You’ve worked with leaders in multiple industries and across various continents. How do cultural differences influence leadership transitions, and how do you tailor your coaching accordingly? Cultural differences can indeed significantly influence leadership transitions by shaping leadership styles, decisionmaking processes, and communication dynamics. I must emphasize here that if we were to group the top 10 reasons for executive transition failure, ‘culture’ ranks among the three grouped reasons for failure. Hence, its impact (both positive and negative) can’t be overstated. In my coaching practice, I try to tailor my coaching to address cultural nuances by utilizing: • Cultural Intelligence: I help leaders develop cultural intelligence to navigate diverse environments effectively • Adaptation of Leadership Styles: I adjust my coaching to align with the cultural context, whether it involves hierarchical or consensus-based decision-making • Cross-Cultural Communication: I emphasize the importance of understanding and adapting to different communication styles, including direct and indirect approaches • Inclusive Leadership: I try to foster inclusive leadership practices that respect and leverage cultural diversity to improve both leader and leadership team performance By focusing on the above, I ensure that my coaching clients can lead effectively across different cultural settings. In your book Mastering Executive Transitions: The Definitive Guide, you emphasize planning over luck. Could you share a key strategy from the book that leaders often overlook when transitioning? In my book, I emphasize the importance of structured onboarding processes, a key strategy that executives often overlook during transitions. I do highlight that effective onboarding is crucial for setting the stage for success and reducing the high failure rate of executive transitions, which is about 40% during the first 18 months. By focusing on intentional planning and support, executives can better navigate the complexities of their new roles and avoid common pitfalls associated with executive transitions. This structured approach helps not only to acclimate to the organizational culture but also to build essential relationships and establish credibility quickly. An often-overlooked key strategy is the importance of initiating the onboarding process before the official start date, commonly referred to as Pre-Boarding or Pre-Onboarding. In my book I call this phase ‘Discover’. This proactive approach allows executives to build relationships, understand the organizational culture, and align expectations early on, which can significantly enhance their effectiveness and smooth the upcoming transition even before day 1 in a role. Over a quarter of a century that you have spent working in various industries across several continents and organizations, what are some of the developments that you have witnessed and have these generally helped or hindered CEOs? Over my 26-year career across five countries and seven organizations, I have indeed witnessed several key developments: Navid provides brilliant insights on what makes successful careers” Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter, ex Vodafone CEO The carefully nuanced, very pertinent, and experienced insights that Navid has, are rarely covered and hence deeply value-adding” Harriet Green, OBE, former Chair & CEO IBM Asia Pacific CEO Today Executive Coaching Awards 2024 - GLOBAL - - 8 -
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