“My Two Cents” by Cindy Pickens – Cynergy

Assimilating New Leaders

So you’re a rising star and you’re ready for a new challenge. Another company approaches you with an offer of a new position with significantly greater responsibility. The idea is exciting, and the recruiting and “courtship” make you feel the other company is just as excited. You accept the offer. Now how do you avoid becoming one of the startlingly large number of executives who are not successful in their new role?

Once you’re on board, you may find that your predecessor left little data to guide you, and you spend a lot of time gathering basic information. Your team is scattered around the world and seems reluctant to tell you what was going on, much less to change anything. You have ideas for new projects, but it’s unclear who to involve, or how decisions get made or approved in this new company. The people who had been so accessible during your “courtship” are now just names on your email list.

Unfortunately, your experience is not unique. The unsuccessful assimilation of new leaders is a key reason for the high rate of failure among newly hired and newly promoted senior executives. If organizations want to build a foundation for the success of new leaders, they must understand what those leaders experience when they join a new team.

The Business Case for Assimilation

Successful assimilation impacts an organization’s bottom line and increases return on investment by:

• Improving an organization's ability to recruit the right people
• Increasing leader retention by ensuring a new leader's organizational commitment
• Decreasing the time needed for new leaders to become productive and effective
• Minimizing disruption to business cycles and team processes

At a time when speed – to market, of innovation, of execution – is critical in every industry, no company can afford to let a new leader spend months struggling. With the high cost of recruitment and replacement, an investment in assimilation provides a sure return.

The Qualities of a Successful New Leader

Organizational knowledge is not enough. Internal lateral transfers and promoted leaders may understand some of the dimensions of their new roles, but they encounter the same difficulties assimilating as external hires and must be equipped to address them.

In general, leaders who successfully navigate the assimilation stage share the following qualities:

Simultaneous task- and relationship-building. They address team building without losing focus on business needs.

Adaptable learning. They draw meaning from their past experiences and use those lessons creatively to master new challenges.

Interpersonal aptitude. They assess the interpersonal dynamics and styles of both their team and their superiors, and they leverage them for best effect with each other and with others throughout the organization.

Credibility. They competently and decisively establish a relationship with their new team, peers, and superiors around mutual expectations, trust, and influence.

Historical understanding. They address any sources of team resistance by developing an understanding of past experiences, both positive and negative.

Clarity of communication. They communicate clearly and honestly with the team about anticipated change, competency gaps, and the work required to reach team goals.

Political savvy. They are sensitive to political realities and relationships.

Decisiveness. They are willing to make tough decisions.

Openness to feedback. They actively seek feedback to determine whether their performance meets expectations.

If both the organization and the new leader pay attention to potential barriers, they can accelerate successful assimilation. An assessment as part of the selection process could alert the organization, for example, that a candidate might have trouble building new relationship networks. A development plan could then be created for the new hire, giving with and will provide practical and actionable tools for accelerating assimilation. them “permission” to ask for assistance. Facilitated sessions with the leader’s new team would also build common understanding of expectations and managerial styles