Recently Promoted to the C-Suite? Make These 3 Mental Shifts to Avoid Derailing

Most executives' strategy for success after a promotion is ironically non-strategic. Concerned with achieving quick wins, often to avoid criticism, they rarely make bold moves with long-term performance in mind.

According to a recent McKinsey study, less than 5% of new CEOs demonstrate long-term focus early on in their role. Yet those that did led companies that eventually outperformed others even after the CEO may have exited the company. 

As an executive coach to C-suite leaders, many of my clients think they must show off their knowledge or push their team as hard as possible to get quick validation in their new roles.  But when they realize their business acumen and drive for results aren't enough to ensure success in the long run, it’s too late to maintain team confidence. 

With every promotion, your control over people, and outcomes lessens. So merely working harder or knowing more doesn't work.  Instead of doing more stuff, stop and look at your mindset. Practice these three mental shifts early on to set the stage for long-term success. 

1.   Stop pushing and start pulling.

Let's face it; it's more exciting to land that hot new customer today than perhaps spending time developing your team or grooming a future successor. 

But without a long-term investment in your team's capabilities, you will fail to meet future business needs. And to truly inspire their growth, pushing them to perform yields diminishing returns. At some point, you need to learn how to pull them to meet higher expectations aligned with a shared business vision willingly. 

I coached a newly promoted CFO at a Fortune 100 company who pushed her team hard, in some cases doing their job for them. She micromanaged them as a way of coping with her short-term expectations and fear of letting the CEO down. But in not coaching and developing them, she limited their motivation to perform now, not to mention to grow future capabilities. 

We suggested she practice mentally shifting from "commanding" them around her needs to "attracting" them toward a joint vision.  After some time, she inspired more accountable contributions from her leaders, which signaled both their development and her maturing as an executive.

2. Learn to unlearn. 

Your company promoted you because of your expertise in a specific domain. But in this higher executive role, you have to shed the need to be the "expert" to make room for your team to perform and grow. 

With humility and a commitment to "unlearn," you can slowly step away from the comfortable "knowns" and pursue the uncomfortable, yet critical "unknowns," such as defining your strategic vision and learning how to empower others to support it. 

To start unlearning, commit to asking as many (if not more) questions of your colleagues as you answer. Doing so will activate your "beginner's mind," as you learn more from those you lead, which mobilizes them to support you because they know you value their contribution. 

3. Dispute your beliefs. 

In addition to asking your team questions with the curiosity of a beginner's mind, you must also ask yourself the tough questions, even ones that disrupt your most deep-seated beliefs. 

Holding on too tight to how things worked in prior roles can limit your learning agility, which is one of the most vital skills required of C-level executives in today's volatile and uncertain business environment. 

For practice, question everything.  Start with your calendar: is every meeting necessary

Perhaps it's time to apply disciplined prioritization to make time for the things that matter in the long run.  

Or ask yourself, "why am I checking up on every little thing my team does?" 

It may be time you challenged your irrational fears that things will fail without your control and start trusting them.  As change is inevitable, disputing your assumptions now and then strengthens your adaptability to navigate change with ease.

As a newly promoted executive, don't be seduced by short-term gratification and the comfort of past expertise. By shifting your mindset ahead of time in these three ways, you can still achieve early wins but also operate in a way that ensures sustained performance and leadership impact. 

Nihar Chhaya is President of PartnerExec and a trusted executive coach to the C-suite and leaders at global companies including American Airlines, Cigna, Coca-Cola, 3M, GE, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, and many others.

Formerly a Fortune 200 corporate head of executive development and a senior advisor to the boards and CEOs on behavioral assessment and succession planning, Nihar helps companies thrive in an uncertain and competitive world by helping their leaders drive better business results and develop their bench strength of talent for future success.

He is a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Forbes and Fast Company on leadership and was selected among the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches group of top coaches in the world. He also hosts a LinkedIn Live series, "The Executive Experience" discussing leadership and careers with elite thought and business leaders.

Nihar received an MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in international economics at Columbia University, and a BS in international economics at Georgetown University with studies at the London School of Economics.

Follow Nihar on LinkedIn to receive notifications for his weekly LinkedIn Live Series, "The Executive Experience" on Thursdays at 11 am ET.