Leadership

Leadership transition – stepping into the unknown

Gail Cameron, CEO, Image Excellence Group

Executive transition is an important milestone for an organisation that can affect its future success, but a failed leadership transition can seriously affect an organisation in many ways. It can be a particularly challenging time for small and medium organisations where the executive director has multiple functions. Sorting out and prioritising those roles can be difficult.

There is a shortage of good leaders and less experienced leaders are frequently promoted into roles of greater responsibility. Thus, organisations are often led by people whose background and training leaves them inadequately or only partially prepared for the challenges they will face. Leaders will consequently encounter more stress, and they will continue to struggle to overcome the challenges of higher-risk roles and responsibilities.

This frequently occurs where very intelligent, highly qualified or technically competent people move from a position of managing a specialisation or technical area to one where they manage people and have a wide sphere of influence. Delegation and ‘letting go’ of certain functions and responsibilities becomes an essential but difficult part of the transition.

At each level of an organisation, the leader’s span of influence widens, from simply working through others to managing a large group or organisation and communicating on a very broad scale. It is imperative that executives faced with transition focus on, and take advantage of, the opportunities inherent in the situation – to review career objectives, explore new avenues of personal and professional growth, broaden their business network, and advance their new position and the company.

Organisations can assist in minimising the inherent stress in a leader’s transition with solid planning, communication and support. This will enable both the leader and the organisation to act effectively to realize business objectives.

The most practical and positive approach is a comprehensive programme of positive choices with a focus on communication, planning and teambuilding which will assist the leader and his team to manage underlying fears and enhance their ability to deal with the practical issues involved in a transition.

Transitional challenges are characterised by significant changes in the political network, job complexity, and human dynamics of the work environment, which cause tremendous stress. Few leaders report making transitions effectively, though executives report feeling more effective than lower-level leaders.

The most important people to help leaders through transitions are one’s boss and colleagues or peers. A clear sense of performance expectations would have been most helpful in transitioning to new roles.

An holistic, integrated and scientific approach to skills development will enhance leadership. Leadership transitions represent a far more significant career event than may have been recognised in the past. Taking action to educate, communicate, and provide training, coaching, and guidance to those struggling with leadership transitions can clearly make a dramatic impact on the success rates of newly promoted leaders.

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