Leadership Transitions How Business Leaders Take Charge In New Roles

In a working life of 35 years, a manager can expect to make at least 10 job changes - or transitions - where the demands for rapid business delivery and effective leadership will only increase with each new job. According to recent research, over 25 per cent of new leaders appointed from within fail within 18 months; the figure is closer to 40 per cent for new leaders appointed externally. The cost of this rate of failure is high, ranging from financial to performance to organizational disruption. This book identifies the sources of these failures and how to overcome them. The authors show that, whether the new leader has arrived as an external appointment or has been promoted internally, the experiences can be divided into three phases: Arriving, Surviving and Thriving. By analysing the different features of the leader's experience at each of these stages, the authors are able to provide a strategy for leaders to take charge and succeed in their new roles.

Clear, actionable guidance toward managing a major leadershipchange Transitions at the Top is an insightful, informativeguide to navigating a change in leadership. A smooth transition iscritical to both the health of the organization and the success ofthe new leader, but good planning and strong strategy can helporganizations come out fresher and more driven on the other side.This book provides the specific principles, guidelines, and actionsthat boards, C-suite executives, and HR leaders need to guarantee asuccessful CEO transition. Continuity is key as one leader passesthe mantle to a successor, and this book spans the steps and eventsthat take place from when the candidate accepts the offer, all theway through the point where a critical mass of followers haveaccepted him or her as the established leader. Coverage includesguidance on who should be engaged in the process, as well asrole-specific advice for each member of the transition managementteam. Many books have been written to advise new incoming CEOs, butthere is little guidance available for the organization as a whole.This book provides actionable advice on smoothing the transitionwithout breaking stride. Maintain continuity during leadership transitions Strengthen focus on culture, systems, and processes Engage all influential executives in smoothing thetransition Lay a foundation to help the new leader succeed The transition management team plays a crucial role inmaintaining the health of the organization during a time of majorchange. Strong strategy becomes critical when an organization is influx, and high engagement is key. Transitions at the Topprovides expert insight, clear guidance, and a solid plan for asmoother transition.

The Leadership Transitions and Team Building Collection includes two important books: The First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded, by Michael D. Watkins, and The Alliance, by Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha, and Chris Yeh. Transitions are a critical time for leaders. In fact, most agree that moving into a new role is the biggest challenge a manager will face. While transitions offer a chance to start fresh and make needed changes in an organization, they also place leaders in a position of acute vulnerability. Missteps made during the crucial first three months in a new role can jeopardize or even derail your success. In The First 90 Days, Watkins offers proven strategies for conquering the challenges of transitions—no matter where you are in your career. The Alliance, coauthored by the founder of LinkedIn, introduces a new, realistic loyalty pact between employer and employee. The employer-employee relationship is broken, and managers face a seemingly impossible dilemma: the old model of guaranteed long-term employment no longer works in a business environment defined by continuous change, but neither does a system in which every employee acts like a free agent. The solution? Stop thinking of employees as either family or as free agents. Think of them instead as allies. This bold but practical guide for managers and executives will give you the tools you need to recruit, manage, and retain the kind of employees who will make your company thrive in today’s world of constant innovation and fast-paced change.

This stimulating reference enables companies and managers adjusting to new positions to cope with the difficulties associated with change and transition. Identifying the potential pitfalls that arise when moving into a new position and outlining ways to overcome them, this essay provides guidance to prevent failure and disruption for the new manager or executive. To make the complexities of transition more manageable, the process is split into three phases--Arriving, Surviving, and Thriving--and the different features of the leader's responsibilities at each stage are strategically analyzed.

An executive’s transition into any leadership role can be a challenge. Such transitions do not always go smoothly, and the negative consequences can be significant. This is particularly so for Chief Information Officers (CIOs), as the role has evolved significantly over the years yet remains deeply ambiguous. This is despite information and technology moving from the periphery of an organization to a fundamental driver of innovation and competitive advantage. This book is to help the newly appointed CIO “take charge”: the process of learning and taking action that the newly appointed CIO goes through until s/he has mastered the new assignment in sufficient depth to be effective in the role. This book provides keen insights into the challenges faced by today's CIOs while transitioning into a new role and enlightens readers on how to navigate the organizational environment in order to implement necessary changes. With plenty of practical tools and insights it will help you to: • Decide how best to approach the job • Prioritize the first areas of the business you should attend to • Draw up your goals for the first few weeks and months into the role • Find out if there are there any decisions that you can postpone making Based on over 200 interviews with CIOs, CxOs, and recruiters, this book offers readers guidance on how to take on the role of a business executive with special responsibility for information and technology, with ten key prescriptions to maximize success.

"Leaders in Transition brings a new perspective on why some leaders succeed more than others when taking charge of an organisation. Based on in-depth case studies, when four new leaders and their teams in large and complex international organisations were tracked for over a year, this book uncovers that success in managing transition is directly related to leaders' ability to balance tensions, appropriately to the context. The reasons for each leader's effectiveness are explored and analysed, allowing the authors then to extrapolate some general conclusions about the ways in which these tensions reveal themselves during all leadership transitions. Evidently, the success or failure of a new leader is the result of the way multiple actors (the new leader, his or her boss, his organisation and its stakeholders) behave, before and during the taking charge. These multiple interactions are revealed and discussed.The reader will find in the book a rich description of the main elements which he or she can learn to combine and balance in ways which are appropriate for the context and which will enable greater mastery of the transitional phase of leadership."--Provided by publisher.

Offers sound advice for executives and managers taking over new positions and for organizations undergoing leadership changes. Provides practical guidance on all phases of the leadership transition process--from initial planning, through the executive search process, to the major areas that the new leader must address over time to be successful.

This Harvard Business Review collection features the best in leadership transitions from celebrated author and advisor Michael D. Watkins. Watkins, who has worked for decades guiding senior leaders into new roles to help them and their organizations succeed, is the author of the international bestseller The First 90 Days. With more than 400,000 copies sold worldwide and published in more than 25 languages, the book has become the standard reference for leaders in transition. In addition to the full digital edition (ebook) of The First 90 Days, this collection includes digital editions of Watkins’ other popular works: Your Next Move, which guides professionals through the most common career transitions; Shaping the Game, on how to lead effective negotiations; and his 2012 Harvard Business Review article, “How Managers Become Leaders.” Watkins, whose ideas have guided some of the world’s best leaders through successful transitions, is the chairman of leadership development consultancy Genesis Advisers. Drawing on the perfect combination of research and hands-on experience, he has spent the last two decades working with leaders—both corporate and public—as they transition to new roles, negotiate the future of their organizations, and craft their legacy as leaders. He was previously a professor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, Harvard Business School, INSEAD in France, and IMD in Switzerland.