profile

Volante Consulting Kenya

Leadership Transitions Are High Stakes - Here’s How to Get Them Right

Published about 1 year ago • 1 min read

​

Leadership transitions are high stakes - start with the strategy.

1 in 2 Leadership Transitions Fail, Yours Doesn't Have To.

Dear Reader

Leadership transitions are one of the highest-stakes moments an organisation can face. And yet nearly half of them fail within two years. (Entrepreneur, McKinsey).

When transitions falter, the consequences ripple:

  • Team underperformance
  • Rising disengagement
  • Lost momentum at every level

That's why succession isn't administrative. It's strategic. And it's why boards must step up - not just to recruit, but to re-imagine the future.

Before you build a job description, pause and ask:

What’s the long-term vision?
What kind of impact are we really trying to have?
What are the core problems we solve and how do we solve them?
What kind of leadership do we need for our next phase of our journey?

I accompany boards on this journey ensuring strategy is part of the transition planning process. This process does more than clarify your mission, it becomes your roadmap for your next leader.
Once you see the full picture of what you're trying to achieve, you’ll know the skills, mindset, and experience you need to lead it.

Through Volante, I support boards and leaders to:

✔️ Invest time in strategy and alignment before jumping into recruitment
✔️ Build intentional, values-led transition plans - not just hire replacements
✔️ Test for cultural and strategic fit before Day 1
✔️ Mentor new CEOs into clarity, confidence, and the capacity to lead

If your organisation is preparing for a CEO or leadership transition - this is your moment to get it right.​
Let’s make it more than a tick box exercise.
Let’s make it a moment of clarity, lift, and sustained impact.

Warmly,
​Liz​
​Strategic Advisor | Former CEO | Founder, Volante

Based in Kenya, available globally

Volante Consulting Kenya

Read more from Volante Consulting Kenya

Leaders don't have to have all the answers On the leader we think we should be, the value of thinking space, and why leadership can still be lonely Dear Reader, I recently came across a quote that has stayed with me: “Your leadership style is the projection of the movie you are playing in your head.” I thought: wow. And then I started wondering what movie was playing in my head when I first became a CEO. I think, for quite a long time, it was some version of fake it till you make it. Possibly...

2 days ago • 3 min read

What are we changing, and what are we losing? Some reflections on AI, early career learning and what we are really looking for when we hire leaders. Dear Reader, I was talking with someone recently about the start of my career, which was, slightly alarmingly, more than 30 years ago. I was on a graduate scheme with a multinational food manufacturer. One of my first jobs was dealing with customer complaints. People would sometimes send the actual product back, and I had to work out what had...

9 days ago • 2 min read

We may be making hiring harder than it needs to be Better hiring isn't about eliminating risk. It is about getting better evidence and learning from the decisions we make. Dear Reader, Last week, I wrote about some of the hardest people decisions CEOs face once someone is already in the organisation. This week, I want to look at what happens before they get there. Hiring is one of the hardest parts of leadership. It is also something I think many organisations make more complicated than it...

16 days ago • 3 min read