One of the problems with fiefdoms (then and now) is that the resources being held in fief may not be renewable, or worse, may provide little value due to mismanagment. Here's a quick analogy. I have an 8 month old Field Spaniel named Bear that now sleeps on a few of my old, discarded towels in his crate. This is because Bear has shredded and chewed copious amounts of stuffing out of every other type of padded bedding I've supplied for his crate. He is eating his fiefdom and I have to keep replacing it! Bear doesn't know it yet, but he will soon loose what little comfort the towels have been providing if he doesn't grow out of this chew-everything stage fast. That's because, absent those expensive crate liners from PetSmart, he's now eating and sometimes ingesting chucks of his towels - along with wooden chair legs, soft plastic toys and just about anything else he finds interesting. This despite all the really tough Nylabones and beef marrow bones I regularly give him, which are meant for strong chewers like Bear and are even digestible. Oh, he pays cursory attention to those for a while, but then goes back to worrying away at the wrong things - his towels. His focus is tremendous - but his priorities are askew. Plus, late night emergency room visits are just too expensive to let this continue, despite the fact that I fully expect Bear to return much value in the form of flushing and retreiving upland gamebirds over the course of his life.
(Here's Bear at about 2 mos. old enjoying what's left of a fleece chew toy - this was before his adult teeth started coming in and the real trouble began.)
Of course, Bear gets a pass for destroying my property (let alone his digestive system). After all, he didn't come to me with promises about his stellar resource management skills.
Not so when it comes to accepting a new management position, especially one with people and/or P&L responsibility. Like it or not, as a new hire you're not only inheriting the previous manager's responsibilities, you could also be inheriting some pet projects that have gone awry - or worse, neglected responsibilities and interdepartment commitments, which you may only find out about once your sitting at the new desk. Of course, there are other fiefdom issues that come with new positions as well. Namely, the territorial and resource "land grabs" that can easily happen in the wake of a vacant management or executive officer post.My advice for candidates who are about to assume a management position where the predecessor is no longer at the company: have an open and positive discussion with the hiring manager BEFORE your first day about potential areas of neglect or existing projects you'll need to pay special attention to; as well as any responsibilities that have been delegated to other managers on a "temporary" basis while a suitable replacement is found for the position you're accepting. You should also ask about any peers or senior execs (dotted line or otherwise) in other departments whom you should connect with right away regarding on-going projects. You'll be better equipped to hit the ground running and your new employer should appreciate your interest in taking the position with eyes wide open.
For additional reading about fiefdoms, here's a link to a few books on amazon.
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