5.8. Common Challenges in Executive Transitions (part 8)

I found myself for the first time in a global role that had been newly created, and the expectations varied quite widely based on my conversations with different senior stakeholders...

In my previous articles we learnt that?nearly half of executive transitions fail[1].?We also learned that there is?little good guidance out there?when it comes to successfully mastering executive transitions. Furthermore, we know that there are?successful strategies?for existing transitions?[2]that can be learned and embodied. Among them?using a skilled Executive Transition Coach can substantially reduce the risk of failure and accelerate the transition by +50%.

What are the most common challenges of executive transitions?

According to Master Your Next Move[1]?by Michael D. Watkins there are 8 types of executive transitions. Note that most moves to new leadership roles involve?multiple?types of transitions often occurring at the same time. The more types of transitions an executive is experiencing simultaneously, the greater the overall challenge will be. And I would like to add a couple more to make the list of top transition challenges that I have helped executive coaching clients of mine over the years. Today we will look at challenge #7:?The Newly-Created-Role-Challenge

The Newly-Created-Role-Challenge

Have you ever worked in a newly created role in an organisation?

A role that never existed before and hence is created for the very first time?

I do remember that I was hired externally to work in such capacity for a large multinational at their global headquarters supporting two functions globally.

Admittedly, I felt a sense of optimism and positive energy during the first couple of days. But that feeling quickly faded away when I started to do my onboarding with senior stakeholders. Given the role had been newly created, there were a wide ranging of priorities mentioned to me by senior stakeholders, and many of didn't necessarily align.

Shortly after my first 90 days I was summoned to meet my line manager and afterwards a board member as one of the leadership team members felt that I had overstepped my boundaries into her area of responsibility.

Before I knew it, I had what is considered to be “burned fingers”. I believe it was the famous quote from?Will Rogers that states: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”. Well, that was certainly true in my case.

From my own experience and also working with executive transition coaching clients I know how delicate such situations can be. Sometimes these senior positions are created at the highest organisation levels but are then left to the incumbent to shape the role going forward. If the organisation design and the remit haven't been thought through properly, then this can result into disaster quite quickly.

In my case this was the case as my lack of the understanding of the organisation, its culture and ways of working coupled with the different interpretations of the role meant that I was constantly clashing with other roles and responsibilities and their respective leaders.

My key learning was that despite the best efforts of preparing for an onboarding, issues like this can happen and the organisation design are crucial to align with key stakeholders before the role has been created and an incumbent has been appointed.

What has been your most demanding Newly-Created-Role-Challenge?

"Working with many executive transition coaching clients, one of the biggest challenges they face is successfully transitioning into a newly created role." Navid Nazemian, PCC

-> If you enjoyed reading this article, you will definitely benefit from reading #MasteringExecutiveTransitions: The Definitive Guide, the #1 New Release on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NSPW473

[1]?Watkins, Michael D., “Master Your Next Move”, HBR Press, April 2021