The Accidental Leader
You’re in a movie, or a dream. You’re a junior member
of an airline flight crew. Your usual job is serving drinks
and giving safety instructions. But something just happened
in the cockpit: the pilot and copilot have come
down with food poisoning and are puking their guts out
in the lavatories.
Someone has to land the plane, and 120 people in coach—
mostly nuns, Boy Scouts, and football players—are all looking
to you.
Your heart is pounding like a kettledrum as you make your
way toward the front cabin and sit down at that galaxy of controls.
You’ve got a good attitude, though. You tell yourself, “I
can do it, I can do it! I can—”
Then the plane goes into a nosedive.
That’s when you wake up, and you are so, so grateful it was a
dream. Because statistics say that, despite what you see in the
movies, no flight attendant has ever landed a plane safely.
It would be nice to think that people elevated to sudden positions
of responsibility routinely succeed. But they don’t. Planes
are hard to land. And being put in charge of one—being
given a seat in the cockpit—is nothing like knowing how to fly.
Here’s an example not involving a jumbo jet in a tailspin:
Fran was the most junior member of Shell Oil’s tax and
financing department in the 1970s when the department
head went down with a massive heart attack. Confusion
reigned. No one could decide who should replace him.
“I was the only woman in a group of guys who had been doing
this forever,” she told the New York Times ( Jan. 20, 2002). “I
decided to devise a plan and called everyone together. My first
shock was that they all showed up. Then they all started coming
to me for advice.”
Before Fran knew it, she was in charge—by accident.“It was exhilarating, but at the same time it was very scary. I
had bit off something and didn’t know if I could swallow it.”
During one reorganization, she had to lay off 25 percent of
the division’s workforce. At one facility, she had to tell people
to their faces they would all lose their jobs. “When I left the
plant and went to the airport bathroom, I threw up.”
For Fran, the story worked out well. Thirty years later, she is
president and CEO of Shell Chemical LP. She had the native
smarts and toughness to survive dozens of crises and challenges
to her leadership. But for thousands of new accidental leaders,
the outcome is less agreeable.
All over the world, right at this moment, people are getting
tapped on the shoulder. They’re being told that, starting
now, they’re going to be in charge of something—a team, a
project, an office, a committee, a business unit.
Tag. You’re it.
It happens. Existing bosses die, move away, get fired, or are
abducted by aliens. Some subordinate is asked to step up and
take a stab at being boss. Welcome to accidental leadership.
It happens everywhere, in any size of group, on the forprofit
business side or not-for-profit side of community
service.
The truth is, accidental leaders are more the rule in this era
of disruption and transformation than the non-accidental,
corn-fed, MBA-prepared leaders of a very short time ago.
And it is the situation of every worker who ever makes the
transition from “doing a job” to “being in charge.”
Now, getting the tag can be exhilarating—a pathway to greater
satisfaction, career development, and personal growth. Many
people take to it like fish to water. For a few it’s a snap
because they have a mentor to guide them through the difficult
first days.
For most accidental leaders, however, it’s a mess. It means:
• Minimal training: Most organizations don’t train for leadership.
• Zero mentoring: There is a global shortage of great people who
will show others how to be competent out of the kindness
of their hearts.
• Sink-or-swim desperation: If you get tagged and screw up, that’s
the last tag you’ll ever get.
• And time’s a-wasting: You can figure you have a hundred or so
days to get it together before the people who are so fond of
you now lose confidence.
Let’s be honest about this: Most accidental leaders have a
pretty rocky time of it. Many of them freak out, change their
styles all around, try desperately to hide their managerial
weaknesses, and generally come across as nervous, not-readyfor-
prime-time wrecks. The costs of this rockiness are huge:
• Lost time for the company or project, which translates to
missed opportunities
• Bewildered colleagues who wonder why you don’t just tell
them what to do
• And toasted careers for the leaders who couldn’t lead
(because when they fail, they don’t usually slink back to
their earlier positions—they’re often through with the
organization forever)
It’s tough, going from Joe or Jo Schmo to Big Boss overnight.
Accidental leaders face a gauntlet of seemingly irreconcilable
challenges:
• How do you demonstrate to your higher-ups that you’re
up to this challenge . . . at the same time you demonstrate
to your “lower-downs” that leadership hasn’t gone to
your head?• How do you achieve the existing goals for the superiors that
promoted you (“Good dog!”) . . . at the same time you
engender an entrepreneur’s spirit of daring?
• How do you fill people with hope to achieve great things . . .
knowing there is the distinct possibility you may have to fire
them some day?
• How do you simultaneously maintain the status quo as a
proficient manager . . . while as a leader you share your
vision of a better way to do things?
These are the dark fears that afflict the accidental leader. And
unless they are dealt with and replaced with sensible action,
the accidental leader is merely an interim leader—until the
next person gets tagged.
So it looks like you’re on your own. Only you can save your
career. One false move, and you’re not just gone from the
new position, you part company with the organization forever.
Because that’s how it works.
Well, take heart. The book in your hands right now (unless
you are holding it with your feet) is a handbook for people
thrust into positions of sudden responsibility. You’ll see that
it’s not long on theory or long-term options. It’s about what
to do now, in the moment of panicky transformation. We’re
going to explain to you:
• How to get over the shock of getting tagged
• How to figure out what you bring to the challenge—your
pluses and minuses
• How to define success, and how to achieve it
• How to get other people on your side, or in any event not
against you
• How to overcome your natural shortcomings
• How to get organized, if you’ve never been organized
before
• How to see through the apparent system to the culture
within
• How to tell people stuff, and get them to act on it
• How to breathe when the general culture is rancid
• How to keep the people you lead from driving you crazy
• How to turn failure into success, and how to celebrate
when you’re done
• How to do all these things without wearing yourself to a
frazzle
Think of this book as emergency equipment. Keep it close to
you, like a life vest, because it has the answers to questions
that will be making you crazy.
We can’t guarantee twenty years of career longevity, but we’ll
keep you afloat till you figure out what to do next.
From India, Nasik
15You’re in a movie, or a dream. You’re a junior member
of an airline flight crew. Your usual job is serving drinks
and giving safety instructions. But something just happened
in the cockpit: the pilot and copilot have come
down with food poisoning and are puking their guts out
in the lavatories.
Someone has to land the plane, and 120 people in coach—
mostly nuns, Boy Scouts, and football players—are all looking
to you.
Your heart is pounding like a kettledrum as you make your
way toward the front cabin and sit down at that galaxy of controls.
You’ve got a good attitude, though. You tell yourself, “I
can do it, I can do it! I can—”
Then the plane goes into a nosedive.
That’s when you wake up, and you are so, so grateful it was a
dream. Because statistics say that, despite what you see in the
movies, no flight attendant has ever landed a plane safely.
It would be nice to think that people elevated to sudden positions
of responsibility routinely succeed. But they don’t. Planes
are hard to land. And being put in charge of one—being
given a seat in the cockpit—is nothing like knowing how to fly.
Here’s an example not involving a jumbo jet in a tailspin:
Fran was the most junior member of Shell Oil’s tax and
financing department in the 1970s when the department
head went down with a massive heart attack. Confusion
reigned. No one could decide who should replace him.
“I was the only woman in a group of guys who had been doing
this forever,” she told the New York Times ( Jan. 20, 2002). “I
decided to devise a plan and called everyone together. My first
shock was that they all showed up. Then they all started coming
to me for advice.”
Before Fran knew it, she was in charge—by accident.“It was exhilarating, but at the same time it was very scary. I
had bit off something and didn’t know if I could swallow it.”
During one reorganization, she had to lay off 25 percent of
the division’s workforce. At one facility, she had to tell people
to their faces they would all lose their jobs. “When I left the
plant and went to the airport bathroom, I threw up.”
For Fran, the story worked out well. Thirty years later, she is
president and CEO of Shell Chemical LP. She had the native
smarts and toughness to survive dozens of crises and challenges
to her leadership. But for thousands of new accidental leaders,
the outcome is less agreeable.
All over the world, right at this moment, people are getting
tapped on the shoulder. They’re being told that, starting
now, they’re going to be in charge of something—a team, a
project, an office, a committee, a business unit.
Tag. You’re it.
It happens. Existing bosses die, move away, get fired, or are
abducted by aliens. Some subordinate is asked to step up and
take a stab at being boss. Welcome to accidental leadership.
It happens everywhere, in any size of group, on the forprofit
business side or not-for-profit side of community
service.
The truth is, accidental leaders are more the rule in this era
of disruption and transformation than the non-accidental,
corn-fed, MBA-prepared leaders of a very short time ago.
And it is the situation of every worker who ever makes the
transition from “doing a job” to “being in charge.”
Now, getting the tag can be exhilarating—a pathway to greater
satisfaction, career development, and personal growth. Many
people take to it like fish to water. For a few it’s a snap
because they have a mentor to guide them through the difficult
first days.
For most accidental leaders, however, it’s a mess. It means:
• Minimal training: Most organizations don’t train for leadership.
• Zero mentoring: There is a global shortage of great people who
will show others how to be competent out of the kindness
of their hearts.
• Sink-or-swim desperation: If you get tagged and screw up, that’s
the last tag you’ll ever get.
• And time’s a-wasting: You can figure you have a hundred or so
days to get it together before the people who are so fond of
you now lose confidence.
Let’s be honest about this: Most accidental leaders have a
pretty rocky time of it. Many of them freak out, change their
styles all around, try desperately to hide their managerial
weaknesses, and generally come across as nervous, not-readyfor-
prime-time wrecks. The costs of this rockiness are huge:
• Lost time for the company or project, which translates to
missed opportunities
• Bewildered colleagues who wonder why you don’t just tell
them what to do
• And toasted careers for the leaders who couldn’t lead
(because when they fail, they don’t usually slink back to
their earlier positions—they’re often through with the
organization forever)
It’s tough, going from Joe or Jo Schmo to Big Boss overnight.
Accidental leaders face a gauntlet of seemingly irreconcilable
challenges:
• How do you demonstrate to your higher-ups that you’re
up to this challenge . . . at the same time you demonstrate
to your “lower-downs” that leadership hasn’t gone to
your head?• How do you achieve the existing goals for the superiors that
promoted you (“Good dog!”) . . . at the same time you
engender an entrepreneur’s spirit of daring?
• How do you fill people with hope to achieve great things . . .
knowing there is the distinct possibility you may have to fire
them some day?
• How do you simultaneously maintain the status quo as a
proficient manager . . . while as a leader you share your
vision of a better way to do things?
These are the dark fears that afflict the accidental leader. And
unless they are dealt with and replaced with sensible action,
the accidental leader is merely an interim leader—until the
next person gets tagged.
So it looks like you’re on your own. Only you can save your
career. One false move, and you’re not just gone from the
new position, you part company with the organization forever.
Because that’s how it works.
Well, take heart. The book in your hands right now (unless
you are holding it with your feet) is a handbook for people
thrust into positions of sudden responsibility. You’ll see that
it’s not long on theory or long-term options. It’s about what
to do now, in the moment of panicky transformation. We’re
going to explain to you:
• How to get over the shock of getting tagged
• How to figure out what you bring to the challenge—your
pluses and minuses
• How to define success, and how to achieve it
• How to get other people on your side, or in any event not
against you
• How to overcome your natural shortcomings
• How to get organized, if you’ve never been organized
before
• How to see through the apparent system to the culture
within
• How to tell people stuff, and get them to act on it
• How to breathe when the general culture is rancid
• How to keep the people you lead from driving you crazy
• How to turn failure into success, and how to celebrate
when you’re done
• How to do all these things without wearing yourself to a
frazzle
Think of this book as emergency equipment. Keep it close to
you, like a life vest, because it has the answers to questions
that will be making you crazy.
We can’t guarantee twenty years of career longevity, but we’ll
keep you afloat till you figure out what to do next.
From India, Nasik
Three steps to establish where you are—and
where you need to be:
1. Assess your situation. Is your assignment a piece of cake or heavy
sledding?
2. List your resources. People, money, time, connections.
3. List your liabilities. What stands in the way of your project’s success?
From India, Nasik
where you need to be:
1. Assess your situation. Is your assignment a piece of cake or heavy
sledding?
2. List your resources. People, money, time, connections.
3. List your liabilities. What stands in the way of your project’s success?
From India, Nasik
Seven things you need to learn about your
team members and they need to know about
you—and two warnings:
1. How long they’ve been with the organization. Respect experience,
but know that a fresh perspective has value, too.
2. What they want from the team. Money, advancement, challenge,
the chance to show off? All are legitimate, but they all alter your
expectations.
3. What your expectations are. Better they learn now than later.
4. What the mission looks like from both sides. Find out people’s
doubts and reservations. Don’t try to answer them all right away.
5. How teamwork works. Find out who’s had experience with collaboration
before.
6. What their most fulfilling work experience was. The things people
recall with pride speak volumes about what they value.
7. What they expect and need from a leader. You can’t ask this as
a direct question. Use the rest of the discussion to help you form a
conclusion.
8. Do spend more time listening than talking.
9. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
From India, Nasik
team members and they need to know about
you—and two warnings:
1. How long they’ve been with the organization. Respect experience,
but know that a fresh perspective has value, too.
2. What they want from the team. Money, advancement, challenge,
the chance to show off? All are legitimate, but they all alter your
expectations.
3. What your expectations are. Better they learn now than later.
4. What the mission looks like from both sides. Find out people’s
doubts and reservations. Don’t try to answer them all right away.
5. How teamwork works. Find out who’s had experience with collaboration
before.
6. What their most fulfilling work experience was. The things people
recall with pride speak volumes about what they value.
7. What they expect and need from a leader. You can’t ask this as
a direct question. Use the rest of the discussion to help you form a
conclusion.
8. Do spend more time listening than talking.
9. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
From India, Nasik
Hello....
Is this article is your article or this is a summery or gist of the book titled, "The Accidental Leader: What to Do When You're Suddenly in Charge" by Harvey Robbins, Michael Finley.
Anyway, its nice and thanks for sharing the same. It shows that one should always be ready to accept challanges. That remind me something..."It is easy to reach the top but too difficult to stay there...for long time". For example, "Manmohan Singh was made the Prime Minister at the time of crisis...at the time when there was no other option. You can say that he became the Prime Minister of India just by accident...by chance. But now he is doing really well...as a Prime Minister of the Country". I have seen many bosses who just give-up and surrender to the pressure of position. They feel so uncomfortable and restless...when they suddenly become leaders...or bosses.
Any Comments.
Regards
Sanjeev Sharma
From India, Mumbai
Is this article is your article or this is a summery or gist of the book titled, "The Accidental Leader: What to Do When You're Suddenly in Charge" by Harvey Robbins, Michael Finley.
Anyway, its nice and thanks for sharing the same. It shows that one should always be ready to accept challanges. That remind me something..."It is easy to reach the top but too difficult to stay there...for long time". For example, "Manmohan Singh was made the Prime Minister at the time of crisis...at the time when there was no other option. You can say that he became the Prime Minister of India just by accident...by chance. But now he is doing really well...as a Prime Minister of the Country". I have seen many bosses who just give-up and surrender to the pressure of position. They feel so uncomfortable and restless...when they suddenly become leaders...or bosses.
Any Comments.
Regards
Sanjeev Sharma
From India, Mumbai
Hi Sanjeev!
This is an article I received by mail. I would like to give full credits to the original author. :)
It is easy to reach the top but it does take perseverance and intelligence to stay there. The same is true for Our PM.
Some of the key issues which need to be addressed by an accidental leader are :-
1. Set goals, plans and strategies to achieve them
2. Know your people, organization: past, present and future. Identify what motivates them.
3. Do a SWOT analysis for yourself.
4. Keep learning and innovating
5. Empower your people and Delegate
6. Go for a collaborative approach when negotiating
7. As a leader you will have to dirty your hands.
8. Communicate! Communicate!! and Communicate!!!
9. Be in touch with your people and reality
Regards,
Shyamali
From India, Nasik
This is an article I received by mail. I would like to give full credits to the original author. :)
It is easy to reach the top but it does take perseverance and intelligence to stay there. The same is true for Our PM.
Some of the key issues which need to be addressed by an accidental leader are :-
1. Set goals, plans and strategies to achieve them
2. Know your people, organization: past, present and future. Identify what motivates them.
3. Do a SWOT analysis for yourself.
4. Keep learning and innovating
5. Empower your people and Delegate
6. Go for a collaborative approach when negotiating
7. As a leader you will have to dirty your hands.
8. Communicate! Communicate!! and Communicate!!!
9. Be in touch with your people and reality
Regards,
Shyamali
From India, Nasik
Ten ways to feel better about your leadership:
1. Make a list of your proven skills.
2. Assess your natural strengths based on your personality type.
Are you a bold entrepreneurial Doer? A sparkling Creative live wire?
A meticulous, usually right Thinker? A gregarious, touchy-feelie
Social?
3. Make another list, of your unarguable weaknesses.
4. Ask someone you trust what your best characteristics are.
5. Cross-check your skills with the task at hand. It’s unlikely you are
a god-awful fit.
6. Recognize that there are some things you’re good at and some
things you’re not.
7. Try to take on tasks that play to your natural strengths.
8. Delegate tasks to individuals that take advantage of their natural
strengths.
9. Assemble teams based on the mix of talents needed to accomplish
the desired outcomes.
10. Don’t staple yourself to the cross. Your job is to keep people pointed
toward the goal. The rest—style points.
From India, Nasik
1. Make a list of your proven skills.
2. Assess your natural strengths based on your personality type.
Are you a bold entrepreneurial Doer? A sparkling Creative live wire?
A meticulous, usually right Thinker? A gregarious, touchy-feelie
Social?
3. Make another list, of your unarguable weaknesses.
4. Ask someone you trust what your best characteristics are.
5. Cross-check your skills with the task at hand. It’s unlikely you are
a god-awful fit.
6. Recognize that there are some things you’re good at and some
things you’re not.
7. Try to take on tasks that play to your natural strengths.
8. Delegate tasks to individuals that take advantage of their natural
strengths.
9. Assemble teams based on the mix of talents needed to accomplish
the desired outcomes.
10. Don’t staple yourself to the cross. Your job is to keep people pointed
toward the goal. The rest—style points.
From India, Nasik
Eight things you can do to negotiate your own
learning curve:
1. Attend conferences and workshops—about managing, about new
technologies, and about your industry.
2. Read and pass along articles that connect to your work.
3. Take part in online forum discussions. Be a resource to others.
4. Visit related departments to find out what they do and how they
do it.
5. Talk to customers. They know almost everything you need to know
to do a better job.
6. Reward people who share information. Create an environment of
total learning.
7. Make presentations to peers about your area of expertise or project.
8. Conduct post-mortems and post-vivums on completed projects.
From India, Nasik
learning curve:
1. Attend conferences and workshops—about managing, about new
technologies, and about your industry.
2. Read and pass along articles that connect to your work.
3. Take part in online forum discussions. Be a resource to others.
4. Visit related departments to find out what they do and how they
do it.
5. Talk to customers. They know almost everything you need to know
to do a better job.
6. Reward people who share information. Create an environment of
total learning.
7. Make presentations to peers about your area of expertise or project.
8. Conduct post-mortems and post-vivums on completed projects.
From India, Nasik
Four tough questions you need to ask yourself:
1. Why have you been handed this assignment?
2. What are you good at exactly?
3. What are your weaknesses?
4. How well do you understand the challenge at hand?
From India, Nasik
1. Why have you been handed this assignment?
2. What are you good at exactly?
3. What are your weaknesses?
4. How well do you understand the challenge at hand?
From India, Nasik
Five things to spend at least a week learning about:
1. Company history . . . how the company has changed from its origins
2. Organizational structure . . . who’s in charge and how power flows
3. Policies and procedures . . . the way things are done
4. Company scuttlebutt . . . where the bodies are buried, and the locations
of the exit wounds
5. Financials . . . the dollars and sense of your day-to-day doings
From India, Nasik
1. Company history . . . how the company has changed from its origins
2. Organizational structure . . . who’s in charge and how power flows
3. Policies and procedures . . . the way things are done
4. Company scuttlebutt . . . where the bodies are buried, and the locations
of the exit wounds
5. Financials . . . the dollars and sense of your day-to-day doings
From India, Nasik
Five measures of planning success:
1. A goal—where you want to go. Now is the time to define what success
looks like.
2. A vision—to rationalize (in the best sense of the word,“to show the
reason for”) the goal.
3. A strategy—a means to achieve the goal.
4. A set of tactics to achieve that strategy—these are your ducks, the
strategy is the row. Plan your success in big chunks (how you plan to
achieve the outcomes you want).
5. Some low-hanging fruit—little victories you can go after first. Aim
for the highest priorities that can be accomplished without great difficulty.
This builds momentum and confidence that let you tackle
bigger goals.
From India, Nasik
1. A goal—where you want to go. Now is the time to define what success
looks like.
2. A vision—to rationalize (in the best sense of the word,“to show the
reason for”) the goal.
3. A strategy—a means to achieve the goal.
4. A set of tactics to achieve that strategy—these are your ducks, the
strategy is the row. Plan your success in big chunks (how you plan to
achieve the outcomes you want).
5. Some low-hanging fruit—little victories you can go after first. Aim
for the highest priorities that can be accomplished without great difficulty.
This builds momentum and confidence that let you tackle
bigger goals.
From India, Nasik
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