“Approximately 40%
of newly appointed leaders prove to be disappointing, are
terminated, or leave the job voluntarily within 12-18 months
of their appointment.” (Betoff & Harrison)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
People learn most from experience. That
is why it is so important to move people around the organization
to broaden their knowledge of the business, face new challenges,
and learn how to deliver on stretch assignments. Nevertheless,
most organizations do a very poor job of preparing these
managers (or the teams they will be joining) for the new
assignments. We clarify the new performance objectives,
but we forget to clarify the learning objectives for the
new assignment. Leadership transition management (LTM)
ensures that leaders get the support they need to bond
with their new teams, hit the ground running, master new
skills, achieve stretch objectives, and prepare for yet
higher levels of service. LTM is so successful and such
a high leverage OD/LD opportunity because of the high
stakes and high risks of leadership transitions.
THREE AREAS OF LTM
1.
New Leader Assimilation (Orientation):
This practice is recommended every time a leader gets
a new team or a team gets a new leader. New leader assimilation,
done properly, speeds up team bonding, reduces the time
to full team productivity, and helps the leader and team
hit the ground running. Deliverables include: accelerating
the learning and bonding cycles; increasing productivity;
improving communication, teamwork, and morale; reducing
employee uncertainty and stress; and reducing errors and
turnover (both employee and management).
2.
Leadership Transition Coaching:
This practice helps newly appointed leaders transition
quickly and successfully into new positions. LT coaches
help leaders with the key challenges of leadership transition,
including, clarifying the new leadership agenda; identifying
clear measures of success; identifying and engaging key
stakeholders of the new position; identifying and dealing
with skill gaps; creating a transition action plan with
first steps, quick wins and milestones; etc.
3.
Leadership Pipeline: This
practice begins with the insight that each “level”
of leadership requires leaders to learn new skills and
approaches, and give up some of the activities that made
them successful in their previous positions—which
is not always easy. Organizations that do not map out
what is required at each level of leadership and give
their leaders appropriate training and support in these
transitions, find that leaders do not master their new
positions, they hold back the people reporting to them,
and the “leadership pipeline” gets clogged.
Managing the leadership pipeline is crucial to building
internal talent and bench strength, and keeping the leadership
pipeline full and flowing at all levels of the organization.
FLEXIBLE DELIVERY
Frameworks, ideas, tools, and tactics can
be purchased through consultation sessions. Leadership
education and executive coaching programs can be purchased
through train-the-trainer programs or delivered directly
by our team of educators and coaches. Needs assessment
and program customization are also available.
