Why 27-46% of leadership transitions fail

Why do 27-46% of leadership transitions "fail"?

Lately I've noticed a few leaders, fairly new to roles, worrying that it's taking longer than expected for things to settle and for them to feel more comfortable. They are unnerved with challenges such as plugging difficult to recruit for gaps in the team, wider organisation restructures and changes, cost pressures, team issues, lack of quality feedback/communication, and so on. Some have wondered if the old 90-100 day plans are relevant anymore. How long does it take to become more comfortable in the new role? What's a reasonable time period - 9 months, 12 months, 2 years? Is it even possible for things to become more settled?

I've been pondering about these issues for awhile. Recently I posted about using Polarity Management to improve one's chances of making a more successful transition to new a leadership role. (https://lnkd.in/geARBSVN

I've also stumbled on this article by McKinsey (link below) stating that 27-46% of leadership transitions fail in the first 2 years. Why so?

- Organisational Politics (people and culture); this was the main reason given, by 68% of respondents. What's got people into the new role is not necessarily enough to make them successful. The extent of this problem is as prevalent for leaders who are recruited in from the outside as for those promoted internally.

McKinsey's article also states that "new leaders get little help". Why is that? Given the massive difference it makes to an organisation when a leader succeeds or fails, it seems amazing that such little help is offered and especially so as the number of leadership transitions is increasing, as our world becomes more volatile and changes of CEOs increase too. It's the sink or swim principle. The article continues and says that 74% of US leaders and 83% of global leaders say they are unprepared for their new roles.

I was also struck by the timeframes mentioned in this article. Failure rates are by the two year mark. Some will be much faster. Two years is much longer than many of my coachees give themselves. Typically, they think they need to be performing and comfortable after... 90 days (at shortest) and 12 months (more realistic).

You might want to read the article and consider the tips. For example, they offer five critical dimensions or areas and a checklist of ideas of ways to "take stock" and "take action" in each.

Curious to hear if this issue about leadership transitions resonates with you? What are the key factors you've seen contributing to failure?

In today's complex world where unprectability is the norm, I wonder how challenging it is for those who are trying to design roles. I imagine, very challenging, and therefore, would it be wise to put systems into place to support development and agility? Like, mentoring, coaching, organisational systems (ways of working) etc?