After the thrill of promotion to an executive position comes the sobering reality of how difficult it is to succeed at this level, and how hard it can be to find help. Some 40 percent of new executives don't last 18 months. Why do so many employees with strong track records derail when promoted to the executive suite?
In The Next Level, Scott Eblin draws on 20 years of experience as a leader and executive coach to identify why new executives fail and offers a practical program for achieving success. Rising executives must understand that the strengths and actions that drove their career progress at lower level, such as technical prowess, will not necessarily sustain their success as executives. They need to adopt new behaviors and beliefs, and, more important, let go of old ones. Eblin identifies nine sets of opposing behaviors that can make or break new executives and describes how to handle them. To illustrate his points, he interviews 30 accomplished senior executives who offer candid, mentoring stories about breaking into the executive ranks and what worked and didn't work for them.
Beyond this tactical advice, Eblin provides a framework for transformational behavior and thinking for creating executive presence, the confidence that is critical for success. The book concludes with a process for readers who want to identify their highest-priority development opportunities and work to improve their executive-level potential.
