COMMON TRAPS

Access to intelligence can be a challenge for women, yet sometimes unwitting obstacles prevent them from learning as much as they can about a prospective role. From the stories women told us we have isolated four key mistakes that can lead women (and men) to narrow the range of issues they consider when assessing a new positionwith unfortunate results. In different ways, the traps short-circuit the search for additional intelligence. By casting an opportunity in black-or-white terms, they still any incentive to search out the nuanced information or multiple perspectives that lead to an informed decision about whether to take on the role. They tempt the unsuspecting to leave unexplored issues that should be put on the table for negotiation. The power of these traps shows up in the frequent refrain: "If I'd only known then what I know now...."

• "Fit doesn't matter; it's performance that counts. " Some people underestimate the difficulties that can be encountered during transitions into new roles. Casually assuming that they will fit in once on the job, they can downplay the impact of the organization's culture and fail to appreciate the inextricable link between their eventual success and perceptions of their suitability. Others in the organization have to feel that the new leader's style is in synch with organizational norms, and they judge qualifications through that filter. This maxim holds whether the new leader is promoted from within or recruited from outside. New leaders run into trouble when they screen out signals of a bad cultural fit as noise.

  Kelly, attracted to a strategic marketing firm because of its cutting-edge methodology and its span across industries, took over a struggling account in the automotive industry. ^{[ 2]} A self-taught marketer, she casually assumed that if she delivered results nobody would care that she did not have the proper pedigree. With a great deal of sweat and little support, Kelly turned the account around and the client into a staunch supporter. "Then they brought in a strategy person from Harvard who had worked at one of the premier consulting firms to take over." The company wanted the account turned around; she was right on that score. But it was also inordinately concerned with its image. That preoccupation surfaced early in the ever-so- slight condescension and patronizing tone Kelly detected during the interviewing process. But she never pursued these signs and never negotiated a safety net tied to performance. "I didn't have a big school name or the proper consulting credentials.... He's now running a well-oiled machine that is churning out revenue that I developed."

  New leaders are not always judged solely on their performance. Intelligence about the strategic business needs driving a particular assignment may not be enough. You have to probe deeper into the organization's underlying norms and values. Ignoring dissonance on this front can prove costly.

• "This is such a wonderful job; I'd be a fool not to take it. " A role can present such a big step forward in responsibility that intelligence is deliberately not gathered. The opportunity looms so great that it overshadows any need to investigate the downside. The CEO of a neighborhood health plan put the matter succinctly: "I wanted the top job. I didn't want to hear anything that would discourage me." Unfortunately, potential problems do not disappear with the suppression of evidence. They simply go underground where they cannot be worked through.

  A prestigious title, a company with instant name recognition and credibility, greater authorityall hold out a seductive promise: "I've finally made it with this appointment." With rose-colored glasses firmly in place, it is easy to overlook the hard work ahead and to forgo gathering the intelligence that makes that work possible. Sheila managed the direct sales efforts to attract first-time investors to her financial services firm. Having grown up at the company, she felt a tremendous loyalty to it, but worried about her future there. The company, following an industry-wide trend, had shifted its growth strategy to focus on institutional investors, and her department was rapidly becoming an orphan, with little visibility and decreasing impact on the bottom line. Sheila felt stuck. Then she got a tantalizing call from a recruiter. Would she consider a move? A discount brokerage firm was in the process of acquiring a trust company to expand its customer base. The move would put Sheila where the action waswith high-net worth clients . After watching her department lose influence, she jumped at the chance to work on the side of the business that everyone watched.

  Sheila failed to gather intelligence that would have been hers for the askingthe high rate of turnover among associates and burnout among key executives at the discount brokerage. Without that intelligence, she could not negotiate for the kind of training and development that would be needed to stem the outflow of associates or for the safety net that would provide her some security in the pressure-cooker environment she was thinking about entering.

  Blinded by excitement and challenge, it is easy to overlook the things that will block you. The benefits of an opportunity can, of course, outweigh the obvious negatives . The important thing is to take on an assignment aware of the downside. By drilling deep you can get past the sales pitch. Rather than ignore or suppress the bad news, let that bad news contribute to an informed decision and provide the foundation for some serious negotiation.

• " I love a challenge; I can't wait to tackle this problem. " Successful people are often optimistic, convinced they can tip the odds in their favor by sheer will and energy. Before charting the dimensions of the problem they will face in the new role, they naively assume that they can make it better. "That's an interesting problem; I can solve it."

  An executive in health care insurance relished the high-risk profile of turnaround situations or problem areas.

  It's a challenge to get in and fix something. The upside to fixing a problem area far outweighs going into an area that is status quo, which everybody thinks is fine. If things are going well and you come on board and change one thing and it messes something else up, everybody says, "Uh, oh. "

  Zeroing in on the risk profile of a potential assignment is a key part of intelligence gathering. But this analysis tells only half the story. Interesting problems do make for interesting jobs. Problem solving, however, is seldom a solitary undertaking. Cooperation and resources are integral components of success. Focus only on the workthe what and you might uncover the intellectual challenges ahead. But in all likelihood you will miss significant roadblocks . Intelligence on the how how the work will get done and how much support it will enjoyis equally important.

  Caroline, a biotechnology executive with enviable connections within the venture capital world, discovered the high cost of the Fix-It syndrome. Wanting to be where the action was in small- molecule drug development, she left a top- tier biotech firm to take a position with a small start-up. The prospect of helping to build a company from the ground up was intoxicating. "I thought I'd be able to fix the problems and turn the company around. I saw some warning signals, but I ignored them."

  After twenty years in the industry, Caroline took it for granted that the company's founders knew how to "form and structure a business." She excused some questionable practices as a lack of business sense. That she would supply. "They were spending money on frivolous things like a logo. They were paying consultants way too much for stuff that didn't need to be done." Caroline was sure she could fix that. Not long after she walked in the door, she realized her optimistic assumptions had been overly generous. She had overlooked some serious issues.

  The founders didn't lack business sense. They knew exactly what they were doing. Their friends worked for the companies that they were giving business to; they were buttering each other's bread.

  Fixing problems is basic to leadership positions . But more is involved than coming up with a brilliant solution. Some problems prove more intractable than expected not because they are inherently more complex but because the organization lacks the collective will or the resources to solve them. However tantalizing the problem, it is a good idea to temper the Fix-It syndrome with concrete intelligence on the problem's prospects for solution.

• "I don't have much choice; I have to take this on. " A lot of situations can make you feel boxed in. Perhaps your company is going through a merger and you would be grateful to land anywhere . You may have spent a long time with your firm and have a gloomy view of your prospects elsewhere. You may be at a point in your career or with a company where second chances are few and far between. Turn down a promotion and the powers that be will think twice about offering another. In an era of downsizing, mergers, and increasing pressure for more productivity, there may not be much room at the top. Pass up an offer and another will not necessarily come along. Our stories are peppered with vignettes from women who thought they had no choice.

The assumption becomes problematic , however, by extension. Little perceived choice on the initial decision translates into no choice at all. The assumption frames the decision making in categorical termsYes, I will accept; No, I won'tand forecloses the possibility of "Yes, but" or, better yet, "Yes, and." Even when you do not think much of your bargaining position, there is almost always room to maneuver. Taking on an assignmentaccepting that no is not an optiondoes not mean that there are no other options to negotiate. However constrained the initial choice about taking on the role, there remain multiple points that can be negotiated on just what that role entails (and will need).

Karen, a veteran with a Fortune 100 consumer product company, was asked to take over integrating the R&D functions after a merger. "The role was difficult. The guy there was a caretaker who couldn't wait to get out." But Karen did not think she had much choice at that point and accepted the assignment. Trapped by feelings that she could not say no, she never drilled down to find out whether there were negotiable elements. The job might have been reconfigured to mitigate the difficulties ahead.

It is fine to recognize the perils of saying no in various organizations or of passing on an offer from a new firm. The danger comes in thinking that a yes carries across the board and forecloses the possibility of negotiating the terms of that acceptance.

^{[ 2]} To protect privacy and ensure candor we have disguised the names of the women who appear in our stories, although we quote them, and have masked the identities of their companies.