Accelerated Integration reduces the time it takes for new leaders to deliver impact in their roles

Senior roles are more challenging than ever. Globalization, along with repeated waves of mergers and acquisitions,has created business behemoths that span multiple time zones, markets and cultures. At the same time, the operating environment is characterized by unprecedented volatility,uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity—or VUCA for short.

For any executive, managing an organization and achieving impact in this environment is a difficult undertaking. For someone new to the role, the challenge is exponentially greater. If an executive stumbles in his or her first few months it is hard to recover: “There is only one chance to make a first impression.”

In this context, Egon Zehnder’s global clients have expressed concern about how long it takes for newly appointed leaders to successfully gear up in their roles. Many companies told us it can take a full year for a newcomer to achieve the value added expected of them. They asked us: What would it take to reduce this “time to impact?” We responded by launching our Accelerated Integration Practice, which I co-designed and co-launched. Today, I am Practice Group Leader, Accelerated Integration.

Accelerated Integration is about reducing the time it takes for newly appointed leaders to reach their full effectiveness in the role. In practice, this means dramatically reducing the time it takes them to fully understand their role and its challenges, make well-informed decisions with confidence, and build alliances with the relevant stakeholders to ensure better buy-in and influence across the organization. As a result, accelerated integration delivers greater bottom-line impact, faster. Indeed, our experience working with companies in many regions and industries proves Accelerated Integration can halve the time it takes new executives to reach full effectiveness.

We also know that a successful integration and early success in the role increases the chances of retaining the executive long term. If a new executive makes a good start, they are well on their way to fulfilling their potential. A good start often translates into a positive long-term career trajectory. Well-integrated executives lead their businesses and organizations forward significantly faster.

Accelerating the journey to full effectiveness

In responding to our clients’ requests, we decided to design a program that would accelerate the journey for new leaders to reach full effectiveness in their roles. At the core of this program is targeted, tailored support across five major workstreams that leaders must pursue in their first few critical months: assuming operational leadership, taking charge of the team, aligning with stakeholders, engaging with the culture, and defining strategic intent (see exhibit below).

Each of these five areas is challenging in its own right. To be successful, though, a new executive must address all five in parallel; these workstreams are not just individually essential, they are also synergistic. For example, if a new executive spends time engaging with stakeholders, he or she will pick up important perspectives and nuances about the business—and this will mean that their operational decision-making will be sharper.

In our experience, what is most likely to derail new leaders is a failure to make progress on one or two of these areas—most commonly, taking charge of the team, aligning with stakeholders, or engaging the with culture. If a leader neglects just one of these strands, they could end up being held back in all areas; if trust fails in one area, the impact is often felt everywhere.

For a newly appointed executive, the integration journey is intense. Accelerating the progress requires doing things at the right time and in the right order. Our framework is therefore split into three distinct phases to help the new executive achieve what is needed within this very limited period of time:

“Sizing the challenge” is a preparation phase prior to Day One. Investment here will drive acceleration once the executive starts in the role. During this phase, the leader need to learn as much as possible about the business, stakeholders, culture, and the team in order to hit the ground running. By doing a considerable amount of work before the first day, we enable the new leader to start already well briefed, already with insights, already with a sense of priorities. It is essential not to lose this window of opportunity, as this time cannot be regained.

“Building Momentum” covers the first 30 days in the new role. Here the executive needs to actively shape first impressions. They need to address their own learning needs and build trust in their team and among stakeholders. It is about taking deep dives to understand the business while maximizing initial interactions and first impressions.

“Accelerating Impact” covers the following two months (30-90 days). The previous phases will have given the new executive the necessary foundation, as well as the personal confidence and organizational traction to initiate meaningful early wins that promise maximum impact. Thus, they demonstrate that they are driving the organization in the right direction.

You may want to read more about Egon Zehnder’s approach to Accelerated Integration.

You may also want to read: “Onboarding Isn’t Enough: Executives need to be fully integrated into your culture”, by Mark Byford, and Michael Watkins, and Lena Triantogiannis, Harvard Business Review, May-June 2017. http://bit.ly/2pvchBy