Don’t Miss the Boat: Put Your Executives Up For Success

Harvard Business Review finds that 2 out of 5 CEOs fail in their first 18 months on the job.

That kind of failure rate puts your entire organization at risk. Unfortunately, many organizations under-estimate and under-invest in the comprehensive onboarding of new leaders at the executive level. Studies find that onboarding can be the second most influential HR strategy to provide employee experience and to drive satisfaction and motivation, nevertheless only half of the organization go beyond the technical onboarding (Sources: HBR & BCG From Capability to Profitability).

What makes an executive successful? The receipt for success that we have found consists of four ingredients:

  • First, managing the executives’ time. The focus is on identifying the priorities for the executive, his team, and the entire organization. Even for leaders with lots of experience, this can be challenging as expectations are generally high for new incoming executives.
  • Second, levering the right talent. What available talent does the executive have? Who can deliver the priorities, who need support, who has potential? These questions should be sorted out early and quickly to allow performance.
  • Third, nurturing relationships. What stakeholders are key for the success of the executive? Who should we know, with whom to build a rapport, and to whom can he reach out? Relationships and networks are vital once a leader has reached the executive level; but unfortunately, we experience many cases where the focus has been on technical skills for too long and the political aspects and networks have been neglected.
  • Finally, style is what differentiates a good from a great leader. How does he lead and what does he need from others to deliver successfully? Here we work with leaders to uncover their own leadership style to be authentic and genuine. Together we develop a story the leader can share with his organization to inspire with his vision and way of leading.

Because the pressure and scope of topics are constantly increasing for leaders, we must give them a better start. Not only for their own success but also for the future of our organizations.

The deliberate and modular design of coaching that uses the four ingredients is a proven way to successfully onboard executives.

For more information, contact Karin.wellbrock@kaygroup-asia.com

Kay Group – executive and team coaches – one leader and team at a time

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