Most new Senior Executives fall into several traps in their early days in their new roles
According to Harvard Business Review and others, over 50% of newly hired senior executives fail within the first year. HBR went on to identify 5 main traps that senior executives commonly fall into which lead to this failure rate.
The loss from these senior executive failures can be higher than 10 times the Senior Executives salary. Others have placed a higher rate on the cost of such failures.
So if you are about to hire a new C-Level Executive, what can you do? Can you do things to avoid or mitigate these enormous risks? Yes.
The Five Traps
While there certainly are more traps executives can fall into, Harvard outlines 5 that seem to pop up the most in these engagements. Focusing on these five can certainly start you on the right path.
The five traps are:
1. Proposing a new vision immediately
2. Making too many big decisions too quickly
3. Consistently highlight how your previous employer did things right
4. Prioritizing external relationships over internal ones
5. Going it alone.
How to address the traps
1. Proposing New Vision
While coming up with new ideas is part of why the new exec was hired, you need to ensure she doesn't jump too soon on proposing her well thought out ideas. There are many reasons why this is ill advised, especially doing it too soon. It's vital that you deeply understand history of an organization, prior efforts that may have failed and the context of the organization so that you gain credibility with the folks who will need to implement your new plans.
We have our Bricks actively document an organization's history as part of our base service in transition documents for new executives. In addition, they specifically identify strengths and weaknesses on the new executives staff so that can inform any new rollout of initiatives.
2. Too Many Big Decisions Too Quickly
Big decisions early can be risky, especially if there is a bit of history that needs to be understood first. Even in younger firms, there is always a slew of foundational decisions that are often not made at the tail end of the executive's predecessor. If you make too many big decisions early, you will have to live with ill advised decisions for some time.
Instead, our Bricks set up transition documents as part of our engagement to let the new executive know all of the major and minor decisions that still need to be made. The Bricks always include the major options available to make certain that the dynamics and history are well understood before the decisions can be quickly moved through. In addition, our Bricks model an Interim Decision Making Process for the new executive to adopt that has diverse representation to ensure broad buy in. Bricks also can provide the new executive with an Interim Operating Process for her new organization.
3. Talk about Previous Success
It is often tempting to talk about your previous impressive experience to gain credibility but it almost always works in the opposite direction. People generally feel their company is different, unique, whether it is or not.
The Brick's process about documenting the History and Strengths of the new organization gives the new executive a context to couch all new ideas into that are already owned by their new team, pointing her toward success.
4. Prioritizing External Relationships
While external relationships are important, and will push on your calendar for sure, you need to ensure that you resist the urge to talk to them during the first three months when you should be prioritizing your staff and other internal advocates. Those vendors and partners will be there waiting for you after you meet with all of the critical components of your new organization.
Bricks specifically provide a first days listening tour for the new executive to give them a baseline of information from her new team and also a pulse on the greater organization.
5. Go it alone
We are leaders. We often learn on our own. We lead out front. It is easy for us to just try to execute to prove the CEO and the Board was right in hiring us. Don't. The pressures of a modern C-Level job are just too great to go it alone.
Our Bricks do some things that are advisable whether you are a client of ours or not. First, they provide the new executive with a model support team that needs to touch base regularly to help the executive land. That team consists of folks like Chiefs of Staff, Admins, technical advisors, process advisors, communications folks and a cultural advisor. In addition, Bricks regularly provide their new executives with a confidential political map which highlights all of the folks in the org structure that will help or hinder the executive.
Conclusion
These five are far from the only traps that stand in front of new executives, but addressing these five will certainly give your team a leg up on the success curve.