Former Baxter International CEO and current Kellogg Professor Harry Kraemer has written a terrific column titled, "What Every New CEO Should Do In Their First 30 Days." His lessons apply to people who take on new leadership roles at all levels. My favorite piece of advice focuses on finding the right sounding board. You need to keep a few truth-tellers close to you. These are the people who will give you the unvarnished perspective. They will help you stay grounded too. Kraemer writes,
The higher you rise, the more essential it becomes to have people who will tell you the truth. For me, that person is my wife, Julie. Whenever I was promoted—including when I became CEO of Baxter International, a $12 billion healthcare company—she would always say how proud she was of me. In the next breath she would remind me, “Harry, we’re not going to change the way we live, right?”
In the same way, you need a sounding board composed of a variety of people, such as a spouse or partner or close friend, a board member (or two), a former colleague now leading another company, or a professional coach. Each of these people has a unique perspective on you, your leadership, and the kind of support and honesty to remind you of who you are, as a person, not just as a leader.
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