Leadership transition coaching: the first hundred days in a senior role
Leadership transition coaching is executive coaching for a leader entering a new senior role, focused on the first months: establishing credibility, building the relationships the role depends on, understanding the team and the organisation, and finding the early wins that set the tone. It is the moment when a leader's reputation in the new seat is decided, and it is the moment leaders most often go through alone.
This page is for a leader who has just been appointed, or is about to be, and for the person who sponsored the appointment and wants it to hold. It says what the first hundred days are for, what to get right in them, and what a coach does that a mentor or a handover document cannot.
What is leadership transition coaching?
Leadership transition coaching is a coaching engagement timed to a new role, whose purpose is to get the leader through the early steps with credibility intact and momentum built. We describe the transition as a pivotal time to establish credibility, build essential relationships, and gain a clear understanding of your team and organization, and the coaching as a guide through those crucial early steps.
The difference from ordinary executive coaching is the clock. A leader stepping into a new seat has a short window in which everyone around them is forming a view, and most of what is decided in that window is decided before any vision is announced. So the work starts with practical strategies for the first weeks, and only then with the longer view.
Why do the first hundred days matter so much?
Because the people around a new leader decide early what kind of leader they have, and they decide from small things: who the leader listened to, what they changed first, whether they asked or told. A leader who spends the first weeks gathering the right insights arrives at the vision with the team already behind them.
We put it this way: before diving into vision-setting, we focus on practical strategies that ensure you are fully prepared to lead effectively. The order matters. A vision announced in week two is a guess; the same vision in week twelve, built on what the leader has learned, is a plan.
What should a new leader get right first?
Five things, in the order we work on them: understand the role and the team, build trust and credibility quickly, spot the early wins, stay adaptable, and lay the groundwork for a vision that resonates. Each is a strategy in our leadership transition coaching, and each has a question underneath it.
Understanding the role and the team. Every team has its own culture, values and expectations. The first job is to gather critical insights, ask high-impact questions and assess the dynamics of the team and stakeholders, because that understanding is the foundation for informed, high-value contributions from the start.
Building trust and credibility quickly. The first interactions set the tone for every relationship that follows. The work is finding authentic ways to earn trust, show credibility and convey commitment to the team, so that openness and collaboration are established early rather than negotiated later.
Spotting the early wins. Seeing what is working and what could work better is the task of the first weeks, and it is where a leader shows their style. The coaching helps pinpoint quick wins and high-impact opportunities that demonstrate a proactive way of leading.
Staying adaptable. A transition demands a mindset that keeps learning, stays open to feedback and remains agile as new information about the team arrives. That is the difference between a leader who adjusts and one who digs in.
Laying the groundwork for a vision. With a real understanding of the team's strengths and needs, the leader is ready to develop and communicate a vision when the time is right, one that aligns with the team's goals and reflects the leader's own style.
What does a coach do in a transition that a mentor cannot?
A mentor tells the new leader what worked for them; a coach helps the new leader see what is actually in front of them. In a transition that distinction is the whole point, because the situation is new to everyone, including the people who have done the job before.
Our three coaches each led before they coached. Anna Maria Casas Rudbeck held senior leadership roles, including CFO positions, at Ascom, Nike and Sage; Boris Carl was managing director of an international business consulting boutique in Japan and EVP of a digital business in the United States; Ricardo Matamala has over thirty years as a consultant and co-founded OCC Solutions. They have each walked into a new seat. What they bring to a transition is not their answer but the questions a leader has no time to ask themselves in week three.
How does a transition engagement run?
Like every engagement with us, in seven steps, starting with a chemistry meeting, then an assessment, stakeholder interviews, a development plan, regular sessions, a midpoint review and a path forward. In a transition the stakeholder interviews come early, because they are the fastest way for a leader to learn how they are landing with the people who matter most.
The rhythm is the practice's usual one: most engagements last six to twelve months, with sessions every two to four weeks. For a transition that means the coaching covers the first hundred days and the months that follow, when the early decisions start to show their consequences. Every step is described in how executive coaching works.
The first hundred days, in one table
| Weeks | What the leader is doing | What the coaching works on |
|---|---|---|
| The first weeks | Listening, meeting the team and the stakeholders, learning the culture | The questions to ask, the dynamics to read, what not to change yet |
| The first month | First relationships, first signals about style | Earning trust and credibility authentically; how the leader is landing |
| The second month | Seeing what works and what could work better | Spotting the early wins and the high-impact opportunities |
| The third month | Adjusting as the picture fills in | Staying open to feedback; the mindset that keeps learning |
| Around day one hundred | Ready to say where this is going | A vision that resonates, built on what the leader now knows |
Three senior coaches.
Senior Partner, North America
Senior Partner, Europe
Senior Partner, Latin America
Common questions
When should transition coaching start?
Before the first day, or as close to it as possible, so the chemistry meeting and the early questions are in place when the leader walks in. Starting in month three still helps; starting before the role begins helps most.
Is leadership transition coaching only for external hires?
No. A promotion into a senior seat is a transition too, often a harder one, because the leader now leads people who were peers. The five strategies apply in both cases.
How long does transition coaching last?
Most engagements with us last six to twelve months, with sessions every two to four weeks. A transition engagement covers the first hundred days and the months in which the early decisions play out.
Talk to a senior coach.
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