It’s June. Summer is here for many of us. Students are graduating. The trees are in full bloom. It feels like a time of new opportunities and great possibilities. This week, we share advice from former executives on how to navigate the opening stages of two critical career junctures. 

First, Kellogg’s Harry Kraemer offers incoming CEOs a gameplan for their first 30 days in the role. 

Then, Kellogg’s Thomas O’Toole offers advice for a career leap that may get less attention, but which requires a comprehensive plan of its own: charting a post-corporate life.

The new CEO playbook 

One of the toughest tasks new CEOs face is setting the tone for their tenure at the top. Whether they are promoted from within or brought in from outside, it is crucial that they quickly create an environment for the team to thrive. Harry Kraemer has a plan for incoming CEOs to build trust and get employees behind them during their first month in the position. 

“As a new CEO, executives must avoid the trap of making it all about them and instead create an environment in which talented people want to work for them,” Kraemer writes in Forbes.

Stepping into the role means entering a fishbowl of scrutiny from colleagues, inevitable comparisons to past CEOs, and other public pressures. Kraemer recommends a focus on self-reflection to help keep the new role in perspective while striving to be relatable as a leader.

Central to that relatability is instilling confidence in the organization and its talent. “As a new CEO, you need to engage others, starting with the senior people across the organization, with assurance that their feedback and input are not only important but also required,” Kraemer writes.

Leadership changes are also a great opportunity for an organization to calibrate its strategy for the future—and to establish the new CEO’s focus. As an example, he points to new Apple CEO John Ternus and the challenge he faces in adapting the tech giant to the AI era.

“As a new CEO, you face the same expectations: to not simply follow other companies but to create the change to which others react,” Kraemer writes.  

Read more in Forbes. 

Setting the next stage

As O’Toole reached the later stages of his C-suite career, which culminated in being chief marketing officer at United Airlines, he intentionally designed a post-corporate life that merged his expertise and his interest in passing that wisdom on to a new generation of leaders.

O’Toole, like many senior executives, saw a combination of corporate board service, consulting, and teaching as a rewarding mix. But there are important questions to ask about each of those activities. Not all types of board service, teaching, or consulting are alike, and there is a lot of room to design a career that fits your interests, experience, and purpose—if done intentionally.  

“It’s important to know and be clear about what you’re getting into,” O’Toole says.

Clarifying your purpose—the “why” that drives you—is paramount.

Then, be clear about what you are willing and able to commit to when it comes to taking on new responsibilities. Teaching, for example, can range from occasionally visiting a class to something more substantial.

“This is where it requires very intentional, critical thinking to go from these big, broad starting points to answer for yourself, ‘Okay, what does this really mean in practice?’” he says.  

O’Toole stresses that it is never too early to begin planning your post-corporate life. Retiring and taking time off can make returning to a warm and active network difficult. 

“It doesn’t just happen,” he says. “The most critical questions to ask yourself are, ‘How do I want to use my time and why?’” 

Read more in Kellogg Insight.