Transitioning into new roles, whether through promotion or external selection, can be the some of the most challenging times in an executive’s professional life. These crucible moments stretch executives as they confront steep learning curves, deliver early results, and adapt to new cultures. All whilst simultaneously grappling with profound reorientation and embracing a roller-coaster of emotions.
The alarming statistics on executive transition failures reflect this. The Corporate Executive Board (now part of Gartner) in 2020 found that between 50% and 70% of newly appointed executives fail to deliver within 18 months. In addition, Development Dimensions International (DDI) Leadership Transition Report in 2021 revealed that only 53% of externally hired and 65% of internally promoted executives succeed in their new roles.
Executives today navigate more transitions than ever before in their professional lifetimes amidst dynamic industry changes. Transitions are now the norm. And yet few organisations support these executives to lead the business during their transition whilst managing their personal transitions. Instead, leaders responsible for overseeing executive onboarding are fixated on making logistical arrangements ensuring they have a computer, workspace or mobile phone. At best they think of onboarding as orientation exercise to provide key information and knowledge related to values and expectations.
Transition coaching is focused on helping executives successfully transition into new roles and possibly new companies. Whether onboarding (external hires) or in-boarding (internal promotions) this specific type of coaching is designed to accelerate and optimize a new placements transition in a way that ensures career success and provides a return on investment.
An exciting new job or a long-sought promotion are times of exhilarating optimism and excitement. Leaders engage with vibrancy, challenging enthusiasm and radiating confidence in their abilities. However, sometimes the initial excitement collides with the harsh realities of the new role. The common unanticipated obstacles are in a number of areas:
Similar to mountaineers who ascend rapidly to very high altitudes, spurred by their overconfidence and underestimation of the mountain, only to suffer acute mountain sickness, executives often underestimate the gravity of the transition task ahead. As roles become exponentially more complex and executives more confident in their ability to navigate new roles, the stakes for effective transitions are higher. Lacking the full awareness of the exponential shift in role, organisation context and personal transition, their underestimation leads to confusion, lack of performance and potentially “organ rejection” – the immune response of a new team that jeopardises the executive’s success.
A transition coach can offer an executive valuable counsel in these crucial times, and provides support in a number of critical areas:
Executive transitions are multifaceted as they involve navigating external change whilst leading internal transitions. External change, as the executive in a new role is charged with managing the business at a more strategic and complex level, and internal transition as they undergo psychological reorientation that demands introspection, self-awareness and adaptation. Transition is the state that role change puts the executives into, and in external onboarding or internal in-boarding, this is intensified as executives grapple with balancing learning with delivering results, managing expectations, adapting their leadership and often dealing with personal vulnerabilities and dysfunctional behaviour as they deal with change.
A useful framework, the William Bridges Model (Bridges, 1991), sheds light on the distinction between change and transition, and the fact that transition goes on long after change has happened as the process of transitioning requires people to let go of old ways, navigate uncertainty, and adapt to new norms. The framework explains that transitions unfold in three distinct stages:
Following this process, transition coaches offer executives a nuanced approach to organisational change and personal transition. At one level, guiding them through acknowledging and navigating emotional aspects of transition, and at another level, providing a roadmap for adapting into the role and delivering outcomes.
In the first phase of the transition the focus is on helping the executive with the emotional and psychological aspects of their role change. Acknowledging and addressing endings in their current role is crucial for executives, as it allows them to reflect what they value and what they are leaving behind.
As executives navigate the complexities of letting go, a transition coach plays a crucial role in guiding the executive through:
From a role change perspective, a transition coach can be instrumental in assisting an executive taking on the new role by enhancing preparedness and adaptability, through a systematic and comprehensive plan that can include:
For executives transitioning into new roles, the “Neutral Zone” occurs when the initial excitement and enthusiasm wears off and reality sets in. They may experience a sense of ambiguity and discomfort as they adapt to the new environment, adjust to different expectations and let go of familiar practices that are no longer providing value. It is an in-between state marked by uncertainty and confusion.The natural response is to either rush ahead with self-imposed pressure to make rapid and visible changes to strategies and structure, or to back-pedal and retreat, falling into a resistance to change trap.
To help an executive to successfully transition in this phase, a transition coach helps the executive understand how spending time in the “eye of the storm” can provide time and space for real transformation to take place, as well as a source of creativity and energy. The coach can support by:
At a role level, a transition coach can guide the executive as they “shift into neutral” to assess the current situations, resources and progress, before they continue forward. This can include:
As the executives moves into the “New Beginning” phase, they integrate their personal transition and new role, to begin behaving in new ways. They acknowledge and accept losses associated with change and begin to embrace a new reality. But it can also be a disconcerting time as they deal with emotional and psychological challenges associated with change. This includes managing emotional reactions to and from their teams, negotiating expectations with their boss, aligning strategic direction, and influence networks.
A transition coach helps in this crucial phase by facilitating the integration of learning from the core challenges the leader has faced. This can include:
In the “NewBeginning” phase the executive has the opportunity to drive longer-term change in strategy, structures, systems and skills of the team. Transition coaching can offer guidance and establish as clear framework including:
Hiring or promoting executives into new roles is an intricate, complex and personalised process. Tailoring transition coaching based on a thorough assessment of both the organisation and the new executive ensures the most effective transition.
However, the paradox of transition coaching is that executives in transition are often too busy to plan and deliberately manage their transition. To be effective, transition coaching must therefore provide a structured, proactive session at different stages of the process to engage in refining the 90 to 120-day plan. Because new job transitions evolve through a series of predictable phases, transition coaching can deliver value in manageable blocks at the right moments. As the executive gains increasing clarity about their situation, the Transition Coach works within this context, helping the leader to focus on delivering new skills and behaviours geared to the needs of the unique time and circumstances of the transition.
Career Connections has developed the Accelerate Transition Coaching solution by leveraging our experience in executive search and coaching. Transition coaching is an essential continuation of the placement process, and the Accelerate Transition Coaching solution offers a comprehensive, intense, highly personalised support over the first90-120 days including engaging executives in self-assessment, in-depth assessment feedback, identification of key transition risks, supporting diagnostic planning, goal setting and gathering feedback during transition. To find out more contact: amar@careerconnectionsltd.com
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