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The search for top executives is fraught with pitfalls. Understanding them will set the process off on a strong footing and maximize the chances of a sustainable hire. This chapter examines three aspects of the search dynamic: “stakeout,” “trust-building” and the search consultant’s “ambassador role.” We reveal nine important insights. Has digitization made headhunting any easier? We correct common misconceptions and reveal the difficulty of approaching top executives with role propositions, the building of trusted relationships with clients, and the ambassador role of the executive search consultant. We examine the need for empathy and deep discernment in reading candidates. We next go more deeply into the full search process: the selection of the search firm, the search itself, the presentation of the chosen candidate and onboarding. We reveal points of attention for clients and candidates that underpin best practice.

An earlier form of this chapter by the author was published in Dutch in “Bestemming Boardroom: over zoeken en gevonden worden” (Boom, Amsterdam, 2018).

This interview with Michael Watkins is on the occasion of the tenth anniversary edition of his best-selling book The First 90 Days (Harvard Business Press, 2013). The book has helped a generation of executives identify and strategically analyze the opportunities and risks posed by a career move.

The book offers a set of tools and techniques executives can use to accelerate learning and then methodically diagnose the situation to develop the right strategy.

Watkin's approach is designed to speed up the rate at which executive are able to accurately diagnose situations, make good decisions and add value to their firms.

Executives considering taking on a new job should learn to think like a historian. It's critical to understand how the organization got to the state that it is in. If serious problems were not addressed early enough to avoid a crisis, why did that happen? What does this say about the culture and politics of the company? About the competence and courage of the leadership?

Watkins' approach can help all managers more clearly identify the specific challenges of the type of transition they are experiencing – for example promotion vs. joining a new company vs moving between functions – and adjust their tactics accordingly.

The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the learnings from prior interviews with thought leaders in learning organization conceptual development. Prior interviews with Karen Watkins, Victoria Marsick, Michael Marquardt, Bob Garratt and Peter Senge are included in the summary, which is an interim step as The Learning Organization continues to explore the learning organization history and evolution.

The paper summarizes prior interviews to uncover commonalities and differences in the development and evolution of the learning organization concepts as described by thought leaders.

Both commonalities and differences exist in definition, development of theory and resilience since original publication. Common threads in concept develop appear across the authors mainly in influences by Revans, Argyris and Schön. Differences also exist in how each author developed learning organization constructs.

The synthesis reveals that although the learning organization may have differing definitions, there are commonalities that tie some concepts together. Additional interviews will be continued in the exploration of the learning organization evolution.

Much of the negotiation literature involves two parties that are each assumed to behave in a unitary manner, although a growing body of knowledge considers more complex negotiations. Examples of the latter include two parties where one or both parties do not behave in a unitary manner, multiple parties on one or both sides, parties on multiple sides and parties engaged in separate but linked negotiations. Greater degrees of complexity distinguish these negotiations from negotiations with two unitary parties.

The purpose of this study was to provide a model for informal workplace learning. Despite the prevalence and recognized importance of informal learning in the workplace, scattered literature and different perspectives have caused a lack of shared understanding about its nature, and little research effort has been made in this direction so far.

This paper identified the most significant components of informal workplace learning using the qualitative meta-synthesis method. For this purpose, after searching sources from different databases and screening them, 17 sources were selected due to compatibility with the research criteria. The texts extracted from the sources were analyzed using a thematic analysis method and synthesized using an aggregation approach. Finally, a themes network was created as a model with 8 main components and 11 sub-components.

The results indicated that eight components were considered significant to informal workplace learning, including learning stimulus, awareness and intent to learn, action or experience, critical reflection on action, facilitators, collective learning, self-directed and context.

This meta-synthesis contributes to the coherence and integration of the informal workplace learning literature. The obtained conceptual model, in addition to the general components of informal workplace learning, provides an explanation of the characteristics of each and the relationships between its components to achieve a complete understanding of the nature of informal workplace learning. Since no study has been done so far to comprehensively identify the most significant components of informal workplace learning, it is not possible to refer to their results in comparison with the results of this study.

The actions taken during the first three months of a new job will largely determine whether you succeed or fail in the long term. The goal should be transition acceleration, not just failure prevention. This article offers a blueprint for addressing the linked challenges of personal transition and organizational transformation that confront all leaders in their first few months in a new job. Five propositions are: (1) The root causes of transition failure always lie in a pernicious interaction between the situation (with its opportunities and pitfalls), and the individual (with his/her strengths and vulnerabilities); (2) There are systematic methods that leaders can employ to both lessen the likelihood of failure and reach the breakeven point faster; (3) The overriding goal in a transition is to build momentum by creating virtuous cycles that build credibility and by avoiding getting caught in vicious cycles that damage credibility; (4) Transitions are a crucible for leadership development and should be managed accordingly. They strengthen diagnostic skills, demand growth and adaptation, and test personal stamina. Transitioning is a teachable skill; (5) Adoption of a standard framework for accelerating transitions can yield big returns for organizations. Everyone (bosses, direct reports, and peers) needs to speak the same “transition language”. Match leadership strategy to situation – methodically diagnose the situation and match your strategy to it: Step one – Diagnose the business situation. The four broad types of business situations: start‐up, turnaround, realignment, and sustaining success. Each presents a distinct set of challenges. This article defines actions for each. Step two – create a 90‐day transition acceleration plan. A framework of the ten key transition challenges is included in the article.

As the world watched the tragic events of September 11 unfold, people’s immediate thought was of the lives this disaster would claim. But Jeffrey W. Greenberg, CEO of Marsh & McLennan Companies, had more to deal with than most and neither hysteria nor silent shock was an option. Not only did he need to come to terms with this tragedy on a personal level, but like hundreds of other leaders across the world, his firm and its workforce had just taken a tremendous blow, and he needed to react fast. As he puts it himself, “I needed to get to my office and start dealing with what this atrocity meant for MMC”.

The author believes that it is crucial to follow a comprehensive framework for making transitions, one that distills the experience of many leaders facing a diverse range of situations when taking on a new job or a promotion.

The author, an internationally known consultant, has distilled the experience of many leaders facing a diverse range of onboarding situations into a learning framework.

New leaders must be systematic and focused about deciding what they need to learn and how they will learn it most efficiently.

A leader's successful transition into a new position depends on the ability to influence people outside direct line of control. Supportive alliances, both internal and external, are necessary if leaders are to achieve their goals.

The author shows the potential benefits to the organization from systematically accelerating everyone's learning during major transitions.