New leaders may join the company as new employees or as existing managers being promoted to a higher level position and expanded roles. We make many assumptions about the new leaders being capable of handling the relationship, strategic level and the larger organizations they lead. As bosses we think that we will spend the time with him or her to mentor and help understand the new role. Rarely do we accurately judge the time and energy it takes to develop the protégés. After the first month or two, we again assume that the new leader is well equipped to be successful.

As time goes on the new leader may succeed or fail to meet expectations. Why shouldn’t we do everything possible to ensure success? It is certainly meaningful to the business. Let’s look at the business case. 64% of senior leaders hired from outside the company leave within the first 18-24 months. This may cost the company millions. Most of the time we blame the results on poor hiring practices, but there are methods to improve the odds for success. Providing the new leaders with an executive coach for 3 to 4 months may be the most effective way to help a new leader create the foundation for success and provide her or him with “tools” to carry on alone. Coaching is proven to get the leader productive faster as well as retaining the new leaders.

The coach directs the learning by coordinating activities with other key players in the organization. Coaches provide the means to build relationships the right way inside the organization and possibly with other organizations. They also help the new leader leverage their strengths, establish a development plan, build a high performance leadership team and create a strategic plan and goals.

The coach prepares the new leader for the new role in 3 or 4 months and then holds periodic reinforcement sessions for the next few months. A responsible coach insures that the new leader becomes independent of the coach.

Think about the costs surrounding a new leader coming onboard. What is the cost of hiring someone from the outside? How long does a new leader take to get up to speed and become productive? How much does trial and error cost you? What is the disruption to the business if something goes wrong? What is the replacement cost if the new leader isn’t effective soon enough or leaves the organization voluntarily or involuntarily? How much do the “golden parachutes” cost?