Why CEO Transitions fail – and the board can stop it

The CEO’s transfer is an important psychological event. Shift of ID Which improves their sense of self and often improves their sense of meaning in life and work. But while most of the spotlight falls on the CEO, there is another role that determines most of the results: Board of Directors.

What happens in the early months between a new CEO and the board has a huge impact on the long -term results. A board that is merely a CEO review will initially plant the seeds of failure. On the contrary, a board that steps into the role of a fellow and coach can help convert the CEO’s psychological turmoil into explanation and expand, leading.

In other words, the CEO transitions are not successful because of a great leader. They succeed when the top group of people is an effective team. And no part of the team is more influential in the formation of a CEO transfer than the board.

Related: 5 steps to exit smooth and successful (CEO)

Step in an unknown

Research shows that more than half of the newly appointed CEOs fail within 18 months. Many people point to the culture between the CEO and the board, unclear expectations or wrong theories. However, there is a deep psychological truth: transition destabilizes identity and character relationships – not only for the CEO, but also for everyone involved.

Psychologist William Bridges The famous described transition consists of three parts: elimination of an old identity, the “neutral zone” of uncertainty and the appearance of a new start. The same is the case with organizations. When the CEO changes, the company enters an uncertain place full of problems and panic. The story of the previous government has closed, but the new story has not yet taken shape.

Now, it’s time to create this story – the hero’s journey. And the board is not an observer. He is the co -author of the next chapter. Its role is not just active – it is psychological.

CEO’s identity crisis

At the time when a new CEO steps into the job, he goes through a trend that psychologists say “identity instability”. His previous role is over. But the “CEO Self” has not been fully formed. In top actors, Impossar syndrome spikes that are accustomed to mastering.

At the same time, their internal compass begins. It is a great situation to be above an organization. They ask themselves: What should I give priority? How bold do I have to be? What will this board support or punish? Will I meet expectations and be good like the last CEO?

Here, the board becomes more than the governance body. It becomes a mirror of company history. The board reflects the company’s obligatory beliefs about what and who should be to the CEO of the company. If this reflection has been distorted, if the expectations are unclear or contradictory, it sends the CEO to a deep discrimination rather than explanation.

On the contrary, if the board is attached and transparent, it becomes a stabilizer during the transition – a basis for psychological stability. It can help to clarify CEO not only What To do, but Who has to be.

Related: 3 Ways to travel from Entrepreneur to CEO

Why alignment is emotional, not just strategic

We hear about the need for a strategy, performance measurement or the need for the CEO of the board on the goals. That’s what people inside the business say. But the real alignment, such as in all human relations, is emotional.

This includes:

• Combined understanding of ID: What kind of leader do we want to be CEO? Change agent like Steve Jobs? Steve of a tradition of a Kodak -related tradition? A tough charger or a capable leader of sympathy? Without consensus on the expectations of the character, the CEO receives contradictory opinions, which already enhances the situation with anxiety.
• Psychological safety: Does the board offer the CEO to weaken a place and get real opinion along with a productive dispute? Can the CEO ask ignorant questions without fear of judgment, acknowledge doubts or examine bold ideas? Boards that offer such a Psychological environment Instead of controlling the CEO’s room, instead of controlling everything to force them to show them, when they don’t.
• Respect for personal “why”: The great board asks his CEO what he runs deep inside. Which major problem are they trying to solve? What kind of legacy do they want to leave? When a board connects its organizational goals to the CEO PrimaryThe CEO’s commitment with the support of the scirlets and boards, they take advantage of this energy to make the company catalyst.

As a cultural translator board

Each company has a hidden operating system: its culture. This system of a new CEO, entering this system, can make a landing in a foreign country. This is a shock of a culture. There are unclear rules, prohibitions, rituals and metaphors. There is a whole system of beliefs about what is right and wrong. If no one gives these hidden principles to the CEO, and they were kept out of the outside, it is a dramatic stumble in the transfer of the leader.

Boards have a unique place and have the responsibility of the past on this important information. In a successful transition, the board serves as the CEO’s cultural translator. Not to force them, but to attract them. “What does it matter here?” “That’s how people think.” “That is, confidence will be gained and what will be lost.”

This guidance allows the CEO to avoid mines, while still charting their course.

Related: These are a symbol of a toxic company culture

The board balance process

Silence is never neutral. When a board fails to engage in a CEO transfer, space is filled with distrust. The CEO is surprised: Am I on the track? Do they like what I’m doing? Should I move forward fast? Gently?

This silence is not due to misconduct but due to uncertainty. The board can assume that it should “place the CEO.” But in the early days, this is especially happening when the CEO needs the most engagement, unless it is healthy.

On the contrary, when the board overturns, such as doing micro -management to a CEO or contradicting themselves, they eliminate confidence and harass psychological safety. The CEO looks for reaction, other evaluation decisions or even easy decisions for the board approval. The creativity stops. Risk and business personality ends. The spiral begins down as the team is not working effectively.

Is the best approach Structural transparency. The board and the CEO should form an agreement in the first month: Looks like success. Here we will talk. This is how we will not agree. How much we will include it and where we take steps to make steps, versus the CEO.

Alignment session is worth a ritual

One of the most effective tools in the CEO transition is the Board -CEO alignment. As a coach, I do all this with the CEO Transition Client. This is not just a check -in or well. It is a facilitator, a secret diver where the CEO and board review the company’s strategy, culture, priorities, governance styles and operating cadities.

Such sessions allow three important things:

1. Surfaces of hidden assumptions. Directors may realize that they do not really agree on the CEO’s mandate or what the company needs. It is better to discover it soon.
2. Make emotions normal. This session often allows honesty: “This is what makes me excited, here’s being worried.” It makes relationships human.
3. Creating a joint story. When a story of the board and the CEO has been developed as to where the company is going and what is needed, they make sense. And that means fuel alignment.

The transitions are psychological

People think of CEO transition as a business event. But below they are deep psychological (like everything). A new CEO is doing its lifetime work, and it is a huge task that comes with unrealistic quantity stress.

The science of identity, meaning and psychological safety offers powerful tools to make these transitions successful. Boards who accept their role as coaches and partners, not only helping performance, help the CEO deal with hard time and emerge more, more self -aware and more efficient.

The most important question that the board can ask during transition is not “are we meeting our financial goals?” “Are we helping to become the leader who needs to be?”

When this happens, the level of alignment is not a result of work or to achieve financial goals. It is a strong emotional relationship wrapped in a common sense that reinforces emotions and focuses on the company’s vision. And this meaningful pursuit comes to everyone.