How to Lead a Corporate Spin-Off: The Tech Leader's Survival Guide to a Strategic Divestiture - Paperback

by Leda Csanka (Author)

How to Lead a Corporate Spin-Off is not only for technology leaders who need to lead their organization through a corporate spin-off, but any leader responsible for organizational change and transformation. The breadth and scope of a spin-off effort is vast. The process is both exciting and overwhelming at the same time. It can be unclear how to begin and where to turn for support. Know that you don't have to tackle this alone. That's where How to Lead a Corporate Spin-Off comes in.In How to Lead a Corporate Spin-Off, you'll learn the ropes about leading a spin-off from an accomplished expert: Leda Csanka. From leading two successful divestiture efforts, first as a CIO and the second as a consultant, Leda gained valuable insights and learned key lessons, which she imparts in this book. Leda aims for other CIOs and CTOs to begin their spin-off efforts with some best practices, avoid mistakes, be better prepared for hidden risks, and, ultimately, successfully reach the other side.In How to Lead a Corporate Spin-Off Leda presents the spin-off effort in a framework of five principles. Each principle offers valuable lessons, insider dos and don'ts, and a plethora of ideas. Here is more info on those five principles: Prepare: Planning and PartnersLearn the importance of partners and begin with a list of strategic decisions required early on in the effort. Streamline your process and gain confidence in your recommendations with critical vendor selection criteria.PeopleBuild the right team and lead them to success with proven strategies for both creating the right culture and improving the communication of your team. Learn which roles are critical and when to recruit for them.Program ManagementFirst, think of the spin-off effort as a program. Next fast-track the effort by breaking it into a set of workstreams. Avoid mistakes and reduce risk from Leda's lessons learned from the school of "Hard Knox."Production ReadyStart with a plan on how to both prepare and structure your organization for success. This is more than testing applications in the new data center. You need to create all new operational procedures and processes for your organization.PacingPace yourself and your team for the road ahead. Remember, "This is a marathon, not a sprint." Avoid burnout and get everyone to the finish line together Consider How to Lead a Corporate Spin-Off a roadmap, a playbook, and a set of reminders that you can pull out and review to remind yourself and your team that you don't have to walk this journey alone. There are others who have traveled this path, and you can learn from their experiences.See this book as your survival guide that Leda Csanka developed from her analysis of two very specific spin-off efforts that she led and the lessons she learned on the job from day-to-day combat in the trenches. Leda led her teams to success on both divestitures, and she wants to help you do the same. Woven throughout the chapters, you'll learn Leda's story of what it takes to grow from a middle manager in a large company to chief information officer (CIO) overnight, who then must lead a spin-off. You'll read about the struggles and lessons learned along the way. These are practical lessons and advice from someone who made some good decisions, had some good luck, and also learned from her mistakes. "I want you to feel that you and your team are not in this alone, but rather, you have the practical advice of someone who has navigated this path before you. I've led not just one divestiture/spin-off but two. One as a new CIO and the second as an independent consultant who came out of retirement to help lead the second group through the last five months of their effort that had gotten a little off-track."-Leda Csank