Shaping the role itself
Do this first — a fuzzy new role with no charter is a trap.
A brand-new cross-BU role with no definition gets judged against everyone's private assumptions. Before you start, get agreement in writing — and draft the charter yourself.
Key ideas
- 1
Lock six things with your sponsor in writing: mandate & scope, authority (mandate vs advise + budget), success metrics, the operating model (hub-and-spoke), visible exec backing, and protected time.
- 2
Draft a one-page role charter yourself and bring it to them — don't wait to be handed one.
- 3
Leading the definition of your own role is itself the first proof you're right for it.
- 4
Exec air cover makes “influence without authority” work dramatically better across BUs.
Get these six in writing
- Mandate & scope — which teams/BUs; what you own vs influence vs advise.
- Authority — what you can mandate (e.g. the paved road) vs recommend; your budget.
- Success metrics — the 4–6 numbers you'll be judged on (agree them now).
- Operating model — endorse hub-and-spoke so teams give champions' time.
- Backing — explicit, visible exec sponsorship so cross-BU leaders take it seriously.
- Time protection — guard your ~20–30% build time and enablement time from ad-hoc requests.
If you do nothing else
Lock the mandate → master evals + governance (your authority) → ship the eval harness & gateway paved road → scale through champions & the guild → measure honestly and report up.
Watch
Do the work
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Why draft the role charter yourself rather than wait for one?
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