So the art is to find the right balance between setting a direction and keeping practical.

As you take over your new leadership assignment and forge your team, you need to be sensitive to how each individual will be motivated. Great leaders tailor their management styles to the recipient rather than approaching the top team from a one-size-fits-all perspective.

The short-term agenda should:

• Link to your business assessment, so that people understand the rationale;

• Identify the core initiatives you intend to launch and explain why they are important;

• Address short-term issues while not detracting from the long-term directions for the organization;

• Be built as a joint effort with your team; and

• Incorporate an explicit plan to address cultural issues and barriers to change.

I got a lot of resistance initially,” Pressler recalls. “People asked, ‘How am I to be held accountable for something I don’t control?’” Pressler’s response: “You do. We’re a team, sharing responsibility and accountability for what’s best for our brands and for our company. We will set our agenda and determine our priorities together.” The result: “We still had to learn how to work effectively as a team, but this helped us begin to change our thinking and our actions.

In broad terms, my management philosophy is to keep things simple. I want rigorous analysis and thoughtful assessments, but I do not want complexity. If strategies and plans aren’t easily understood by everyone, they will be acted on by no one. So by keeping things simple, we will be able to act decisively… and communicate clearly… throughout the entire organization.” - Jim Kilts.