In today’s dynamic business environment, even the most qualified new leaders face significant challenges during transitions. Despite rigorous selection processes that identify the right talent, several research studies have shown that approximately 40% – 50% of new leaders fail within their first 18 months. Additionally, research by McKinsey suggests that most new leaders (92% of external hires and 72% of internal hires) take far more than 90 days to get up to full speed. These sobering statistics aren’t about hiring mistakes— they reflect the critical importance of what happens after the right leader steps into their new role. Think about the impact – you’ve made a substantial investment in identifying and recruiting a promising leader with the right experience, talents and skills only to be quickly undermined when they struggle to perform due to the lack of proper support during their crucial onboarding period. Underperformance and lack of success include a range of factors related to ineffective onboarding including inability to establish a strong connection to company culture, the leader’s inability to engage fully with team dynamics, unclear performance expectations, lack of clarity, and insufficient onboarding process.
With over two decades of experience leading teams and coaching executives, I have learned this fundamental truth: how an organization supports its leaders during their first 100 days significantly impacts not only their short-term effectiveness and productivity, but their long-term success, revenue contribution and tangible value.
Having onboarded and coached new leaders in a variety of settings from in-person to hybrid and remote positions since 2009, there are several key research-backed strategies that I have implemented and found to be particularly helpful and effective. The following strategies provide a framework for transforming a potentially precarious transition period into a foundation for leadership excellence that benefits the individual, their team and the organization.
1. Be intentional with onboarding: Depending on the size of the organization, onboarding and HR support may vary. It’s essential to go beyond the HR basics and required training. Develop a 100-day plan framework. Schedule key leadership introductions and provide context on organizational history, culture, vision, strategy, aspirations, and direction.
2. Connection is critical: Guiding your new leader to network and build relationships and trust with their team, colleagues, and key stakeholders is essential for supporting projects, providing a sense of belonging, enhancing team dynamics, and getting stuff done. Strategic relationship building is critical for long-term effectiveness. Formal meetings that are more immersive revolve around project planning, financial reviews, and key decisions. Informal meetings can occur in person, and for organizations with many remote employees, several apps are available that initiate “coffee chats” to meet colleagues and provide a forum for conversation and belonging.
3. Assign an internal mentor: Connect your new leader with an experienced peer leader who can provide guidance, resources, and support. A mentor can be particularly helpful for successfully navigating processes, internal dynamics and unwritten rules. A mentor can also supplement any formal training, including learning a new therapeutic or disease area, understanding a product, and providing support with client meetings and stakeholder presentations. This is a great development opportunity for the mentor and will accelerate progress.
4. Communicate clear expectations and define early wins: Clearly define and discuss what success looks like at 30, 60, and 100 days, ensuring alignment on team goals, strategies, priorities, deliverables, and timing. Select 2-3 achievable goals that demonstrate value to the organization and build credibility. This is particularly important when the role is a newly created position that is also new to the organization because there isn’t a lot of clarity among the teams or experience to draw from.
5. Schedule regular one-to-one check-ins: Create regular opportunities for one-to-one communication, active listening, and trust building. Provide a safe space for questions, help needed, new ideas, feedback, additional support, and guidance. This will help prevent small issues from becoming big problems. Maintain presence, pay particular attention to understanding context, and gauge how your new leader is feeling. It’s important to notice their energy, body language, and verbal communication to gain insights into how the new leader is feeling.
6. Leadership transition coaching. Additionally, the research on supplementing onboarding with personalized transition coaching is compelling. New executives who received coaching during transitions reached full productivity 33% faster than those without coaching support¹. While 40% -50% of leaders in new roles fail within their first 18 months, this number drops to just 10%, retention improves by 50%, and productivity increases by 62% for those receiving transition coaching.
The first 100 days set the foundation for leadership success. By thoughtfully structuring this critical period, you’re not just helping new leaders survive but empowering them to thrive and deliver lasting value to your organization.
These approaches represent not merely best practices but essential organizational stability and growth investments. The combined efforts pay significant dividends when supplemented with coaching during the first 100 days.
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Sources:
- International Coaching Federation, “Coaching ROI Study,” 2019
- Michael Watkins, “The First 90 Days,” Harvard Business Review Press, 2019
- McKinsey “It really isn’t about 100 days”, 2017
About the Author
Carolyn Hillegass is the CEO and Founder of The Outcomes Coach and an ICF- certified executive coach with over 30 years of business experience and c-suite leadership in healthcare, technology, and emerging business sectors. She specializes in coaching tailored to the unique needs of individuals, teams, and organizations within the healthcare sector, including health services, life sciences, pharma, biotech, medtech, and digital health.
