In a working life of 35 years, a manager can expect to make at least 10 job changes - or transitions - where the demands for rapid business delivery and effective leadership will only increase with each new job. According to recent research, over 25 per cent of new leaders appointed from within fail within 18 months; the figure is closer to 40 per cent for new leaders appointed externally. The cost of this rate of failure is high, ranging from financial to performance to organizational disruption.
This book identifies the sources of these failures and how to overcome them. The authors show that, whether the new leader has arrived as an external appointment or has been promoted internally, the experiences can be divided into three phases: Arriving, Surviving and Thriving. By analysing the different features of the leader's experience at each of these stages, the authors are able to provide a strategy for leaders to take charge and succeed in their new roles.

Richard Elsner is a writer, a consultant and a coach. For the last three years, he has been Managing Director of The Turning Point. Earlier in his career, Richard worked for 15 years as a change and organization consultant with Kinsley Lord, KPMG and Dialogos and he teaches on the MBA programme at HEC Paris.

Bridget Farrands is an international organization consultant and coach.

• • Chapter - 00: Introduction: The great unspoken struggle;
  • Chapter - 01: The myths of transition;
  • Chapter - 02: The reality of transition;
  • Chapter - 03: The tensions of transition;
  • Chapter - 04: The inner qualities of leaders;
  • Chapter - 05: The tools for transition