The Critical First Days of Citigroup's New CEO

You don't get a second chance to make a first impression, the wise old saying goes. That's why the first days of new Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit are so crucial to both his success and the company's future.

Read Michael Watkins and Dan Ciampa's advice to the new CEO, then put yourself in Pandit's shoes. What would be your first actions to right the listing financial services behemoth?

Davenport's menu of early executive actions can help anyone taking over a new leadership position:

Identifiy critical alliances.
Quickly get the right team in place.
Secure early wins.
Develop a framework for effective communication.
Share your vision.
Build a network for obtaining balanced advice.

What would you add to Davenport's to-do list?

Sean Silverthorne

Sean Silverthorne is the editor of HBS Working Knowledge, which provides a first look at the research and ideas of Harvard Business School faculty. Working Knowledge, which won a Webby award in 2007, currently records 4 million unique visitors a year. He has been with HBS since 2001.

Silverthorne has 28 years experience in print and online journalism. Before arriving at HBS, he was a senior editor at CNET and executive editor of ZDNET News. While at At Ziff-Davis, Silverthorne also worked on the daily technology TV show The Site, and was a senior editor at PC Week Inside, which chronicled the business of the technology industry. He has held several reporting and editing roles on a variety of newspapers, and was Investor Business Daily's first journalist based in Silicon Valley.

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