Leaders in Transition

This book brings a new perspective on why some leaders succeed more than others when taking charge of an organization. Based on in-depth case studies―in which four new leaders and their teams in large and complex international organizations were tracked for over a year―this book uncovers that success in managing transition is directly related to leaders’ ability to balance seven tensions appropriately to the context. The reader will learn how the four leaders balanced these seven tensions (mission, relationship, reciprocity, decision-making style, pace of change, development dilemmas and loyalty), with more or less successful results.

The reasons for each leader’s effectiveness are explored and analyzed, allowing the authors then to extrapolate some general conclusions about the ways in which these tensions are revealed during all leadership transitions. Evidently, the success or failure of a new leader is the result of the way multiple actors (the new leader, his or her boss, his organization and its stakeholders) behave―before and during the taking charge. These multiple interactions are revealed and discussed.