Leadership changes at Amazon, Citi, and countless other businesses are reshaping entire organisations. But why do some transitions re-energise companies whilst others create chaos?
Having guided leadership transitions in my career, I’ve witnessed what separates the successful newcomers from those who stumble. It’s rarely about their strategy. It’s about forming relationships of trust and intelligently navigating those critical early months.
The Make or Break First 100 Days
The honeymoon period for new leaders has never been shorter.
Shareholders, employees, and stakeholders want to see improvements quickly, but rushing into major changes too soon can backfire spectacularly.
The most successful transitions I’ve delivered follow a clear sequence:
⚠️ Listen, Learn, then Lead.
This isn’t about being passive. It’s about being strategic. In the first 30 days, your job is diagnosis, not surgery. Stick to it.
I’ve seen successful new leaders strengthen their teams methodically, bringing in proven operators when they have formed a clear picture of the business culture and the most significant challenges. That’s smart foundation work.
Businesses succeed by having the right people in the right roles. That fit is so important. Leaders need a team that trust each other, who hold their colleagues to account and expect to be held to account themselves. The best teams I’ve worked with are a mixture of big-thinking visionaries and methodical achievers. I’ve found that combination really works.
Inheriting vs Creating Strategy
One of the trickiest questions any new leader faces: what do you keep from your predecessor’s playbook, and what do you abandon?
The answer depends on an objective assessment. If the previous strategy was fundamentally sound but poorly executed, your job is operational improvement, not strategic revolution.
If the strategy itself was flawed, you need a new direction, but implemented thoughtfully once you truly understand the business. Don’t rush it.
The most successful leaders I’ve worked with take an evolutionary approach. They focus on the operational foundations, improving systems and processes while strengthening their team. Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is execute the basics brilliantly.
I’ve also worked with leaders who felt compelled to create entirely new strategies – to differentiate themselves from their predecessors. They didn’t work with the culture of the business and more often than not those strategies failed.
Remember – stakeholders don’t care who conceived the strategy—they care whether it delivers results.
The Team Question: Who Stays, Who Goes, Who Grows?
Perhaps the most delicate aspect of any leadership transition is evaluating your inherited team. Get this wrong, and you’ll destroy morale, lose crucial institutional knowledge and be trapped with underperformers.
The right approach gives everyone a good chance to prove themselves, whilst quietly identifying where you might need to make changes. People who embrace their objectives, have a learning mindset and a can-do attitude can really flourish under the new direction.
The mistake I see repeatedly is changing too many roles at once. Mass departures create operational chaos and signal panic to remaining staff. If the team is lacking in trust, things quickly unravel.
Better to work hard to keep your best performers, develop the salvageable middle, and with kindness transition out those who can’t contribute to realising the vision. Everyone is watching, so always treat people with respect.
And when you bring in external talent, select them based on their fit with the organisation as well as the role. Integrate them carefully and no preferential treatment. Your loyal employees must not feel marginalised.
Communication During Uncertainty
What do you say when you don’t have all the answers? This is where many new leaders stumble—either promising too much too early or being so vague that they create more uncertainty.
Honesty works better than false confidence. You must be authentic. Acknowledge the challenges you’ve inherited whilst expressing genuine confidence in your collective ability to address them. People respect leaders who are realistic about the scale of the task ahead.
Establish regular communication rhythms and do so early. Monthly all-hands meetings, quarterly board updates, whatever fits your context—be consistent. Regular communication calms anxiety. Be approachable.
Then balance transparency with decisiveness. You don’t need to share every detail of your thinking, but people need to clearly understand the direction you’re heading in and their role in getting there.
When to Bring in External Support
Here’s something I tell every leader in transition: you don’t have to figure everything out alone. The most successful executives recognise when they need additional expertise or an independent sounding board.
Sometimes it’s specific functional knowledge—perhaps you’re strong strategically but need operational expertise. Other times it’s having someone with fresh eyes who has done the job you do and can spot what you’re too close to see. Or confirm your own thoughts.
One advantage of fractional support during transitions is speed and objectivity. We can assess situations quickly because we’ve seen similar issues before, and we have no political capital invested in existing structures or relationships.
I’ve supported founders and CEOs as they transition their businesses, helping them navigate the journey. I have worked with them to assess their organisation structure and teams, and tested their strategies. Leading to validated decisions and accelerated implementation.
Making Transition Your Competitive Advantage
Leadership transitions are inevitable in business, but they don’t have to be disruptive. The organisations that treat them as opportunities for renewal rather than periods of vulnerability consistently outperform their peers.
If you’re the incoming leader or the board overseeing the transition, remember that success isn’t measured by how quickly changes are implemented—it’s measured by how effectively they deliver sustained improvement.
The next time you’re facing a leadership transition in your business, think beyond the immediate succession planning. Consider how you’ll support that new leader through their critical first months, because their success becomes everyone’s success.
Navigating a leadership change in your business? Whether you’re the incoming leader or supporting someone through transition, experienced guidance can make the difference between transformation and chaos. Let’s discuss how fractional executive support can help you succeed.
