The First 90 Days: Integrating a New CEO with an Existing ELT
Boards often assume that hiring the right CEO is the most important decision. It is certainly important. However, hiring the CEO is only the beginning.
The real challenge is helping the new CEO and the Executive Leadership Team quickly develop the trust, understanding, and alignment necessary to work effectively together. Without that foundation, even highly capable leaders can struggle.
What Executive Teams Are Thinking
When a new CEO arrives, members of the Executive Leadership Team are often asking themselves questions they may never openly discuss:
Can I trust this person?
Will my role change?
Does the CEO value my experience?
What are their expectations?
Will they listen before making changes?
Am I still part of the future?
While the CEO is evaluating the team, the team is simultaneously evaluating the CEO. Trust is being formed from day one.
The First 90 Days Matter
The first 90 days establish patterns that can last for years.
Successful CEOs focus on learning before leading. They seek to understand the business, culture, leadership team dynamics, and informal relationships before implementing significant changes.
The most effective leaders spend considerable time listening. They ask questions. They build relationships. They seek to understand what has worked well and what has not. Most importantly, they create psychological safety for honest dialogue.
Five Practices That Accelerate Integration
1. Conduct Individual Leadership Meetings
Meet privately with each executive leader. Understand their priorities, concerns, strengths, and aspirations.
2. Clarify Expectations Early
Ambiguity creates anxiety. Clearly communicate expectations, decision-making processes, and priorities.
3. Create Executive Team Operating Agreements
Discuss how the leadership team will work together. Define communication expectations, accountability standards, and decision-making protocols.
4. Address Difficult Issues Directly
Avoiding important conversations rarely improves outcomes. Address concerns early and respectfully.
5. Invest in Team Alignment
Bring the Executive Leadership Team together to discuss priorities, relationships, trust, and ways of working together. Alignment does not happen automatically. It must be intentionally created.
The Role of an External Advisor
One of the most valuable investments organizations can make during a CEO transition is engaging an experienced, objective advisor.
An external advisor can help surface concerns, accelerate trust, facilitate important conversations, and create alignment without organizational politics influencing the process.
The Bottom Line
A new CEO does not succeed alone. Success is built through the strength of the relationship between the CEO and the Executive Leadership Team.
Organizations that intentionally focus on integration, trust and alignment during the first 90 days dramatically improve the likelihood of a successful leadership transition.
The CEO transition may begin with one individual, but its success ultimately depends on the team.
RELATED READING
Two related pieces in this series provide additional context: “The CEO’s Most Important Relationship: The Executive Leadership Team,” on the relationship at the heart of every successful transition, and “The Loneliest Job in the Organization: Why Every CEO Needs a Trusted Sounding Board,” on what new CEOs are often experiencing internally during this critical period.
