Have you ever been promoted or started a new job & immediately felt the pressure to deliver?
To justify your appointment.
To prove your value.
To show your new colleagues they made the right decision.
Me too, & we are not alone.
Research suggests that 35% of internal & 47% of external senior executives moving into new roles are pushed out, quit or fail within 18 months (Pease, 2021).
Just think about that for a moment.
Consider all the time, effort & money invested in finding & appointing that leader – only for the transition to fail. Then add the wider cost: lost team engagement, missed opportunities, results that were not achieved, & the message it sends to customers, partners & future employees.
There are many complex & contextual reasons why leadership transitions do not work out but the more work I do with organisations & senior leaders in transition, the more I see a missing link.
Perhaps it is less about making the wrong hire or “they weren’t the right cultural fit” & more about how leaders are supported when they land.
What if a newly appointed executive had a transition coach before they even set foot in the new role?
Someone to help them prepare & refine their thinking. To collaborate with them & their organisation to shape an effective induction. To resist the pressure to arrive with all the answers & instead focus on collecting the dots.
Then, during those critical early weeks & months, what if they had someone outside the system with whom they could safely externalise what they were seeing & experiencing?
Someone to challenge & elevate their thinking.
Someone to help them make sense of the people, culture, politics, expectations & opportunities around them.
Someone to help them connect the dots as their plan begins to emerge.
Later, as they start creating change, disrupting established systems, encountering organisational politics & even questioning their own ability, they still have someone alongside them.
Someone who can listen, challenge & help them reflect on what they need – & how to get it.
You can see where I’m heading…& if executive transition coaching sounds expensive, consider what you have already invested in getting that leader into the seat & the cost to the organisation if it doesn’t work out.
I’m Rupert Newman, an executive coach & former executive who has experienced both the best & worst of leadership transitions. I am passionate about helping newly promoted & newly appointed leaders experience more of the former & much less of the latter.
If you are stepping into a senior role, or your organisation wants to give newly appointed leaders the best possible chance of succeeding, I’d be happy to talk.
I am an Executive Coach, leadership development & business consultant with more than 25 years’ experience in senior leadership roles across public, private, charitable & member owned organisations, with 10 years at Board level. An inspirational leader with strengths in strategic planning, change management, developing talent & building successful teams.
I have a proven track record of delivering sustainable change with and through others that delivers improved outcomes and engagement for both employees and customers.
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