The challenge of the new leader

As part of my current research into “rapid teaming, I’ve been exploring the literature on executive new hires. When I first engaged with this issue more than two decades ago, the data I was able to gather from HR directors and executive recruiters was anecdotal, but consistent – a high proportion of new C-suite appointments didn’t work out. Since then, there has been a substantial volume of confirming research, much of it focused on the executive’s first 100 days.

I was delighted to receive a copy of an excellent new book that brings together all this research and offers practical guidance in overcoming some of the most common problems:?Mastering Executive Transitions -- The Definitive Guide,?by Navid Nazemian. One of the key recommendations is transition coaching – support from an executive coach in building cultural awareness, creating coalitions and taking timely action. In a sense, all coaching and mentoring are about clarifying and managing transitions but at an executive level the cost and impact of a transition failure is much higher than average. An implication of this is that executive coach education needs a strong grounding in transition theory – which is not always a core element of basic coach training.

Some useful questions a coach might ask a newly appointed leader include:

·???????How will you gain a sufficiently deep and rapid understanding of the cultural and political dynamics of the organisation?

·???????Who needs to feel listened to by you?

·???????How will you build coalitions for change swiftly?

·???????How will you gain authentic feedback to ensure you are on track?

·???????How will you maintain the balance between acting too soon and too late?

·???????How will you maintain a balance between respecting the existing culture and changing it?

·???????What do people expect from you and fear from you?

·???????What mistakes have your predecessors (or other new hires made) that you will want to avoid?

??David Clutterbuck 2022