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Your First Day

Starting a new job -especially a management job can be intimidating. IF you are a manager you know that people are looking to you for results. FORTUNE Magazine has a helpful book excerpt in this week's issue that while geared toward CEO's has some good advice. The full article is behind a subscription wall so go and buy the issue on the newstands ya' cheap bastards.

Or read the helpful excerpt here:

"Eight Rules An agenda for your first 100 days."

"1 Listen. "

Ask open-ended questions of employees, board members, suppliers and force yourself to listen, really listen, to what they say. That means not talking."

"2 Resist the savior syndrome."

"This is not the time to announce a bold new strategy or 'vision.'"

"3 Keep it simple."

When people are deluged with long lists of priorities and action plans, their eyes glaze over and inaction reigns. But when they are given a couple of concrete priorities wrapped inside a clear and simple theme, they can move ahead with purpose, leaving room for individual imagination and experience to fill in the details."

"4 Hit pause."

When posed with a good question, wait a beat. If you don't have the answer, promise to get back to them, and then do so."

"5 Look for quick wins."

If you can find a few things that were serious flaws in the organization and fix them quickly, you can establish your credibility as a leader very fast,' says Lew Platt, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard."

"6 Spell it out".

Use your early management meetings to do more than meet and greet; this is the time to establish what you expect of them, to communicate your management philosophy, and to set the tone it'll be hard to reset it later."

"7 Don't dis your predecessor."

'People forget that just about everyone who is there when the new CEO arrives has worked for the old CEO and probably has some loyalty to him or her,' notes Platt."

"8 Give feedback."

By synthesizing what you learn and communicating it to the organization, you give your workers an ownership stake in the new agenda and improve your chances for broad-based support."