亲爱的安妮：我即将于两周后跳槽到另一家公司，去一个陷入困境的部门担任主管。这家公司是我目前所在公司的最大竞争对手。虽然这个部门业务发展正面临困境，但毕竟这是我职业生涯迄今为止最高的职位，对此我感到很兴奋。但与此同时，我也面临着巨大挑战，因为我要接管的部门是个烫手山芋，在经济衰退和欧债危机的沉重打击下，收入和盈利都大幅下滑，士气也萎靡不振。

    我的新老板、这家公司的首席执行官告诉我，部门所有人都期待着我能够”立即快马加鞭地展开工作”。关于当下需要做哪些工作，我已经有了一些想法，在之前的面试中也提到过（可能这就是他们愿意聘用我的原因）。不过，意见总是多多益善的，如果您和您的读者能不吝赐教，谈谈在这种情况下什么该做、什么不该做，我将感激不尽。——空降兵

    亲爱的空降兵：很幸运的是你在正式走马上任前还有两周时间可以做准备。根据管理者导师乔治•布拉特所言，你要充分利用就职前的每分每秒，准备强势出击。他说：“要建设团队、掌握主动、在最短的时间内收到成效，最好的方法就是在别人还没想到之前就提早准备，赢得时间。新领导者转型的成败就在此一举。”

    这也是布拉特对自身经验的总结。在过去数十年中，他曾经在联合利华（Unilever）、宝洁（Procter & Gamble）、可口可乐（Coca-Cola）等公司担任高级经理人。2002年，他成立了管理者培训公司PrimeGenesis，并亲自担任校长。迄今为止，这家公司已经为600名跳槽的经理人提供了指导和培训。布拉特还与他人合著了《新官上任百日行动方案（第三版）》【The New Leader's 100-Day Action Plan (Third Edition)】一书，你可能会感兴趣。

    布拉特希望能够协助那些新上任或是升职的管理者们降低转型失败的几率。有研究表明，至少过去15年以来，转型失败率一直处于40%左右的水平。

    布拉特称：“如果新领导未能提前主动把握先机，那么在随后的工作中往往会感到与公司和市场格格不入，甚至在第一个工作日之前就有这种感觉。”布拉特借用了产品开发领域的一个术语，把正式就职之前的这段时间称为“模糊前端”期。如下四种方法能有助于你充分利用好这段时间。

    1、尽早会见重要的利益相关者。布拉特建议：“弄清楚公司内哪些人会对你顺利接手新工作起到重要影响。这些人包括你的直接下属、关键的支持者、同事、潜在的同盟军和伙伴，甚至是那个曾经垂涎你的职位但最终未能如愿的人。”分别给这些人打电话或当面拜访，哪怕是简单聊一聊，或者一起喝杯咖啡都可以。这听起来很简单，但布拉特表示“做与不做，结果天差地别；它是改变形势的重要因素。”

    2、做好聆听意见、收集信息的计划。布拉特指出：“不同的利益相关者会对同样的情况给出不同的观点。”询问他们的看法和建议“并非为了寻找唯一真理，而是试着让自己去理解他人所想。哪些事情进展顺利？哪些遭遇了阻碍？他们的看法是什么？为什么会有这种想法。这样就能与每个人都展开有效合作。要以开放的心态参与交谈并积极聆听。”

    Dear Annie: I'm starting a new job in about two weeks as head of a somewhat troubled division at my current employer's biggest competitor. It's a larger role than I've had so far in my career, and I'm pretty excited about it, but it comes with some significant challenges, since the business I'll be running has been hit hard by the recession and the European debt crisis, revenues and earnings are down, and morale is in the tank.

    The CEO who hired me said everyone there is expecting me to "hit the ground running." I've got some ideas about what needs to be done right away, which I talked about in interviews (and which presumably got me hired). But on the theory that there's no such thing as too much information, I'd appreciate any thoughts from you and your readers about what works, and what doesn't, in this kind of situation. --Parachuting In

    Dear P.I.: It's fortunate that you have two weeks before your official start date because, according to executive coach George Bradt, you'll need every minute of that to get off to the strongest possible start. "The best way to build your team, take charge, and get great results fast is to create time by starting earlier than anyone thought you would," he says. "This one idea can make or break a new leader's transition."

    Bradt is basing that partly on his own decades of experience as a senior manager at Unilever (UN), Procter & Gamble (PG), and Coca-Cola (KO), and partly on his work with 600 job-changing managers since 2002 as principal of PrimeGenesis, the executive coaching firm he started in 2002. Bradt is also co-author of a new book you might want to check out, The New Leader's 100-Day Action Plan (Third Edition).

    His mission is to lower the failure rate among executives newly hired or promoted into big jobs, which research shows has stood at about 40% for at least 15 years now.

    "New leaders who miss the opportunity to get a head start, before their official start date, often find out later that organizational or market momentum was working against them even before they showed up for their first full day at the office," Bradt says. Gulp. Borrowing a term from the product-development world, Bradt calls the time before you're officially on board the "fuzzy front end." Here are four ways to make the most of it:

    1. Meet with critical stakeholders as soon as possible. "Identify the people in the company who can have the most impact on your success in the new job," Bradt advises. "These include your direct reports, critical support people, peers, potential allies, and even the person who wanted your job but didn't get it." Call or visit each of these folks, even just for a quick chat or a cup of coffee. It sounds simple but, Bradt says, "It always makes a huge difference. It's a game changer."

    2. Have a plan for listening and gathering information. "Different stakeholders will have different views of the same situation," Bradt notes. Asking for their perceptions and suggestions "is not a search for the One Truth. Rather, it's an exercise in understanding people's views, both on what's going well and what's not and why, so that you can work effectively with each of them. Come into these conversations with an open mind and actively listen."