Employee Guide:
Succeeding with Your
New Leader
The Business Case for Supporting
Your New Leader
•
A transitioning leader faces a number of challenges when moving into a new role: understanding
and adapting to the way the organization does business, identifying and forming connections with
key stakeholders, clarifying expectations for the role, defining strategic priorities, and executing
transition initiatives. This guide is designed to make your leader’s transition easier and better for
both of you. Specifically, helping onboard your new leader can benefit you in the following ways:
•
1. Improve your team’s stability and collaboration: When leaders struggle, their teams are less
successful and experience higher levels of turnover. As a result, direct reports often spend a
significant amount of time mentoring new teammates and bearing extra responsibilities. Conversely,
the best leaders manage more stable teams that achieve better outcomes. The direct reports of a
struggling transitioning leader perform on average 15% worse than those who report to a highperforming one, and those direct reports are 20% more likely to be disengaged or leave the
organization.
2. Reduce the amount of time you spend on transition support activities: It is likely that you will
spend significant time onboarding your new leader during their first few months. However, by
executing the handful of activities in this guide, you can focus your skills and knowledge and save
time helping your leader transition.
3. Increase your access to career opportunities: Showing your leader that you are open to change,
clearly explaining your strengths and desired development areas, and providing "upward" coaching
helps them identify and assess opportunities to accelerate your development
You are a core part of the strong
network your leader needs to
transition quickly and effectively
into a new role. Success in this
transition benefits not only the
new leader but you and your
team.
Your Three Roles in Supporting Your
New Leader
• As a direct report supporting a
new leader, there are three
key roles to consider:
1. Introducing your new leader
to how the team works
2. Coaching your new leader
3. Demonstrating your openness
to new ideas
Benefits to You
Benefits to You
 Projects are assigned based on
your strengths
 Your performance and
development won’t suffer
 Minimal disruptions to your
work as your leader gets up to
speed quickly on how to do the
job
 Your leader has realistic
expectations of your
performance
 Your leader is focused on the
“big picture,” prioritizing work
accordingly
Benefits to You
 Positive changes in processes
or projects make your job
easier
 Your leader views your good
faith efforts as evidence that
you are an honest and trusted
advisor
These nine activities can
positively impact on the
performance of your new
leader.
• It is important for you to play
an active coaching role
rather than being a passive
participant. The more you
actively share and coach, the
more you’ll help your leader
(and yourself) to achieve
objectives.
Activities to Support Your New
Leader’s Transition