“It has been estimated that 40% of executives fail within the first 18
months on the job, regardless of whether they were hired from outside the
company or promoted from within,” explain Dan Ciampa and David L. Dotlich,
authors of the book, Transitions At The Top.
Leadership transition is more complex than many realize, affecting the
company’s strategy, operating efficiency, and culture.
“The key people involved with C-suite transitions have the power to
ensure that the transition is successful if they understand their roles and
follow the necessary steps,” add Ciampa and Dotlich. Transitions At The Top
teaches these all-important players the necessary steps. More specifically, it
teaches what directors, the head of human resources, and the other senior
managers must do individually and collectively to best ensure the handoff from
an incumbent leader to the one who will step in to replace her/him in a planned
transition.
If you are wondering why the transition success rate is not better, the
authors state that another component in the mix is that people chosen as new leaders
do not do a good enough job at preparing for and managing their entry into the
top spot. Consequently, they make these same handful of mistakes:
- They fail to use wisely the time between accepting the position and Day 1 in their jobs.
- They do not read the political situation well enough to understand the relationships, coalitions, and alliances most important to their success.
- They fail to understand the culture well enough or adequately manage it to follow their direction.
- They misread the capacity or willingness of the people they inherit to implement needed changes.
Thank you to the book’s publisher for sending me an advance copy of the
book.
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