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Today’s freshman CEOs face unprecedented challenges, but also myriad opportunities. In the absence of any clear read on when the recession will bottom out and markets will rebound, CEOs have to steer a prudent course while trying to position their companies for longer-term success.

That prospect is both exciting and daunting; with the fate of the company starkly in the balance, these should be a new CEO’s first moves:

1. Declare a new day. Now is the time to reset expectations in terms of how the businesses will work, how decisions will be made (or not made), and how people will be held accountable. Most organisations offer few windows for this type of sweeping change, but the appointment of a new chief executive provides one of those rare opportunities.

New CEOs should resolve early on whether the company’s structure and operating model are the right ones. Would a redesign unleash latent productivity or better align decision making with information flows and motivators? There will be a honeymoon period of roughly one year in which these sorts of wholesale changes are easier to make. In fact, investors and other observers, both external and internal, typically expect and more willingly accept such changes early on.

2. Establish priorities. Almost immediately, a new CEO should set forth the three or four agenda items that will drive the strategic direction of the company over the next two to three years. That direction is all the more critical in the current recession.

Today’s CEOs should assess their portfolio of businesses and concentrate on those where they have a “right to win,” which we define as the advantaged assets and capabilities (tools, processes, people) that enable a company to out-execute the competition. This assessment boils down to two primary questions: (a) Is this business core to our company’s future value? (b) Does it offer a path to building financial performance that is greater than what investors can earn elsewhere in their equity portfolios? To weather the current downturn, CEOs need to anticipate their industry’s future structure and develop a game plan for securing the best competitive positioning in the upturn.

Avoid the temptation to make too many decisions too soon. Some issues will take time to percolate under new leadership or may require more considered deliberation — or perhaps none at all. New CEOs, in general, need to delegate more and second-guess less.

3. Affirm or change the team. In the first 60 days, a new CEO needs to reassure those members of the senior team who will make the cut, and deliver the bad news to those who won’t, even if their successors have not yet been identified. Until people know where they stand, it will be hard, if not impossible, to move forward productively. And there is little value in retaining business unit heads or functional leaders who are destined for replacement. The damage they may do as they await their fate can far outweigh any benefit their presence might provide.

Once new CEOs identify the top team, they can start on the real work of aligning team members around their agenda. Most CEOs occupy the centre of a hub-and-spoke model with regard to their direct reports; these business and functional leaders have a direct line to the CEO, but little contact with one another. Creating a sense of collective ownership of the new strategic direction of the enterprise is vital if the new CEO wants to leverage his or her direct reports’ full potential as a team. Joint accountability also reduces silo-based behaviour on an executive team, and it enables new CEOs to assess whether they made the right decisions about whom to keep on board.

4. Establish boundaries. Everyone wants the CEO’s time and attention. Although intellectually, new CEOs may appreciate this maxim, very few are prepared for the reality. According to our research, 80 percent of a CEO’s day is consumed in meetings; visits with clients; and symbolic, ceremonial events. Only one-fifth of his or her business day is actually spent behind a desk.

Those who have never served as CEO before can find the transition to public figure quite uncomfortable. They marvel at how unfamiliar many of their duties are, even though they likely ran a business prior to becoming CEO. The ones who flourish establish clear boundaries and delegate all but mission-critical tasks.

5. Keep an ear to the market. One new CEO in the oil retailing business joked that “every gas station I visit smells of fresh paint.” Indeed, everything is varnished for the chief executive; it becomes very hard to learn of bad news, because no one will volunteer it.

Since everyone inside the organisation is currying favour with them, new CEOs should spend time with customers. Customers are the most likely to provide straightforward commentary on the company, and a new CEO needs that source of objective counsel. Making a point of visiting with customers also sends a powerful and positive message to others in the organisation that customer service is a priority.

By the same token, new CEOs should meet with their most important suppliers and partners and proactively build relationships with the financial community. Investors, lenders, financial analysts, and others can help CEOs understand the capital markets’ view of their company and their priorities and concerns.

6. Get to know the unknown. This counsel especially applies to outsider CEOs, but many insiders also have gaps in their knowledge of the company’s operations and key value drivers. New CEOs are given a free pass during their initial months to take a “tutorial.” They can and should leverage internal authorities and seek out external experts who know the industry and company.

CEOs should also surround themselves with individuals whose critical capabilities complement their own. And they should ask questions. New chief executives who have “grown up in” the organisation and long anticipated serving as CEO have a tendency to declare their point of view early in discussions, not fully realizing that their view is now taken as company strategy. It can be beneficial to step back in discussions and solicit others’ opinions and views.

7. Engage the board. Chief executives who are new to the role need to understand the board’s expectations, and in fact to help set them. Then they must deliver against those expectations in big and small ways.

As our CEO succession studies over the years have revealed, boards are much more active these days. To develop a strong working relationship, a new CEO should initiate one-on-one meetings with each board member at a place and time of the board member’s choosing. Simply encouraging board directors to reach out with suggestions or comments, does not generate the same level of preparedness or thoughtful input as requesting a personal meeting.

Rather than asking the board to endorse what has already been decided, CEOs should present problems and solicit the board’s input on possible solutions. Boards are more helpful and supportive when they can see the drivers of company performance more clearly. To facilitate this, many CEOs invite board members to investor meetings or analyst conference calls.

One new CEO decided to have business unit heads present to the board directly. This gave the board a better take on upcoming leadership talent, including that of potential future CEOs.