Protecting performance, culture, and investment when leadership changes hands.
1. The Stakes
Every leadership transition carries risk and cost. Research consistently shows that 30–40% of executives fail or underperform within 18 months of appointment. When the total cost of executive replacement can exceed £500K to £1M, getting transitions right isn’t a nicety. It’s financial protection.
Even capable leaders falter when clarity, context, or sponsorship are missing. Structured transition coaching exists to mitigate performance risk. It safeguards momentum, culture, and credibility during the most visible 90 days of a leader’s tenure.
A structured coaching investment can protect a £1M leadership bet and the momentum, culture, and credibility that depend on it.
2. The Five ROI Drivers
Successful transitions generate measurable return on investment by strengthening five levers of leadership performance:
- Strategic Clarity – Aligning personal focus with the board’s definition of success.
- Cultural Alignment – Understanding what to preserve, not just what to change.
- Early Wins – Identifying and sequencing achievable outcomes that build credibility.
- Leadership Presence – Showing calm authority and consistency under pressure.
- Sustained Focus – Avoiding the noise and distractions that dilute impact.
These drivers underpin every high-performing transition. They’re not methodology – they’re discipline.
3. The Transition Readiness Checklist
Before Day One: The Non-Negotiables
Board / Sponsor Responsibility
- Define what “good” looks like – in outcomes, not adjectives.
- Clarify what’s already working and must be protected.
- Share an honest brief – include the elephants, watch-outs, and team realities.
- If you’re not convinced, voice it now. Or commit fully.
Don’t set an expensive hire up to fail through benign neglect.
Executive Actions
- Validate expectations early – don’t assume alignment.
- Identify quick wins that build credibility, not chaos.
- Understand the organisation’s unwritten rules before rewriting them.
Ongoing Partnership
- Keep communication active between the board, sponsor, and executive.
- Review early outcomes together – not just performance, but perception.
- Use coaching as a thinking space, not a reporting line.
4. Why Transitions Fail
Most transition breakdowns aren’t about competence – they’re about context. Through decades of senior leadership experience, I’ve seen the same failure patterns recur:
- Throwing the baby out with the bathwater – changing what works to prove impact.
- Not listening to the business – underestimating inherited expertise.
- Performing a persona – acting confident instead of being authentic.
- No space to induct – momentum mistaken for progress.
- Lack of support when pressure peaks – sponsors disengage when presence matters most.
And the most common:
Boards fail to tell new executives what’s already working and worth protecting – then blame them for changing the wrong things.
This isn’t a constraint. It’s context – so that resources aren’t wasted fixing what isn’t broken.
5. Root-to-Result® in Practice
Root-to-Result® is a six-stage leadership model designed for high-stakes transitions. It works backwards from outcomes – helping leaders define what success must look like, then aligning mindset, values, and behaviour to deliver it.
It’s:
- Coaching, not consulting.
- Outcome-led, not process-driven.
- Grounded in lived executive experience – 35+ years in C-suite roles across people, operations, and technology.
- Independent, confidential, and commercially fluent.
Root-to-Result® helps leaders land cleanly, build trust faster, and create the conditions for sustainable success.
