Leadership Transitions: a pattern that repeats
I was reading a Russell Reynolds article recently about first-time C-suite executives, and it started to sound familiar.
They were describing the mindset shifts leaders face when stepping into their first C-Suite role. And I thought: I've had this exact conversation. Several times this year alone!
Except we weren't talking about C-suite transitions. We were talking about someone stepping into their first management role – that awkward jump from being good at the work to being responsible for other people doing the work.
Same conversation. Different context.
On the line manager programme that I've been running lately, we spend some time on this transition. The three shifts we explore are:
From doing the work to enabling the work
From being a peer to being the leader of a team
From focusing on your own performance to focusing on team performance
It always drives a discussion that creates energy in the room – these are the fundamental changes we all know (even if we don’t have the names for them).
And then I read what Russell Reynolds found at the very top of organisations:
Going from executor to orchestrator
Going from functional expert to enterprise leader
Going from problem solver to future architect
I get that the context, complexity, and stakes are higher when you are at the C-Suite. But these fundamental challenges remain the same.
Here's what this actually means
When you step up – whether it's your first management role, your first director position, or your first seat in the C-suite – you're facing a version of the same transition. You're moving from a world where you knew the rules, had the muscle memory, could trust your instincts... into a world where none of that quite applies anymore.
The skills that got you here are still valuable. Just not sufficient.
And this is where it gets interesting (and where some leadership development misses the point entirely). Because if every transition shares these common patterns, surely there are common solutions, right? Just give everyone the same framework, the same five-step model, the same inspirational quote about leading from the front.
Except that's not how it works. Not really.
Yes, the challenges have similar shapes. But the way you need to navigate them? That's completely individual. It depends on who you are, what story you've been telling yourself about leadership, how others experience you (which might be different from how you think they do), and what you're carrying into this new role.
Your colleague might need to learn to let go of the details. You might need to learn to grab hold of them more firmly. Someone else might need permission to trust their instincts. You might need encouragement to question them.
Development is a journey, not an event
Here's what I've learned from working with leaders through these transitions: development isn't a one-time event. It's not something that happens just at the point you accept the new role, or during your first 90 days, or when you finally complete that leadership programme.
It's the work you do before the transition – building the capability and self-awareness you'll need. It's the support you need during the transition – as you're figuring out what's different and what this role demands. And it's the ongoing reflection after – as new challenges emerge that you couldn't have predicted from the outside.
It's continuous. It's personal. And it requires something most senior leaders don't have enough of: space to step back and think.
What this means for you
If you're in one of these transitions right now – or can feel one coming – there's something oddly reassuring about recognising the pattern. You're not making it up. The disorientation you're feeling is not a sign that you're not ready. It's a sign that you're paying attention and noticing that something is different.
The question isn't whether you need support through this. (You do. Everyone does, though not everyone admits it.) The question is: what kind of support do you need?
Not always what your organisation offers by default. Not what worked for someone else. But support that would help you make sense of this shift, reframe the challenge in front of you, and move forward with clarity.
Because whilst the words might be different and the context might shift, the fundamental truth remains: at every point in a leadership career, there's a transition. And those transitions share enough in common that we can learn from them.
Just not in exactly the same way.
https://www.russellreynolds.com/en/insights/articles/the-first-time-cxo#
