I’ve had the privilege of observing roughly 30 executive transitions. Some were successful, and some were not. I’m going to lay out commonalities of those that went well and highlight the major reason some did not.

Several studies have shown that almost half of management transitions fail. The number one mistake is doing too much in too little time. They measure their success based on their calendar, not by their impact. It’s understandable, we’re eager to prove ourselves, and earn our stripes. However true progress takes time and requires depth in execution and understanding.

Shifts in leadership are not just an organizational experience, it’s a personal encounter.

www.changecycle.com puts it best with their Change Cycle:

Stage 1 – People fear what you’ll be like as their new manager.

Stage 2 – Your team is skeptical, doubtful and defensive.

Stage 3 – Aware of your plans, people are uncomfortable and stumbling with new processes.

Stage 4 – Employees discover your plans will improve the situation.

Stage 5 – Staff buys into you. Things aren’t perfect but progressing and are embracing a new way of doing things.

Stage 6 – Personnel are dialed into the new processes, see the benefits of change and confide in you.

Leading your team effectively through this cycle is crucial to create change. Where do we start?

Gather Your Facts:

Speak with customers about their experience, take key performers out of the office and ask for their advice. Listen to your team and act based on their advice, that’s how you create buy in. They feel they’re contributing to building the organization and confide in you as a leader.

Clients ask me “What about doing a climate survey? My response: “Are you prepared to receive constructive criticism and act on it? If not, don’t do the survey.” Nothing breaks trust like asking for recommendations and putting none of it into practice. If you cannot implement a recommendation at a minimum, tell that teammate why it wouldn’t work so they see you’re receptive and caring.

One goal by gathering your facts, creating and illustrating your vision is to get buy-in from the nucleus of your team. Nucleus meaning core members, producers and leaders. When the nucleus buys in, the rest of the team will follow.

Mike Smith, ex coach of the Atlanta Falcons, made one of the largest turnarounds in history. In “You Win in the Locker Room First”, he talks about creating “eyes and ears”. People will sometimes act differently in front of leaders than they do with colleagues. He’d ask physical therapists, the janitors, and other support personnel for the pulse in the locker room. This identified areas negatively affecting the culture, and he knew to address them.

The nucleus will be your eye’s and ears once you start the next two phases.

Create and Illustrate Your Vision:

You have facts and established areas of improvement. It’s time to create a vision for the future and a game plan to get there. The more involved your team is the more bought-in they’ll be.

Every member of your team should be able to answer the following questions:

What are we doing as an organization? (The mission)

Why are we doing it? (What are the consequences if we don’t do what we do)

Where does each person fit in? (Summarize the most crucial part of each role into one sentence)

Execute the Game Plan:

As you implement your strategy be sure to pull people into the stretch zone, not the stress zone.

Let’s break this down:

Pull is different than push. You push people into production with micro-management and oversight. You pull production by making people want to produce. Start highlighting behavior you’re looking for and give spot bonuses. Work with your internal or outsourced HR team to align employee compensation with the organization’s objectives.

There is a fine line between the stretch zone vs stress zone. Move your game plan along too little, you won’t make timely progress. Move too quickly, people get stressed, resist, and lose morale. You’ll establish a proper pace by meeting with your direct reports and key employees regularly to get a pulse of the team. As feedback comes up, concerns, and complaints, address them on an individual or group basis.

Recap:

Fact-find from your clients, develop your nucleus, and get them to buy in to change.

Create a game plan for your vision involving your teammates. When communicating it to the bigger team illustrate the three questions – What are we doing? Why are we doing it? Where does each person fit in?

Execute the game plan, adjust the pace of change, and address issues based on the feedback you get from your nucleus.

Throw a huge party and celebrate when you win!