In many leadership appointments, there is often an expectation from the organization that the leader steps into the role and fulfills a significant portion of their responsibilities from the very first day. There is great attention and many eyes on the new leader, and the higher in the organization’s hierarchy the leader is, the greater the expectations typically are.
It is entirely natural for expectations to be high for a leader from day one. If the position has been vacant for a period, there may be a significant demand for someone to come in and take up the role. There may be many decisions that need to be made, which have not been addressed in the recent period, resulting in a backlog of tasks that need to be addressed. Generally, there may be many decisions to make – even if the new leader does not yet have a complete overview. It may also be the case that the leader is hired with a clear task, for example in an organizational change or leading a change process. Leaders are often hired with experience from other leadership positions, and therefore the leader may have insight into what is required to effectively succeed in the job.
Help your new leaders start well
Onboarding a leader requires something different from onboarding employees. Here are a few good advices that can help your new leaders get off to a good start in the job.
#1 Provide the leader with an overview of administrative tasks
Many leaders are surprised by how much time administrative tasks require and how quickly the new leader might feel overwhelmed by all those tasks. All the information leaders are feed with during the introduction period can be difficult to remember (it is the same for employees). Therefore, think outside the box and help your new leaders get an overview of the volume of administrative tasks, for example, through a yearly schedule. A playbook or workflow description that guides leaders through the administrative tasks ensures that leaders are well-equipped to perform the tasks correctly from the start.
#2 Support and coaching are invaluable
Leaders can sometimes be the lone wolves in the department, having to figure out how tasks are done in your organization, how you communicate with each other, and what characterizes your culture. You can help the leader get off to a good start by establishing leadership communities and ensuring that new leaders are invited into these communities. Coaching and support from colleagues or their own manager are crucial for succeeding and thriving in the job. It can be both ad hoc coaching and systematic coaching.
Moreover, a mentor can help the new leader transition into the leadership role, ensuring it aligns with your leadership values and culture. A mentor should be a leader colleague who can share their own experiences and knowledge and help the new leader settle into the job.
#3 Networking groups with other new leaders
Leaders can benefit greatly from meeting other new leader colleagues and discussing themes that are relevant in their early days on the job, as well as listening to others’ challenges and dilemmas. Networking groups provide leaders with the opportunity for coaching and reflection. You may consider facilitating the networking group initially, as it can be beneficial since all leaders are new to the organization and do not yet know each other or their new workplace.
#4 Good onboarding is tailored to the individual leader’s needs
Leaders often enter their job under different circumstances than employees do. And there may be areas of focus or specific tasks that the leader needs to address in their early days. Additionally, leaders may have preferences of what is important in their onboarding because, they have experienced something similar before. Therefore, leaders’ onboarding may also risk being somewhat sidelined because there are tasks demanding the leader’s attention or the leader does not consider the planned onboarding activities relevant. In every leadership recruitment, therefore, you should consider how to provide each individual leader with the best onboarding. There may also be a need to adjust the onboarding program along the way. Consider how intense the onboarding process should be and how much the leader needs to go through in their early days.