Solutions / Succession planning
The first ninety days decide whether a transition sticks.
Structured onboarding for new and promoted leaders that prevents the common first-year missteps.
The first ninety to one hundred and eighty days after a leadership change quietly decide whether the transition sticks or unravels, and most new leaders are left to figure that out alone. We design structured onboarding for newly promoted or newly hired leaders that accelerates trust-building, clarifies early priorities, and prevents the common first-year missteps. A strong start, engineered instead of hoped for.
Signals you have this problem
- A senior hire is starting and the plan is a calendar of introductions.
- A recent leadership appointment is not landing.
- An internal promotion now manages former peers.
- The previous person in the role left under difficult circumstances.
What the engagement looks like
-
Define the mandate
What this leader is expected to change and what they are expected to protect, agreed before day one.
-
Structure the listening
A deliberate stakeholder sequence, so early conversations build a map rather than a set of impressions.
-
Choose early wins
Visible, achievable, and aligned with the mandate. Early credibility funds later change.
-
Check at ninety days
A structured review with the leader and their stakeholders while course correction is still easy.
Common questions
Does an internal promotion need this?
Often more than an external hire. Internal leaders are assumed to need no support, and they face the added complexity of relationships that must be renegotiated.
What is the most common early misstep?
Acting before understanding. The second most common is the opposite — listening so long that the organization concludes the leader has no direction.
Who owns the transition plan?
The hiring executive, with the new leader. Delegating it entirely to HR signals that it is administrative.
Related work
This engagement frequently runs alongside our assessment work.
Design a leadership transition plan.
A short conversation is usually enough to tell whether coaching, training, or assessment is the right starting point.