David had been the director of customer service for 18 years. It is no easy job for his successor, a 48-year-old engineer. The employees respect his work, but he has always been overshadowed by David. Top management chose David’s deputy to succeed him because they simply wanted things to keep on running as smoothly as they had in the past.

The Initial Situation 

If the predecessor retires, and the successor steps up from within the department, the new boss will generally enjoy the acceptance of the employees and find the initial situation favorable on the whole. The problem, however, is that this successor still stands in the shadow of the predecessor, and it takes time to emerge from it.
Things look very different if the “great” predecessor has suddenly left the company. The situation is different yet again when the change in leadership is accompanied by major structural changes. The successor is expected to make up for lost time and implement changes quickly. In this kind of context, the manager coming from outside the company has a better chance than the in-house candidate.

Typical Problems of the Successor

The successor must understand and accept that the emotional ties between the employees and the predecessor will take a long time to dissolve and that criticism of the former manager’s achievements will be hard to accept. Typical problems to handle are:
•	Being forever branded as No. 2
•	The expectations of the employees
•	The position in the circle of colleagues
•	The constant comparison to the predecessor
•	The weaknesses of the great predecessor.

What Can You Do?

•	Plan a clean and clear transition, and see to it that your predecessor is given an appropriate farewell.
•	Do not accept the invitation to follow in your predecessor’s footsteps.
•	Be sure to establish yourself clearly in your new position.
•	Show through your actions that you appreciate your predecessor’s work, while also showing interest in the work that has led to success in the past.
•	Treat criticism of your predecessor very carefully.
•	The new leader — whether he or she served as the former second-in-command or came in from a different company — must formulate a clear and, above all, balanced set of goals. ■


《THE NEW BOSS，How to Survive the First 100 Days》