Navigating Transitions for New Leaders

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Leadership transitions are pivotal moments for any organization. Smooth transitions ensure continuity and stability, but often aren't easy for a variety of reasons. In order to best transition into a new leadership role, there are some particular things you can do to help smooth the way. The book, The First 90 Days, is an excellent guide for this. Here are a few items to consider in your transition strategy:

Reflect and answer these fundamental questions that people will want to know (but may be afraid to ask)

  • Who am I?
  • Where did I come from?
  • Why am I here?
  • What do I hope to accomplish?
  • How do I hope to do it?

Think about and document these key aspects of leadership

  • Leadership Philosophy and Core Values Statement
  • Working Style: Communication preferences, decision making process, etc. 
  • Expectations for staff and subordinate managers

Top Three Priorities

Spending significant amounts of time listening, learning, and leveraging the people around you should be a top priority upon arrival. Asking a lot of questions and reading can acclimate you to the agency, its people, processes, and stakeholders. Consider the history of the organization, the culture, and relationships with other components, divisions, or agencies is also critical.  

  • People—Spending considerable time with your new boss is useful in understanding their vision and direction as well as the challenges the organization faces. Also, they can give you nuances into the variety of stakeholders. It is vital to invest time to build a deep and successful working relationship to ensure that you're on the same page, which is critical for alignment and mutual understanding. Schedule discussions with direct reports, listening and asking questions about their experiences, ideas, frustrations, and concerns. 

  • Process—Next, work to understand the variety, types, nature, and logistics of the operations and mission activities. To gain a deeper understanding of these, conduct field visits and simply observe t to gain a better sense of how things actually work—and solicit any feedback from the staff who carry out the work. Ask what their barriers are and whether they feel that policies, training, and management support are working together or are disjointed. 

  • Stakeholders— Getting to know and hear from the stakeholders directly is the third element to focus on. It matters who the organization serves and how they receive the service. These conversations can shed light on what is going well and also how to improve performance.

Organizing the Information

There is a lot to process during a leadership transition. It is like drinking from 10 different firehoses all at once! Using a Terrain Map to help organize and focus on issues can be one way to help during a transition. The Terrain Map (see image below) lists many key items to consider during a transition, especially when you are new to a role and organization. Thinking and asking about these issues will be valuable.



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