Don’t Confuse Leadership Integration with Executive Onboarding

This is the third in our series on When Do You Need An Executive Coach Read Part one and Part two

Traditional executive onboarding programs alone are putting your company at risk.

That’s right. It’s a risk to assume a new leader will naturally assimilate into your company’s cultural, functional, organizational dimensions. A typical onboarding program is a tactical snapshot of what your company is and what your company does but doesn’t cover how to be successful in this new environment.

Significant resources have been invested to fill an executive role, whether an external hire or internal promotion, and yet Harvard Business Review reports that 61% of executives are not prepared for their new leadership role and 50-60% of executives fail within the first 18 months on the job.

As Marshall Goldsmith states in his well-known leadership book, What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There, even the most experienced executives are entering a completely new political landscape. The success strategies that worked in one organizational environment will not necessarily translate into success in a new one.

In this competitive talent environment, you should be doing everything in your power to protect your investment. At The Human Capital Group, Cornerstone’s member firm in Nashville, Tenn., our Leadership Integration does just that.

It is a strategic and intentional process that positions the new leader for accelerated assimilation by equipping them with an intentional plan for success. This plan of action includes the functional, cultural and organizational leadership imperatives of a new role, or rather all the strategic elements we have assumed onboarding would address.

New executives are expected to hit the ground running. Without a road map, their chances of finding the shortest and fastest route to success can be like a scavenger hunt. It takes time and resources away from meeting the critical priorities of their new role.

Leadership Integration takes the guesswork out by answering questions such as what does success look like? What does failure look like? How do I prioritize initiatives and set a strong foundation? How do I establish productive working relationships?

It’s time to be intentional about the way we prepare and support our new leaders. We need to ask ourselves, what do we need to provide in terms of resources to ensure new leaders can proactively identify and synchronize their winning strategy with that of the organization?

Leadership Integration is your progressive and comprehensive solution.