18 Months

Congratulations! You've just been hired to head a company as its CEO or become the executive of a major division or subsidiary. You've been selected to lead the company or division because the business is under-performing or, worse, is in trouble. Competition abounds. The Board of Directors is impatient. Your hiring is a bold move and trumpets -- to the investment community, the market, internal leadership and employees alike -- that winning is a priority, that compromise is passe, and that hope for the future is bright.

Your job: Turn the business around. Fast.

Indeed, while no one says so explicitly, the clock has already started. And even while the communication regarding your appointment suggests that "This reflects our long-term commitment to our shareholders and key stakeholders" and, "This is a very large ship that will take time -- and all of us working together -- to turn around", a diverse set of constituents has begun a timer. A timer that does not count infinitely, but, instead, only to 18. As in months.

Because, regardless of the beautiful steed you rode in on, you've got only about 18 months to effect change.

Think this unfair? Do you think to yourself that it took years for the company or division to have developed these problems; years to have fallen behind in technology, production capabilities, employee development; years to have failed to develop adequate leaders and sufficient bench strength; years to have devolved an elegant organization structure into something that resembles the scribbling of a toddler; years to have destroyed the culture that attracted top talent, supported high-performing teams and accelerated growth; years to have tarnished our once proud and dominant brand?

All true. Even so, you still have only about 18 months to turn things around. Nobody said life was fair. Fun, yes. Fair, no.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's take a brief timeout. (Not to worry. This will only be a 30-second timeout.) We need a moment to grapple with something important, namely:

What's the deal with new leaders only having 18 months to make change?

Good question. Not terribly surprising, our work, supported by just about every study on the topic, suggests that individuals brought in to fix problems have between 12 - 18 months before patience for change wears thin. This is regardless of the magnitude of the problems inherited. It turns out that while we as humans will tolerate long, slow, painful declines, we have a short fuse when it comes to fixes. Think of weight gain. (Okay, don't. But it is a good example.) We'll tolerate a slow and steady expansion of the waist. But when we're finally ready to act, the damn diet and work out regimen better work and fast! If they don't, we'll try something else. And then something else yet again.

The same holds true for leadership. A year, for most of us, is a fair amount of time to allow you, our new leader, to develop and implement plans to make appropriate change. And, hey, given vacations and summer, we'll let that 1-year deadline slide a bit. Generous of us, no? But if we haven't seen a new direction and, critically, results in 18 months, we may have to start looking for someone who can get the job done.

We are, indeed, an incredibly impatient animal.

Time in. Back to the action.

With widespread support and great fanfare, you've been selected to fix huge problems that have taken years to develop. And despite the contract you signed, specifying salary and years, you should know that a clock is ticking. A peculiar clock it is, too, as the ticking grows increasingly loud as it approaches and passes the 1-year mark.

Sound familiar? It should. Because we're witnessing a stunning example of this dynamic right before our eyes. President Obama has been in office only several days beyond a year and is already dealing with the impatience of the American people. Fixed the economy yet? Delivered health care reform? Guantanamo closed as you said it would be? Oh, and what about those two wars we're fighting? Dude, what have you been up to?

The defining moment -- regardless of its direct relevance -- was the Republican victory in the Massachusetts race for the Senate seat vacated by Ted Kennedy. The immediate outcome, of course, was 3-fold:

• Elimination of the 60-40 Democrat-Republican split in the Senate that prevented Republican filibustering and ensured the passage of any bill supported by the Democrats

• Wind in the sails of the Republicans, who could now, for the first time in months, claim victory for something they did (rather that something they prevented), and

• A backing off of the health care reform debate by the Democrats.

In the midst of this, could you hear the ever-increasing volume of that 18-month clock? Tick tock, indeed.

Too bad Obama didn't think to call us. Had he, we would have told him the same thing we tell all new executives hired to make substantive change:

1. Define a vision for the enterprise
   
2. Clearly articulate 'success', identifying a short list of accomplishments that must be achieved in the next 12-18 months.
   
3. Create a leadership team that you trust, that will achieve the vision, and that will operate in your style.
   
4. Identify individuals who can support the leadership team and who will operate in your style. (You'll need them for special projects and key leadership roles.)
   
5. Invite others in the organization to join you in your quest. Accept those who can perform to your standards and who will operate in your style. Ask all others to seek work elsewhere.
6. Outline a plan to achieve the short list of accomplishments that you established.
7. Measure your progress monthly during your first 18 months. Quarterly thereafter.

And we could have showed him how to do this.

President Obama, enough with the compromise. Enough with your penchant for 'reaching across the aisle'. Enough with your inclusiveness-to-a-fault style. (I mean, really. You invited, of all people, George W. to help with Haiti? Isn't he the guy who didn't seem all that interested in saving his own people after Katrina?) It's time to get tough with your own party. What have they been doing with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that 60 votes in the Senate affords?

You're the President. You've got the big stick. It's time to use it.

Tick tock. Tick TOCK. TICK TOCK.