbes.com and of five books on onboarding including The New Leaders 100–Day Action Plan . George can be reached at gbradt@primegenesis.com. GILLIAN DAVIS has a new generations view on leadership through her work in marketing, recruiting and coaching. After witnessing and experiencing dissatisfied employees leaving their jobs, not because of the role, but because of poor managers, she is now on a mission to help first–time leaders inspire and enable their teams. Gillian can be reached at @gilliandavis07 or Gillian@firsttimeleader.tv