The Challenges of Bringing Yahoo a Turnaround from Google

In light of my last blog post about cultural strengths, and my newsletter that went out in late July (Strengths Drive Business Success, Weaknesses May Block It), I think the timing is right for a discussion of what former Google executive Marissa Mayer may face in her new role at the helm of Yahoo. Can Mayer succeed at turning Yahoo around? It will depend heavily upon how well her valuable expertise gained at Google can be applied in a way that can be a good fit for Yahoo.

Google has been very successful. Mayer has experienced Google’s success first hand. Yahoo is in a business that is closely related to Google’s. These factors would seem to set the stage for Mayer having considerable related background to help dispel some of the challenges faced by leaders recruited from the outside.

Nonetheless, Mayer will still face the challenges that plague outsiders. As an executive skilled at achieving in Google’s culture, she faces the challenge of leading in an environment where the corporate culture differs from the one where she previously thrived. As my previous blog post and the Harvard Business Review article it commented on both said, success comes via starting from the culture that’s already there. And, as I have said many times before, including in my newsletter that just went out, success comes from building upon strengths. Mayer’s challenge will be to intermingle her strengths, and what she can bring from Google’s strengths, into Yahoo’s strengths or into what can successfully evolve into Yahoo’s strengths. She’ll need to start with what’s already there, although this may include uncovering opportunities to develop any latent strengths Yahoo may have that may currently be disguised as what seems to be weaknesses.

It is not unusual for CEOs recruited from outside to err by relying too heavily on the ways of their former employer. And, this can be extremely tempting when the newly recruited CEO is from a highly successful company, as is the case with Mayer coming from Google. So, like any top executive who comes from the outside, Mayer must resist the temptation to lead in a way that fits at her former company much better than at her new employer. She cannot just go in and try to make Yahoo a carbon copy of Google. She will have to find ways to adapt what she brings from Google so that it’s right for Yahoo. That is a major challenge that must be dealt with if Mayer and Yahoo are to succeed.

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