Context & landscape
Understanding culture, business situation, dependencies and informal structures that affect how the role actually works.
Leadership Transition
New role. New landscape.
Leadership Transition is for situations where the role, authority or professional context changes so clearly that previous ways of working are no longer necessarily enough. The focus is on quickly understanding the new landscape, establishing the right priorities and creating a way of leading that works in the new role.
The programme is not about onboarding in the traditional sense. It is about the leadership transition required when expectations, relationships, responsibilities and influence all change at the same time.
When is the programme relevant?
When a new role requires more than a good start.
A role appointment or transition becomes critical when several things change at once: what the role is expected to achieve, which relationships enable the work, how decisions are actually made, and which behaviours create trust and influence.
The previous success formula travels with the leader
Strengths and ways of working that worked well before continue to be used even though the new role requires something different.
Authority and priorities are not sufficiently clear
Different interpretations of the remit create uncertainty about what should receive attention first and what responsibility the role actually carries.
Relationships are new or have changed in character
Trust needs to be built with people who affect the possibility of success but who do not yet know the new leader.
Expectations for results move faster than understanding
There is natural pressure to act early, while culture, dependencies and informal decision paths are still becoming visible.
Research evidence
35%of internally promoted managers and leaders were judged not to have fully succeeded in establishing themselves in the new role
47%of externally recruited managers and leaders were judged not to have fully succeeded in establishing themselves in the new role
A strong track record does not remove the risk of a new leadership role.
DDI’s global Leadership Transitions Report shows that moving into a new leadership role carries significant risk even for experienced leaders. The study included responses from 2,102 HR leaders and 15,787 leaders globally.
For Leadership Transition, the point is that a new role is not simply a set of new tasks. It often requires a deliberate shift in how authority, relationships, priorities and leadership behaviours are understood and used.
DDI · Leadership Transitions Report 2021 · 2,102 HR leaders + 15,787 leaders
Programme focus
The right start in a new context.
Leadership Transition is not a standardised onboarding programme. Development is concentrated on the parts of the new role that matter most for creating clarity, trust and relevant direction early on.
Authority & priorities
Creating clarity around the remit, expectations, key choices and what needs attention first.
Relationships & trust
Identifying which relationships are critical and establishing credibility where it matters most.
Leadership behaviour & influence
Recognising which previous reflexes need to be reconsidered and developing a way of leading that fits the new mandate.
A central transition
What created success before is not always enough in the next role.
A new role often creates a temptation to carry forward the same ways of working, decision patterns and ways of creating value that worked previously. But when authority, complexity and relationships change, the same strengths can produce different consequences.
The transition is therefore not about abandoning experience, but about using it more consciously in a new context.
Previous roleEstablished strengthsWhat previously created results.
New contextNew demandsAuthority, relationships and the landscape change.
New roleAdapted leadershipA way of operating that fits the new remit.
What should become visible?
A strong transition is visible in how quickly the role becomes clear and the leadership takes hold.
The exact target state depends on the remit and context, but development needs to be visible in how the new role is understood, prioritised and performed.
Clearer authority and priorities
A sharper view of what the remit requires, which choices matter most and where attention needs to be placed early.
Earlier trust and better collaboration
More deliberate management of team, manager, peers and other stakeholders who affect the ability to succeed.
Better conditions for direction and execution
Leadership that works more quickly in the new context and creates greater clarity around decisions, responsibilities and priorities.
New role – but unclear what needs to change to succeed in it?
A first conversation starts with the remit, the context and the demands the new role actually places on the leader.