An appointment is not the end of a search. It is the beginning of the period in which the decision is proved right or wrong.
Senior appointments that disappoint rarely do so for want of capability. More often the causes were visible early: a mandate never made explicit, a leadership team that was not prepared, a culture that quietly resisted the newcomer. The first months in role decide a great deal.
Where new leaders stall
An unclear mandate. The board holds one view of what success looks like; the new leader holds another. Neither discovers the difference until the first review.
The inherited team. A new chief executive is often asked to deliver a new strategy with the team that served the old one. Necessary changes are delayed out of courtesy, and momentum is lost.
The wrong pace. Some leaders try to prove themselves in the first month. Others wait so long to act that the organisation decides for them.
Isolation. The more senior the role, the fewer people a new leader can speak to candidly. Problems that a single conversation could resolve are carried alone.
What boards can do before day one
Write the mandate down. Agree the three or four outcomes that matter most, and share them with the new leader before they start.
Prepare the organisation. The leadership team should understand why the appointment was made, and what will be expected of them.
Schedule the reviews in advance. Agree the conversations at 30, 90 and 180 days before the leader arrives, so that difficult questions are routine rather than alarming.
Provide a confidential counterpart. An adviser or coach outside the reporting line gives a new leader somewhere to test their thinking before it becomes a decision.
The cost of a senior appointment that fails is measured in years, not months. The first 180 days are where most of that cost is either avoided or incurred.
It is for this reason that I remain closely involved through the first six months of every appointment. If you are preparing for an appointment, or supporting a leader who has recently arrived, I would be glad to discuss it.