How the Right Coach Can Ease a New Executive Transition

  1. Article
  2. How the Right Coach Can Ease a New Executive Transition

In a rapidly changing and uncertain world, transitioning to a new executive role is more challenging than ever. Whether new to an executive role or a seasoned and experienced leader, executives in a new role can quickly find themselves struggling to help their organization build a foundation for success while navigating this volatile and changing environment.

Executive turnover hit a five-year high in 2022, and senior leader failure has consequences for more than just the executive in question. New executives may bring in their own teams or hire new people to manage functions that align with their goals, resulting in multiple leadership transitions. When these changes reverberate through the organization, it can impact employee experience and even lead to a decrease in trust and potential lost talent.

On top of business challenges, many executives sense that being open about transition struggles might invite questions or raise concerns about competence. How can organizations help set up their executives for the best possible outcomes and ease transitions in the process?

To help avoid the chance of new-leader failure, organizations need robust transition strategies that build a strong foundation for new leaders. A crucial part of that strategy should be providing the new leader with an experienced coach.

Here are six ways an experienced coach can help your new leaders transition into their new roles and succeed in the long term.

Six Ways an Experienced Coach Can Help Your New Leaders Succeed

1. Discover and Assess Opportunities

Too often, new leaders are charged with specific goals and left to produce; they receive the brunt of the blame, and boards or senior leaders may hire another new leader to deliver the same goals.

A good coach can help avoid this cycle by starting with a comprehensive discovery and assessment process. The coach will meet with the new executive and other senior leaders to understand the focus areas and expectations for the new leader. The coach may also use any number of assessments with the leader to discover leadership strengths, opportunities, and preferences.

The coach can also communicate to boards and senior leaders how they can support the new leader. This process helps align expectations between the coach, leader, and other executives so that all parties can better set metrics and goals for success.

2. Set Metrics and Goals

Some new leaders may not even have clear and realistic goals. Perhaps they accept a new role knowing that a particular metric needs to improve, but they don’t have clarity on how to improve it or the timeline.

A good coach can help a new executive set the right metrics and goals based on expectations and needs uncovered during the first phase of coaching. The leader and coach can work together to prioritize goals (both business and personal), establish metrics, and set timetables for success. Once they determine the desired outcomes, the leader and coach can work together to communicate with other senior leaders about progress, helping to ensure that everyone stays aligned and provides support for the process.

3. Act As Sounding Board

As they say, it’s lonely at the top. Even new leaders with functional support within the organization may struggle to find someone with the time and energy to provide a friendly ear, especially if those other leaders also manage multiple interests.

New leaders need someone to help manage and sort competing interests, priorities, and goals. Highly driven executives might run the risk of burning out or taking on too many big projects, and a sounding board can introduce a more measured approach. Likewise, having a sounding board to ask questions can guide executives into new approaches or pathways.

4. Provide External Perspective

An internal transition coach can be helpful for a new leader, but that person may find it challenging to separate company interests from the transition process. If the internal coach gets pressure from other leaders for results, that pressure may strain the coach/coachee relationship. In addition, the internal coach may be very knowledgeable about one industry or organization but may not have the breadth of experience to bring new insights into the transition process.

An external coach can bring much broader perspectives to the process. Most experienced coaches have coached many executives; they’ve seen what works and what doesn’t. They may also bring unique expertise or business acumen to the coaching experience that gives new executives a wider range of ideas and approaches to consider.

5. Remain Neutral

New leaders who only have bosses or board members to report to may feel they can’t be entirely candid about the challenges they face. After all, it’s natural to hold back or self-censor when talking to one’s boss.

A coach is not a boss. While the coach has overall business interests in mind, the coach can still maintain a position of neutrality that may be tougher for a more senior leader to keep. If a new executive is charged with goals that seem impossible to meet, the coach can be a more neutral arbiter of solutions and approaches than senior leaders might be. This neutrality gives the executive a safer ear for discussing potential solutions before presenting them to a boss or senior leaders.

6. Keep the Big Picture In Mind

New executives driven to prove their worth and succeed right out of the gate may be prone to tunnel vision. They may look at one particular metric or goal and focus on it to the exclusion of everything else, potentially ignoring other challenges or even creating new ones.

A coach can remind them to keep the big picture and overall goals in mind. Not everything has to be done in the first 90 or 100 days, and looking at the big picture may help executives stay focused on the long-term rather than instant results.

Research shows that professional coaching can lead to a 70% increase in individual performance, a 50% increase in team performance, and a 48% increase in organizational performance. At Stewart Leadership, we’ve developed a five-step coaching model that helps executives set goals, acquire skills, and improve executive presence. To learn more about the value of executive coaching, download the white paper or contact us.

SELF CHECK:

  1. What is our turnover rate for people in leadership roles? How does it compare to similar organizations?
  2. What is one way we can better support new executives in their roles?
  3. Do we have coaches or resources for coaching new leaders?

About the Author

Nolan Godrey is an accomplished leadership and organization consultant and a trusted advisor to senior executives during strategic transformation and growth, M&A integration and culture change. His passion is driving client results through aligning people, process, structure, and technology.