Managing Leadership Transition Challenges as the Successor
Career Advice: Managing Leadership Transition Challenges as the Successor
When an executive first makes an internal private announcement of one’s intention to retire or leave for new opportunities to the board, the company faces the critical task of planning for succession. After a tedious search, a promising candidate is finally selected. At first, the new hire impresses with strategic initiatives that exceed expectations, and the transition seems to be a success. However, as the new leader grows more assertive in his decisions and digs deeper into the company’s dynamics, tensions begin to arise.
In some instances, the new hires may find themselves in a challenging situation where obtaining any assistance from their predecessors, who is already disengaged, is nearly impossible. In others, the outgoing leader, long accustomed to steering the ship, may find it difficult to relinquish control. Or perhaps conflicts and misalignment between the existing management and outgoing leader may have created a scenario where the management may be in a state of denial and is simply reluctant to prioritise the succession planning.
How to Navigate the Turbulent Waters of Executive Transitions?
As resistance grows, the successor struggles with frustration from the challenge of asserting his authority while being mindful not to take too harsh of a stance that risks sparking open conflict. While resignation is always an option, it could be perceived as a high-profile failure that potentially harms his future career prospects.
So what can the incoming executive and HR teams do to manage the change of leadership respectfully to achieve successful outcomes for everyone involved?
1. Go Slow to Go Fast: Learn & Assess Before Acting
For some new leaders, the urge to initiate changes quickly to achieve your desired results. However, as leadership coach Marshall Goldsmith famously said, “What got you here won’t get you there.”
Advice: Instead of diving headfirst into action, it’s wise to first thoroughly understand and assess your new environment so you can strike a balance between respecting the established culture and driving innovation. For starters, here are some key aspects to consider:
- The Company: Evaluate whether the new initiatives you propose align with the corporate culture, strategic underpinnings, and the operational dynamics of the business. Besides this, assess the willingness, ability, and readiness of the orgnanisation to implement these changes. This should help you determine the most opportune timing to initiate the change, ensuring it is both effective and well-received. Above all, check that you have leveraged all available levers to maximise the impact of your suggested changes.
- The Leadership: Reflect on the past initiatives and achievements of the outgoing leader. Understanding their career milestones and how they measured success can offer useful insights into what has been valued historically within the organisation.
- The Key Stakeholders: Get to know the key players, including their motivations, objectives, strengths and weaknesses. This knowledge will help you determine how best to align your leadership style with the existing dynamics and expectations.
Meanwhile, stepping back from an authoritative approach and avoiding enforcing rapid changes is recommended to avoid coming across as writing off the successor’s legacy. Concurrently, it avoids creating unnecessary disruptions or challenges for your team while demonstrating that your decisions are purposeful and planned, enabling you to better earn the trust and support of the ground.
2. Build Relationships and Have Faith in Your Capacity
If you belong to another category of leaders who prefer to get a clear picture of the company’s current state and the nuances of your role before implementing any practices, work on building a positive relationship with the outgoing executive. The outgoing leader can often precisely outline critical challenges and pain points to help you avoid pitfalls after the transition and make better–informed decisions when driving changes.
Advice: However, the depth of key insights and personal experiences the outgoing executive decides to share is also contingent on how well they trust their successor. That is why it is important to keep in mind not to write off the predecessor’s past achievements even as you advance your own agenda so you do not appear dismissive or overly critical of their efforts, positioning you more favourably to earn their trust.
If you’ve joined the company as an external hire with little prior knowledge of your predecessor, it’s natural to second-guess your decisions or hesitate to assert your perspective when disagreements arise. However, it’s important to remember that you were selected for this leadership role based on your career experience, qualifications and potential. While being humble and receptive to feedback is good, it’s equally important to know when to trust your judgment and capabilities.
Besides, achieving consensus doesn’t always require one party to fight tooth and nail to convince the other. Influencing decisions through subtler means is another effective strategy, and this can be achieved in several ways:
- Talk Around Your Idea: As American writer Dale Carnegie once said, “The sweetest sound a man can hear is that of his own voice.” People generally resist being explicitly told what to do, for the success would be attributed to you, not them. As such, instead of presenting your idea directly, talk around it. Use leading questions or subtly highlight the benefits of your idea in unrelated contexts. This approach helps you subtly guide the other party to arrive at the same realisation as you while keeping them under the impression that the idea originated from them.
- Lay Out the Puzzle: Another method is to present elements of the solution and feign as though you’re unclear how to proceed. With sufficient hints and guidance, the other party will be able to piece your intended solution together themselves.
3. Communicate and Listen
Besides the tensions between the incoming and outgoing executive, leadership transitions often also introduce a degree of awkwardness in the broader team. Without robust and clear communication, the environment can become fertile ground for rumours and misunderstandings, contributing to a decline in employee morale and creating hurdles to a successful handover.
In fact, studies indicate that organisational politics, culture, and interpersonal dynamics are the main challenges new leaders face, with 68% of such career transitions floundering due to these elements.
Advice: As such, rather than being eager to start disseminating your vision, why not first understand your team’s concerns and needs and encourage them to share their ideas? Doing so helps team members feel supported and heard during the transition, preserving the strengths within the existing culture while building a foundation of trust, respect, and collaborative problem-solving. However, remember that patience and persistence are key in this process, for getting used to the new dynamics and leadership style can be disorienting for employees.
4. Managing Expectations Within the Team
Besides having a two-way dialogue with the team, being clear and candid about your intentions and limitations is also wise. This is because individual employees could challenge a leader’s new strategies when they do not have the full picture of a situation and understanding of the rationale for the strategy. Being transparent about non-confidential information and managing their expectations can help you foster an environment where employees will respect the changes even when they do not fully agree with it.
5. Make New of the Old
As part of the leadership transition, new hires will also inherit the organisation’s share of historical complexities and existing workplace dynamics. You may find yourself navigating office politics and animosity when some members view you as a threat to the benefits and authority they currently enjoy. In other cases, employees may see you as their beacon of hope, someone who can address their long-standing grievances. This can then drive them to attempt to rope you into their factions.
Advice: Regardless of your circumstances, handling politics negatively or joining the crowd to blame past executives for the company’s existing challenges can undermine your credibility and authority. It is, instead, more prudent to take full ownership of the circumstances you inherit. By focusing on moving forward and addressing challenges or dissent professionally, you can send a powerful message about your character and leadership philosophy.
Companies: Succession Planning Best Practices
Besides the responsibility borne by the incoming leader, a successful executive transition also hinges on effective stakeholder engagement and planning by the company itself. To that end, here are a few standard best practices our HR executive search consultants compiled to guide organisations in preparing for leadership succession.
1. Properly Onboard the New Leaders
A common challenge encountered during leadership succession is the lack of detailed preparation for the successor. Based on a survey of Navalent, 76% of the 2,600 Fortune 1000 executives who responded shared that their companies adopted a minimally helpful approach. This often stems from the assumption that new executives are fully equipped to manage the transition alone. However, figures reported by Forbes showed that 83% of global leaders had felt unprepared for their new roles, highlighting the importance of implementing a structured onboarding process.
Advice: As such, we recommend initiating a comprehensive training session for new executives to not only familiarise them with their duties but also the company’s culture and systems. It is also advisable to tailor the training programme to reflect the company’s objectives and unique challenges so new leaders can better understand and effectively tackle these issues.
2. Preparing the Organisation for the Change
Advice: Another critical step to facilitate a smooth transition is to keep the company’s stakeholders aligned and below are some strategies that can help:
- Set Expectations: Clearly define and communicate roles and expectations for each team member to ensure everyone understands their responsibilities.
- Engage Key Stakeholders: To prepare the team for the change, HR teams should plan out a communication strategy. Doing so ensures that news about the succession can be appropriately delivered to minimise any potential negative impact on the stakeholders and the greater collective. During the implementation, HR teams should also encourage open, ongoing communication between the team and the new executive to help the new leader integrate faster and build rapport.
- Support and Train: Provide ongoing support, training, and resources to empower the team and facilitate their success under the new leadership.
- Monitor Progress: Keep a close eye on how the transition is progressing. Regularly gather feedback and be prepared to make adjustments as necessary to ensure its success.
A well-executed transition can act as catalysts for positive change and sustained organisational growth. However, a seamless leadership transition doesn’t occur overnight, and requires thorough succession planning. Should you or your team require assistance in orchestrating this change in leadership, reach out to our executive search firm today for more tailored advice on the best practices for your company and other HR consultancy services.