The hardest leadership transition most organisations underestimate

In nearly 20 years of developing leaders, there is one transition I have seen derail more capable, well-intentioned people than any other.

The move from senior manager to first executive role.

Most organisations assume that if someone has performed well at senior level, has deep experience, and knows the business inside out, they will naturally make a strong executive.

That assumption is wrong more often than we like to admit.

Experience gets people promoted. It does not prepare them.

Senior managers are often promoted because they are brilliant at what they do.

They are the go-to expert. The firefighter. The person who steps in when things get tough.

Those qualities are valuable, in fact, they are often essential.

But they are not the work of an executive.

At executive level, the job shifts fundamentally.

The role is no longer about excellence in a function.

It is about enterprise thinking, strategy, culture, and leading other leaders.

What got someone here is rarely what will make them effective there.

When strengths quietly become liabilities

One of the hardest things for new executives to learn is how to let go.

Let go of ownership.

Let go of being the person with the answers.

Let go of being relied on for day-to-day delivery.

I regularly see newly appointed executives dipping back into the work of their teams.

Sometimes because they care.

Sometimes because it feels familiar.

Sometimes because it feels safer.

But when executives do this, three things happen very quickly.

• They become a bottleneck.

• Their leaders stop stepping up.

• Their credibility at executive level starts to erode.

  
  

Executive roles are about accountability, not responsibility.

Coaching, not doing.

Setting direction, not solving every problem.

That shift is rarely made explicit.

And when it isn’t, people struggle in silence.

Why this transition feels so uncomfortable

This transition is difficult because it challenges identity, not just capability.

Many senior leaders are known and liked across the organisation.

They have grown up in the business.

They are familiar, accessible and trusted.

All good things.

But executive leadership requires a different kind of presence.

Greater clarity. Greater boundaries. Greater intention about where time and energy are spent.

Without support, people either cling to their old strengths or overcorrect and become distant.

Neither works.

The cost of getting this wrong

When organisations fail to prepare leaders properly for this transition, the impact is rarely immediate or dramatic.

It shows up quietly.

Decision-making slows down.

Leaders wait instead of leading.

Strategy becomes blurred.

Culture drifts.

The organisation doesn’t lack talent. It lacks readiness.

A different question to ask

The question isn’t whether someone is talented enough for an executive role.

It’s whether they have been prepared for the work the role actually requires

That preparation needs to start earlier, be more explicit, and focus less on past performance and more on future capability.

This is the thinking behind our Exec Ready work with organisations that want to reduce risk at the executive level, not react to it later.

More on that soon.