Transitioning Leadership
With the results of the recent American election, the transition of leadership appears to be on many individual’s minds and with it a bevy of emotions ranging from fear through to hope, internationally.
On another level, many of us throughout our careers have experienced a highly valued leader departing an organisation with mixed thoughts and feelings on what the oncoming leader may bring to our workplace and what this could mean for us as individuals.
Given what we are seeing playing out in international politics and based on previous experiences, what can we as individuals and organisations do, to foster the successful transition of leadership?
Successful transition of leadership appears to be based on:
- Planning the transition
- Positive, concise and continued communication about the transition – communication is vital in explaining the handover of leadership, what this will mean for a business and how its workforce will be supported throughout this change over
- Recognising the work of the previous leader and building on this
- The incoming leader being aware that not everyone is an early adopter of change and identifying those who are early adopters
- The incoming leader recognising the need to work together to mobilise those individuals whom may not be initial supporters by recognising and guiding them through the grief cycle i.e. moving individuals the stages of disbelief to acceptance, hope and commitment
- Celebrating early wins and
- Continuing to communicate across all levels of the workforce
For further information on transitioning leadership, please contact Eva & her team at Nurture HR Consulting.