Walking the Executive Tightrope – Supporting Executive Transitions
Imagine asking a group of individuals to climb a ladder and walk a tightrope 15 to 20 metres above the ground. No practice, no safety net, and no harness. Some may simply decline the request outright. Others may climb the ladder but elect to turn back once the significance of the tightrope challenge is realised. Some may take on the total challenge but sadly fail in their attempt to complete the crossing. A small percentage though, through a combination of talent and luck, may succeed in making their way up the ladder and across the tightrope.
If this sounds crazy, then consider the reality for many new and emerging executives. Research by DDI found that more than 75% of leaders at the senior level described their transition as stressful while around 1 in 6 C-Level executives said their transitions were so stressful they often thought about quitting. Similarly, research by McKinsey & Company found that almost half of executive transitions fail.
At a time when the demand for executive talent continues to rise and supply is shrinking, it appears many organisations fail to put the appropriate systems in place to ensure new and emerging executives have the skills and insights they need to succeed. In transitioning leaders to executive roles, they provide little support or structured preparation for what lies ahead. They are, in effect, asking leaders to climb a ladder and walk a tightrope with no practice, safety net, or harness.
Learning the Ropes
Transition to the executive level brings new challenges that often demand new perspectives and approaches. This might help to explain why there is such a high failure rate for high performing leaders who make the transition to the executive level. As Marshall Goldsmith once advised, “What got you here won’t get you there”.
Just like the walk across a tightrope, executives need to balance a myriad of demands and expectations. Common transitional challenges faced by new executives include:
Letting Go: Executives need to remove themselves from the day-to-day operations and rely more on the expertise of others, including direct reports. Having been rewarded in the past for getting things done, these leaders often find it hard to let go. If, however, they don’t let go, they become quickly overwhelmed by the myriad of responsibilities and risk disempowering those around them.
Dealing with Stress and Complexity: At this level, the consequences of failure are much greater and so are the resulting degrees of pressure and stress. New executives who struggle with this high-stakes anxiety may find it difficult to balance life domains, and/or place unrealistic expectations on themselves and their teams.
Confronting Increased Visibility: There is no hiding at the executive level. The transition to an executive role comes with heightened visibility both inside and outside the organisation.
Perhaps the most significant transition-related challenge faced by new executives is recognising and managing derailing tendencies. Derailers refer to the personality attributes that can get in the way of one’s success. Common derailers at this level include perfectionism, risk aversion, impulsiveness, and avoidance. For many new executives, this is the first time they have been exposed to the conditions and pressures that trigger derailing responses. In fact, in many cases the things that have made them successful in the past may well be the things that start to derail them at more senior levels.
Crossing the Tightrope
So, what can be done to smooth the transition for new and emerging executives? Here’s five important steps that organisations can take to support executives in transition.
Help new and emerging executives understand the challenge of the transition and the expectations of the role. What are they going to face, and how will it be different? For many new executives, recognizing that the things that made them successful in the past may not be the things that support their success going forward, can be one of the biggest challenges. Furthermore, help them to understand the specific knowledge, experiences, competencies, and attributes that will drive success in your business context.
Increase awareness of one’s personal style and derailing risks. There are several instruments available to help understand one’s dominant personal style. At Three Leadership, we use the Hogan Personality suite at the executive level. These inventories provide a powerful insight into common personality traits but perhaps more importantly, derailing risks. They are one of the few instruments to isolate personality implications from the perspective of a good and bad day.
Use assessment to help individuals understand the behavoiural strengths and development areas they bring to the role. Use these insights to formulate robust individual development plans. There are many types of assessments that can be used to support an individual’s transition to the executive level including 360-degree feedback and business simulations. While there are many generic 360-degree feedback instruments that provide useful insights at this level, we use tools that focus on the portfolio of skills and behaviours that match the context the executive will operate in. 360-Degree Feedback tools like Halo Feedback (formerly Profiling Online) can tailor and customise surveys to the specific context and needs of the executive and organisation.
Ensure executives are equipped with the skills that drive success at this level. In some cases, it might also mean revisiting core leadership skills that may have been missed earlier in their career. At Three Leadership we describe these as the pivot skills. Pivot skills serve a leader throughout their career and across a multitude of situations and include emotional and social intelligence, business judgement, and communication/conversation skills.
Provide support during the transition—access to coaches, mentors, and peers. According to McKinsey & Company tailored executive coaching has proven to double an executive’s chances of success. Three Leadership offers tailored coaching experiences that focus on different stages of an executive’s journey including transition and performance.
Doing nothing to support your new executives may be the most common approach in today’s busy workplace environment, but it leaves your leaders, and your company open to significant risk. The transition to an executive role is difficult, challenging but achievable. Executive success is possible for anyone willing to try new behaviours and new ways of viewing themselves and their work.
For more on Three Leadership offerings at the executive level refer to our Services page.