New MIT Sloan Management Review Leadership Advice Column and an Invitation to Build Our Collective Wisdom

“For last year's words belong to last year's language.?And next year's words await another voice.?And to make an end is to make a beginning."- T.S. Eliot

The start of a new year presents opportunities for reflection. These words by the poet T.S. Eliot provoke thoughts on the past, present, and future. Reading them may prompt you to think about the person you were in relation to the person you are now and who you need to be. And I smile to think about its connection to my latest piece.

I'm excited to share with you, my new partnership with?MIT Sloan Management Review for an advice column to help you be even more effective in your leadership. In each quarterly print issue and online, each 700 word Coaching for the Future-Forward Leader #AskSanyin piece, answers a C-Suite leadership challenge that you shared.

MIT Sloan Management Review?has a legacy of helping leaders and business executives navigate an increasingly complex world with its?pulse on relevance, innovative thinking, practical advice, and academic research.?I am so so proud to partner with them - my brilliant editor?Elizabeth Heichler?and the fabulous MIT?SMR?team.

The first column addresses the question -?How Do I Escape the Specter of My Predecessor?

In it, you’ll also read great practices and advice from my friends such as?Gina Loften?(Fortune 100 Board Director and former CTO of Microsoft US),?Hubert Joly?(Former CEO of Best Buy) and?Juan Bautista Martin?(Global President of KIND & Nature's Bakery). Read on to see what Fundamental Attribution Error has to do with how we address this question.

Here’s an excerpt:

How Do I Escape the Specter of My Predecessor…

Q: I’m new in a C-suite role and struggling with my predecessor’s long shadow — especially their great results and popularity with employees. How do I get my predecessor out of my head and stop second-guessing my decisions?

A: Chances are, you are not alone in this dilemma: The past year saw one of the highest rates of executive turnover in decades. Few new leaders start with a blank slate. You are wise to focus on how comparing yourself with your predecessor is affecting your confidence, rather than trying to win a popularity contest against a ghost.

In my coaching and advisory work with CEOs and their successors, I’ve consistently found that leaders who transition effectively are able to resist the urge to overprove themselves by trying to show that they are the smartest person in the room.

As beloved as your predecessor is, you may be in this seat because they did all they could and have left you a foundation that you can take to the next level, or because now the organization needs you to be the change maker. This is a different phase for the organization, and therefore it requires a different combination of leadership assets.

Ponder this introspective question suggested by former Microsoft U.S. CTO and TIAA board director?Gina Loften: “What do you and the team that you are building bring to the table that is needed at this point in time?”

We tend to forget that context matters, and we attribute results to our individual strengths and weaknesses — what behavioral scientists call a fundamental attribution error. We allocate more credit (or blame) to the individual while overlooking contextual factors — a familiar trap that undermines our human capital analyses (and plays games with our self-image)……

For the rest of the column, click here:?MIT SMR Sanyin Column

As you read this, I'd love to hear what resonates and what advice you would also share as this is something we encounter across different sectors and industries? And when we really think about it, in each of our own growth journeys, we are shedding aspects of our former selves - for they too, like last year’s words, belong to last year.

And please share with me questions that you might have for future columns. You can do any of the above via comments, messaging me, or emailing me at [email protected]

INVITING YOUR WISDOM: Other Perspectives on this Question

Something I’ve discovered is that we can benefit from each other’s perspectives. So the vision for this feature is to also create the space for wisdom from each other. Here are additional pieces of advice that my friends have shared via [email protected] and on Facebook and LinkedIN:

Sue Gordon?(Board Director and 5th Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, USA):

“View yourself as part of a continuum—reminds you that YOU have a role that is bigger than your tenure, and your predecessor was not a bum, but rather the person who delivered your moment for action.

You will only shake the shadow if you respect them for what they did.?Your time and environment are different from your predecessors time and environment, so you should feel free to tackle problems newly—even if that means undoing your predecessor’s decisions.?

What is new to you is not necessarily new. Every new boss comes in with ideas. Take a beat. Make sure you listen to your team lest you get enamored with something that seems right but is not, for reasons you don’t understand.?

Apropos of above, yes you have to listen and learn, but you can’t wait to lead. Make sure you know your remit, establish a (reasonable vision), and start doing your job.“

Ron Carucci?(Managing partner at Navalent):

“Many of the CEO and executive successors I've worked with struggle with a particular version of the comparison trap you so insightfully discuss - and it's the differentiation obsession. So fearful of not living up to the giant on whose shoulders they now stand, they overcompensate by working to be as different from them as they can.

What I find within them is a deep projection of comparison onto those they lead - the assumption that everyone else is comparing them too and sizing up all the ways they fall short. True, some may be. But more often than not people are giving them a fresh start. Ironically the excessive effort to differentiate from a successor puts you right into the comparison by others that you were trying to avoid.

Trust you were given the role for a reason, accept it will take time to grow into, believe your successor didn't begin their journey with the same competence and confidence they finished with, face forward and lead as only you can.“

William Wright-Swadel?(Former Assistant Vice President, Student Affairs at Duke University):

“Opening lines of communication across the organization (s)he leads is one way to create the trust needed in order to truly hear the concerns of the teams necessary to ensure an engaged and motivated culture across the organization. They have lost a leader who was apparently able to help them and therefore, the organization to succeed.

In my experience, the teams will be most open to a new leader if they have the opportunity to hear and be heard. If they receive trust they will likely return it. If they are encouraged to try new things without the fear of repercussions for the ideas that do not work, they will likely continue to innovate.

We have all read the stories of Starbucks and Disney to name two high-profile organizations that brought back their "shadow" to replace the CEO who was not being as successful. The data is not in yet to say the prior successes can be replicated in the current environment even by the legend.

Perhaps our new c-suite leader needs to spend more time looking inward and forward while learning from the past. They have arrived at this opportunity because others trust they can do the job. Now they must trust themselves enough to engage with their partners across the organization to learn from their prior successes while building a plan for the present and the future.

A leader must first be truly themselves if they are to gain the trust and respect of others. Being a second-rate version of a prior leader is the best most of us can do through mimicry, or we can be our exceptional selves. Only then will we and others respect us for who we are and how we empower them.”

ALSO in this?MIT Sloan Management Review?Winter 2022 Issue is?Make Character Your Competitive Edge. This piece leads with “Character is about a lot more than ethics — and fostering a culture where it is valued equally alongside competence can result in better decisions and better outcomes.”

This piece caught my attention for many reasons. If we are really serious about character, what would that mean for our organizations in terms of how we act, what we recognize and talk about? After all, we promote for competence, do we also promote for character?

Thank you SO MUCH for being a part of this newsletter. Going forward, I'll continue sharing on a monthly basis, ideas that can help you build your leadership playbook. For access to my new body of work on SUPERPOWERS, subscribe also to my Superpowers with Sanyin newsletter.