We received a call the other day from Tony, a CEO of a major oil and gas company, who shared with us that he was quite concerned about one of his key executives. He said that Frank  had been recently promoted to replace a key member of the ELT (executive leadership team) who had retired about nine months ago. He bluntly stated, “Frank doesn’t appear to be working out the way I had hoped and is quite frankly derailing! Can we explore the situation and help me better understand why some leaders derail and and some don’t? What can I do about it?”

These are not uncommon questions that are raised by our corporate clients from time to time. In our executive coaching conversation with Tony, it was noted that The Centre for Creative Leadership found that approximately 50% of high potential managers and executives derail. Contributing to this is the fact that the initial technical and problem solving skills that had fomerly served a number of these derailed leaders well now can’t be relied on to address the increased complexity of operating at a more strategic leve, nor the resulting demands placed on their leadership that are typically changing from day to day, never mind month to month, or year to year.

Further, research has indicated that those leaders who are in fact successful in their leadership roles exhibit some of the following characteristics:

1. They tend to be highly flexible and responsive to change
2. They have a powerful ability to navigate through ambiguity and complexity
3. They pick things up very quickly and in a variety of circumstances
4. They are able to coach, facilitate, coordinate and develop their teams in a variety of circumstances with many different types of people
5.  They are highly grounded, self-manage themselves and work with others well under highly stressful circumstances
6. One of their mottos is ‘Feedback is the breakfast of Champions’ and thus constantly seek it out from those all around them
7.  They are quite aware that their strengths when overused in fact become their weaknesses, and those identified become their primary focus of professional/personal development
8. They readily acknowledge and champion their people, no matter how small the contribution or how challenging the initiative(s)
9. They are able to authentically share their thoughts, feelings and wants in equal amounts with their staff, colleagues, boss(s) and customers/clients, encouraging reciprocation, and do so with a strong sense of empathy and compassion toward others

Leaders having the potential for derailment include: the overly ambitious, the perfectionist, those who go it alone, over-managing, over-loyal to the organization, those who are over-controlling and 0ver-results oriented, single minded, too focused on technical detail, unduly personable and relying solely on relationships to get things done, having excessive fire in the belly, having too many things on the go, overly dependent on others, won’t be pushed off the mark, caught up with escalating-commitment, the constant need to be right, and loves to scrap with others beyond having constructive differences. 

To avoid derailment or to rerail, the leader needs to learn thoughtfully and constructively how to develop the team; strengthen strategic thinking and decision making; clarify specific expectations around deliverables and follow up; be self-aware and self manage under stress while at the same time being empathetic towards others; creating the right balance between collaboration, independent action and delegation; manage strategic alliances, assure functional strategic alignment and effectively manage differences vertically and horizontally. 

What’s been your experience? What have you learned as result and what did you do with it? What have you done with these insights? We would love to hear your thoughts and feelings on the subject. Take care.

Any transition to a new role, while exciting and an acknowledgement of what the organization thinks of us, is a time of anxiety for the newly transitioning leader.

A few of the common errors of a new role leader include trying to do too much too soon, failure to understand the de facto culture/sub culture, and/or misinterpreting the expectations of their superior. Danger lurks ahead….. in the form of mistrust by others, leader fatigue, compounding anxiety with over preparation, and creation of an unsafe environment for employees. As stress intensifies for the new role leader, can you really be making the best decisions for the organization as a whole, your team and yourself?

A recent research article from the University of Washington reported the findings of imposing stress on rats. It took only one uncontrollable stressful episode to greatly effect the behavior of a rat. It actually took the rat several days to recover from the effects of the stressor and return to normal decision making ability. The learning of the stressed rat control group was delayed. As well, this group was unable to readily adjust to alterations made in the imposed stress exercise. Stress altered the ability to learn, the ability to remain agile, and the ability to make decisions. How does this convert to humans? Well, the scientific community has been using rats as study participants for years…there must be something to their selection.

As I look to newly transitioning leaders whom I have coached over the past 5 years, I relate to the news of the above study. Stress has a tremendous effect on performance levels and at a time when a leader is under the microscope and readily judged by others. Clients have shared with me how this has manifested for them and projected in all areas of their life. Many suffer from extreme sleep disturbances and/ or dietary challenges.

I have worked with leaders who admitted that they had hardly slept in two months and leaders who existed on a pop and pizza diet. It is rewarding as a coach to support leaders in these circumstances and be part of the process that allows them to gain back a feeling of balance and control……rewarding them with restful nights rather than a continuum of wide eyed 3 AM note taking sessions. With invested and targeted support, these leaders can bring about greater contribution to the organization in a shortened time frame as they learn to manage their stress, embrace the transition, garner early credibility and move powerfully forward with their leadership.

What is the cost to an organization of not readily investing in the transitioning new role leader? As this is an area of continued research for me I repeatedly see transitioning phases of 14 – 24 months in executive level roles. More complex portfolios can exceed this timeframe. This is not just about the leader’s transition. One must take into consideration the transitional impact on those who surround the leader and the cost to the organization when their performance falters as a result of how the new role leader shows up for others.

What is your personal experience in a recent transition, either as the leader or as a direct report to a newly transitioning leader? While you are drinking from a fire hose, what soothing techniques have you found that help to manage anxiety and stress for you? In hindsight, how do you feel your decision making during a recent leadership transition may have been impaired?