Three Modern Forces Complicating the Manager-to-Leader Transition
By
by Michael D. Watkins
A second-rack bagel that's nearly first-rack. Tasty stuff.
Summary
The article discusses how the transition from functional manager to enterprise leader has become more challenging due to three emerging forces: governing AI systems that leaders only partially understand, operating across shifting regulatory and political landscapes, and arriving in senior roles with fewer preparatory experiences than in the past. It updates a classic HBR framework on leadership transitions to reflect these modern complexities.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledThe transition from functional leader to enterprise leader has always been difficult. But the nature of the difficulty has both changed and increased.
The executives I work with today face challenges that barely existed a decade ago: governing AI systems they only partially understand.
Operating across borders where the regulatory and political ground shifts quarter to quarter.
Arriving in enterprise roles with fewer of the preparatory experiences that once eased the leap.
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