Dirk Verburg

The statistics are sobering: not only do 49% of external executive hires end in failure within 18 months, but internal moves prove to be challenging as well. For instance, 40% of internal job moves involving high potentials also end in failure.

Besides the fact that these failures often have a traumatic impact on the individuals involved, the costs for the organisations are huge. Not only in terms of image and hiring costs but, more importantly, in terms of opportunity costs.

To find out why leadership transitions prove to be so hard, and what companies and individuals can do about it, I interviewed Michael Watkins for my Leadership 2.0 podcast.

Michael D Watkins is Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change at IMD. He is a globally recognized leadership transitions expert and author of several best-selling books, including ‘The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter’. Additionally, he is co-founder of Genesis Advisors, a company whose mission it is to accelerate leaders to reach their full potential, energise teams to achieve peak performance, and transform organizations to outperform the competition

During our conversation, Michael and I discussed the following topics:

0️⃣1️⃣ Where Michael’s interest in (leadership) transitions stems from

0️⃣2️⃣ Why companies need to accelerate leadership transitions (ROI)

0️⃣3️⃣ Why companies do not pay enough attention to leadership transitions

0️⃣4️⃣ Why do internal moves (e.g. promotions) so often fail

0️⃣5️⃣ What leaders need to do before making an internal move

0️⃣6️⃣ Why companies (too) often hire external talent

0️⃣7️⃣ What leaders need to do before making an external move

0️⃣8️⃣ The paradox: external hires being asked to drive change – but not to upset the system

0️⃣9️⃣ How companies can protect their investments in talent

1️⃣0️⃣ Why did Michael founded Genesis Advisers and what does this company do?

You can watch or listen to this podcast episode on:

▶ YouTube

▶ Apple Podcasts

▶ Spotify

Resources:

▶ Books by Michael Watkins

▶ Michael Watkins – IMD

▶ Genesis Advisors