Page 18 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

You’ve Been Promoted, Now What? 3

There are many terms used to describe the first 12 months of leadership
transition. Some call it the “perils of promotion,” and others refer to it as “haz-
ardous duty.” Whatever it is called, it is a period of excellent opportunity for
you and the business, organization, school, or team that you lead. It is also a
period fraught with clear and not so clear challenges and dangers. Strikingly,
evidence over the past two decades from several sources has suggested that
when an individual is promoted or assumes a new or different leadership role,
there is approximately a 40 to 44 percent likelihood of his or her demonstrat-
ing disappointing performance and/or being terminated or voluntarily leav-
ing the position within 12 to18 months. 1
During your first 12 months in a new role, either as a first-time manager
or as a tested leader, you will often experience a wide range of thoughts, emo-
tions, and reactions to events as they unfold as well as to what you are dis-
covering about your business and organizational challenges. We have asked
several thousand newly promoted leaders what they thought and how they felt
shortly after they were notified that they had been selected for an important
promotion or appointed to their new leadership responsibilities. Those we
asked included first-time managers, leaders with relatively short managerial
careers, and those with deep leadership experience. Most of these individuals
expressed excitement, pride, happiness, and a feeling of relief that they had
been selected. Quite a number also expressed their gratitude for having been
chosen for the role. Interestingly, many of these very same individuals, and
other leaders with whom we have had similar discussions, also expressed
reservation, anxiousness, and sometimes deep concern about their ability to
successfully step up after they had actually agreed to accept the promotion. It
is common for the emotions of a leader to swing between elation and concern
and back again during the difficult transition of assuming a new and chal-
lenging leadership role. Some used the adage “Be careful what you wish for”
to communicate this self-doubt.
One leader recounted the story of the morning that an official announce-
ment of his promotion was circulated by e-mail throughout his company. He
immediately began receiving congratulations. He felt great about his new role
and the recognition of his previous achievements. That afternoon, he had the
first of three scheduled debriefs with the incumbent who had announced his
retirement. After twenty minutes, one of his legs began to shake as he began
to hear and learn about the role from the person who knew it best. Several
minutes later, both legs began to shake in an up and down fashion. The incum-