- There will be moments, especially in the beginning where circumstances and situations will become extremely frustrating. Try to avoid showing your frustration to the rest of the staff. Never say things such as “I should have never bought this business”, and never tell the employees that you overpaid for the company or that the previous owner and/or its management misrepresented the current business situation.
- Dress codes vary from business to business and geographical location. But as you are the new owner employees will take their lead from you as to how they should dress. If you come to work in blue jeans and a polo top you cannot expect your employees to be wearing business suits.
- If appropriate in the business that you have acquired, I strongly suggest formal management meetings at least once a week while you are in your learning curve. If after a couple of months once a week appears to be to often, there is very little for anyone to actually report, then you can change the meetings to bi-weekly or once a month.
The first meeting, which should take place within a few days of your arrival, should be with your senior managers to confirm their authorities and responsibilities, to provide them with an overview of what you expect from them at minimum in the short term and outline any immediate changes that you are planning within the business and its framework.
- You should, if appropriate to the business you have acquired, have individual meetings with all of your senior personnel. I like to use an interview method that I believe was originally developed by Amgen CEO Kevin Sharer (if Kevin Sharer was not the developer of the method then I apologize to the individual who did for not giving them their due credit).
The method is based on asking the identical questions to each of your senior managers:
- What about this company do you want to preserve, and why?
- What about this company do you want to change, and why?
- What do you hope I do?
- What are you concerned I might do?
- What are you concerned I might not do?
- What is your most important tool for figuring out what the customer wants?
By collating the answers to the aforementioned questions you may be quite amazed at the direction the company is currently heading in and the capabilities and overall attitudes of your senior executives towards the company’s business in general.
- I am always wary of the overly friendly employee who on day one wants to be your best friend, take you under their wing and/or be of any help they possibly can. They will advise you on whom you can trust within the organization and whom you cannot. They will advise you on who is having an affair with whom and whose spouse is a drunk or drug addict. The end result is that they are trying to gain your trust and confidence. Remember that anyone who is prepared to break trusts and/or spread rumors about others is more than prepared to break your trust and/or spread rumors about you!