For the Corporate India's Hot-Steppers

YOU have just taken over the hot seat. Chances are that the media has already announced your high-profile entry. Most likely, you have upgraded from a CXO to the top job and that you have negotiated a thick fat pay packet for yourself. Congratulatory calls and messages haven't stopped coming. Your peers are envious and your family is proud. But perhaps deep within, you are a bundle of emotions - excitement wrapped in anxiety. Settling down in a new job always has its ups and downs. If it is the top job, it is even more so. Your outsider status, your predecessor's not-so-smooth exit, company making headlines for the wrong reasons - any or all of these issues can only make your first few days feel a lot more complicated and challenging than they actually are. Here is our guide to making the right moves on the first few days: Listen and observe: This is one quality that is crucial to you in those first few days to get the dissonance, anxieties and the real picture. The chief executive officer of GAP spent his first 100 days just listening to his employees. Do your homework: You need to know the company and its culture. You also need to have a good sense of all the executives' one level down. Deal with internal contenders for the top job carefully, smartly and sensitively. Tread cautiously amid crisis: If taking charge amid a crisis, prepare a white paper on the business status, get it passed by the board within a month of joining. Eight months later, if things go haywire, it will help you save your back. No-no to all the comfort zones: Avoid building a coterie or hiring your old favorites immediately after taking charge - as this may alienate older executives. You need to first take stock of people on board before looking out. Warm up before you run: The first 90 days are critical - list out your priorities, future direction clearly, but don't attempt an overnight shake-up. Maintaining a fine balance between the accessible-inaccessible and formal-informal is critical.   TimesJobs