Seamless Transitions
The Crucial Role of Presidential Transition Planning in Ensuring a Successful Administration
Presidential success doesn’t depend solely on the skills and abilities of the person assuming the office. There must be forethought, planning, and systematic support on the part of the board and institution to enhance the likelihood of initial presidential success and set the stage for what is hopefully a long, accomplished tenure. With intentional planning and a little luck, the presidency will be a joy.
We’ve all heard about the criticality of the first 100 days in a new role—so true. But not enough attention is given to the critical period before a new leader steps onto campus. Our experience is that the days and even months before a new leader starts their job are just as essential to ensuring a successful presidential transition. While both of us, as former presidents, had terrific board and campus support when we officially started, our observations are based on how much we would have valued even more deliberate activity that began long before we arrived in the president’s home on that first (sleepless!) night.
Unfortunately, succession planning, where the transition process is thoughtfully planned for months, if not years, is the exception rather than the rule in higher education. So, assuming the new president is being selected through an open search, it is essential that planning for a successful transition begin in earnest at the start of the search process, well before the next leader is chosen.
Current campus leaders should support their boards and search committees by recommending and launching a Transition Plan. The plan should include three phases:
- Pre-candidate selection: From the beginning of the search process until a candidate has been selected.
- Pre-start date: Important pre-work that the incoming president should do in advance of their first day in the position.
- Once on campus: Transition activities for the new president’s first six months in the role.
In this article, we consider the first two phases above, leading up to the first day in office. So much can, and we believe must, be done prior to the start date. In a successive piece, we will outline best practices for the third phase, the first six months in the role.
Phase 1: Pre-candidate selection. As soon as the board has determined that there will be a transition, the transition work begins! Activity often focuses on communications to the community. Steps must also be taken to address the important topics that serious candidates may need to know about, as well as prepare the campus to fully brief a new president on priorities, emerging issues, key stakeholder profiles, and more.
Create a Transition Advisory Council: Foundational to all of this is the early formation of a Transition Advisory Council that will proactively guide the campus, and ultimately support the board and new president during the transition. Thus, we recommend that a Presidential Transition Advisory Council (TAC) be established with dispatch, and well before the president is selected. The TAC should be appointed by the board, outgoing president, and cabinet and be comprised of a small number of the institution’s trusted ambassadors, and necessarily include a member or two from the search committee and the board for continuity. The chair of the TAC serves as Champion, Collaborator, and Confidant, developing the Council’s charter and eventually working alongside the selected president. These individuals should be selected not by title but by the trust the community places in them and by their ability to help accelerate the president’s learning and, therefore, success. They are quintessentially “horizontal” thinkers, motivated by the good of the enterprise not their own units or “verticals.”
Anticipate candidate questions and transition needs: Early on, the TAC should establish campus readiness, ensure that a communications plan is in place, and prepare onboarding material that is ready as soon as a candidate has been selected.
Ensure alignment with the search committee: While the TAC can operate independently of the search committee, its work can be informed by information gathered during the recruitment process (e.g., key issues or concerns candidates are asking about). This speaks to our suggestion that one or two committee members also serve on the TAC.
Phase 2: Pre-start date. This pivotal phase is critical to both positioning the new president from the outset, and preparing them for the myriad people and issues that will be waiting for them on day one. Key activities to focus on during this period include:
Connect the new president and the TAC: The TAC should assist with tactical aspects of onboarding, including the communications plan and introductions, and also point out potential pitfalls that lay ahead. The TAC also advises the new president on the values they wish to convey, how those values align with the institutional mission, and the “voice” the president should establish on campus and off.
Connect the new president and the board chair: Developing a deep president/board chair relationship should begin immediately upon selection, or better yet, beforehand with a thoughtful finalist interview process. A well-designed search process culminates in multiple interactions between the finalist(s) and the board, but especially the chair. In addition to the support of the TAC, the chair should step in with a series of informal calls with the new president leading up to the official start date. These calls can have structure but primarily serve to give the two individuals time to get to know each other and forge a working relationship.
Identify critical issues: Begin advance planning for day one. A typical framework for orienting the new leader and establishing a plan for success should include the following core “PACE” components:
- Purposeful priorities: Determine what truly matters and is the best use of the president’s time.
- Alignment: Take steps to ensure the president is on the “same page” as the board, the cabinet, and the community; this includes time for re-assessment and recalibration if needed.
- Culture: The president should be intentional about which aspects of the culture they hope to sustain or shift, with feedback loops built in to allow refinement over time.
- Energy: Self-care is critical if the new leader is to find and sustain success
Work on gaps: No candidate is perfect! The board chair, TAC, and incoming president should identify a short list of areas for knowledge development. For example, the new president might want to become well-versed in the academic areas most important to the new institution, as well as study accreditation and audit reports, previous board meeting minutes, and other important documents.
Get a trusted advisor: In today’s climate, every president needs a thought partner or advisor. Advisors and thought partners, often former presidents themselves, can provide confidential one-on-one counsel to the new president, apart from the TAC. The official advisor should be an independent thinker with whom the president can test ideas, get clear-eyed advice, and frankly, vent occasionally. With a trusted personal advisor, especially one who has sat in the presidential seat themselves, a new president can have an instant confidant – something not possible to find within the new campus, where literally every person is the president’s employee. The advisor should be engaged as soon as the president is named, as they will assist the appointee in developing a 90-day action plan. The advisor may have even been involved in the search process, thereby coming to the advising assignment with institutional awareness and relationships on campus. They also serve as a critical partner with the board, encouraging their meaningful involvement in the president’s onboarding process and sharing knowledge regarding proper roles and responsibilities through transition and beyond.
Develop key messages: It is important to craft a handful of critical talking points before engaging with the community. First impressions are often lasting, so a new president should think carefully about what topics to address and how to respond to sensitive issues. The institution’s Communications leader can advise this process.
Make friends with the outgoing president (or not): The exiting president has a responsibility to convey publicly and privately their complete faith in their successor. For the institution’s benefit, the outgoing president can also accelerate their successor’s learning curve and impact through knowledge and relationship transfer. Unfortunately, some presidents leave precipitously, due to a personal or family illness, for example, or irreconcilable differences with the board or campus community. In these unfortunate circumstances, maintaining a healthy distance from their predecessor may be in the new president’s best interest. The board may request that other key institutional leaders such as the provost, CFO, key academic and administrative leaders, and community members play a larger role in transferring institutional knowledge and providing a support network before and after the president’s start date.
Develop a meet-and-greet schedule: With the TACs guidance, a carefully crafted schedule needs to be created for the first few months of the presidency. Everyone will want to meet the new leader! It is easy to fill a president’s day with introductions, which will both exhaust the new leader and leave little time for critical planning and action. The TAC must help prioritize and sequence activities.
The recommendations above beg the question: Is it too much, too soon? Could these activities overburden the newly selected leader, especially as they are transitioning out of their previous position? Potentially, and sensitivity to the president-to-be’s capacity is needed. However, we also know that starting a new presidency is akin to drinking out of a fire hose. Campus leadership has a duty to accelerate the new leader’s impact and increase the odds of a smooth, impactful onboarding. It is time to consider a well-constructed transition plan table stakes.
