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Here are five choice articles from the business press to start off your work week. I'm pointing you to articles about taking over, losing touch, Kraft Foods' transformation and danger, and views of what makes a great leader.

From Forbes: Seven Rules for Succeeding As a Brand-New Leader
"The actions you take during your first few months in a new role have a major influence on whether you ultimately succeed or fail. Transitions are pivotal times, in part because they are when everyone expects change to occur. They're also times of great vulnerability, when new leaders lack established working relationships and detailed knowledge of their new roles. If you fail to build momentum during your transition, you will face an uphill battle from then on. What does it take to make a successful transition into a new role? My research has led me to compile seven rules that can help any newly appointed leader take charge more effectively:"

Wally's Comment: Michael Watkins, author of The First 90 Days, shares advice for people who are newly promoted to leadership roles. The promotion from individual contributor to boss is the toughest in business. My post on "Rip van Winkle Promotions" covered some of the same ground.

From Kellogg Insight: Losing Touch
"With great power comes great responsibility, so goes the famous saying.  But responsibility is not all that seems to accompany puissance—dictators often exhibit extreme behavior, often in ways patently detrimental to their nations; managers are often accused of not understanding their subordinates’ points of view; and the dominant partner in a relationship often accused of being insensitive to the other’s needs. People in power, it seems, are prone to dismiss or, at the very least, misunderstand the viewpoints of those who lack authority."

Wally's Comment: The closer you come to the top of the page on the org chart, the easier it is to lose touch with the world out there. This articles shares the results of academic research on the subject. The people who report to you will filter everything through their own self-interest. That's human nature. Your challenge is to develop independent sources of information and impressions. Wandering around is a good start.

From Strategy + Business: Inside the Kraft Foods Transformation
"When a company’s corporate core gets too far from its businesses, from the marketplace, and from its consumers, then a new organizational model may be needed. That was true of Kraft Foods when I returned as chief executive in June 2006. I had just spent three years running the Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo, where decision making was highly decentralized. That experience had reminded me how powerful it is when people come to work every day aligned with and focused only on the business, rather than on the internal organizational demands.

Wally's Comment: The strength of this article is that it shares the perspectives of several Kraft executives, including Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld, on a three year turnaround that included major changes in decision making.

From the Economist: Food fight
"Kraft and Cadbury need to think about the loyalty of future consumers as well as existing ones."

Wally's Comment: After you've read about the changes in Kraft decision and strategy making, read this short piece about possible implications of the way that the Cadbury acquisition is being handled. I'm frankly puzzled by this. If my research is right, companies who are good at acquisitions, such as Cisco, ITW, and Avnet, simply don't do hostile takeovers. Could this be a case where the lust to acquire and grow overcomes the very real possibility that acquisition will be a failure?

From the Graziado Business Report: Eight Key Attributes of Effective Leaders
"Over the past few years the Graziado School and Farmers' Insurance Group have sponsored the Dean's Executive Leadership Series (DELS), which features in-depth interviews with today's top business practitioners and thought leaders. Many of these discussions have been on effective leadership. With the Wall Street scandals, the housing debacle, the mistrust of many politicians and government leaders, and the failure of too many media outlets to present factual and unbiased news, there is a critical need for strong, values-driven leaders to emerge. Below are eight key attributes of effective leaders along with words of advice from various DELS speakers on why they are so important."

Wally's Comment: This is a great piece. It's like a candy sampler of bite-sized observations about leadership shared by people who should know what good leadership is.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.