What You Leave Behind When You Start a New Job.

The knowledge that doesn't travel with you

Think back to the last time you moved into a new organisation. In all likelihood, you had spent years becoming good at your previous job. You knew the business, understood the people, and had built both a network of relationships and a reputation to go with it.

You knew who to speak to when something needed doing, which colleagues you could rely on, and how to navigate the occasional difficult conversation. Just as importantly, you understood the things that nobody ever bothered to write down: the personalities, the politics and the unwritten rules that shape how work actually gets done.

Then you changed jobs, and much of that knowledge suddenly became irrelevant. You were still the same capable, experienced professional, but many of the things that had made you effective in your previous organisation did not come with you. It is a dynamic that, I believe, we consistently underestimate when appointing senior executives.

The title arrives before the relationships

Consider what it is like to join a business as its new Chief Information Officer. You have spent years leading technology functions, delivering major programmes and building successful teams. You have come through a rigorous recruitment process, met the CEO and the board, and demonstrated that you have the experience the role demands.

Yet within your first few weeks, you begin to realise that things are a little more complicated than you expected. The CEO has strong opinions about technology, but you are not entirely sure how deep their understanding really goes. The CFO is friendly enough, yet seems unusually resistant to certain investments. One executive appears to wield far more influence than their position would suggest. And you are starting to discover that some of what was discussed during the interview process does not quite reflect how the organisation actually operates.

None of this necessarily means there is anything wrong with the business. It simply means you are learning how the organisation works, and that takes time. What is striking is that your professional capability has not changed at all. What has changed is the environment in which you are expected to apply it.

What the research tells us about fitting in

There is a substantial body of research on this question. In 2025, Bauer and colleagues published a major review of organisational socialisation, examining how people adjust when they join new workplaces. Their meta-analysis drew on 183 studies.

One of its most interesting findings concerned the importance of social acceptance. Feeling accepted, and establishing positive relationships with colleagues, was consistently associated with a range of outcomes, including job satisfaction, organisational commitment and performance.

It is worth being clear about the limits of this work. The research was not specifically concerned with CEOs or other C-suite executives, and the relationships it identified were largely correlational rather than causal. Even so, I think the implications deserve serious consideration.

We tend to place enormous emphasis on whether someone has the capabilities required to perform a job. Yet the ability to build relationships and become accepted within an organisation also appears to matter considerably. On reflection, that makes sense. A leader may have exceptional technical knowledge, outstanding leadership experience and an impressive track record, but without the relationships needed to influence decisions and get things done, their effectiveness may be limited.

Why seniority can make the transition harder

One of the patterns I have observed through my work in executive search and coaching is the considerable pressure senior executives feel to demonstrate their value quickly. They have, after all, been hired because of their experience. People expect them to know what they are doing, and the executive understandably wants to show that the organisation made the right decision in appointing them.

So they begin making decisions, introducing changes and establishing their leadership approach. But the temptation to demonstrate capability can sometimes get in the way of understanding the environment. A new leader may move too quickly on an issue with a complicated history. They may underestimate the importance of a particular relationship. Or they may assume that an approach which worked extremely well in their previous organisation will be equally effective in the new one.

These are not necessarily failures of capability. More often, they are a natural part of learning to operate in an unfamiliar environment, and I believe organisations need to be far more understanding of that.

A shared responsibility

It is easy to place the entire burden of a successful transition on the incoming executive. They are the experienced leader, the reasoning goes, so they should know how to manage it. I do not think that is entirely reasonable.

The same body of research on organisational socialisation also highlights the importance of the support newcomers receive from their colleagues and from the organisation itself. A new executive can be proactive, capable and determined to succeed, but they still need access to the right people, clarity about expectations and a reasonable opportunity to establish themselves.

If the CEO and the board hold conflicting views about the executive's mandate, that is not something the executive can necessarily resolve alone. If important stakeholders are resistant to change, those relationships may require active support from the organisation. And if the expectations of the role have shifted since recruitment, that needs to be openly acknowledged. Responsibility for a successful transition should be shared.

The case for executive coaching

This is one of the main reasons I have become such a strong advocate for making executive coaching part of every new leadership appointment. Not because the executive is struggling, and certainly not because their capability is in question, but because they are navigating a genuinely complicated transition.

Having someone independent to talk things through with can be enormously valuable. A good coach can challenge a leader's assumptions, help them reflect on difficult conversations and encourage them to consider how their behaviour might be perceived by others. Sometimes the value lies simply in creating space to think before making an important decision. At other times, it lies in helping someone recognise that what worked brilliantly in their previous organisation may need to be adapted for the new one.

There is also a growing body of evidence supporting the benefits of workplace coaching. A 2023 meta-analysis by de Haan and Nilsson, which examined randomised controlled studies, found positive effects across a range of leadership and personal outcomes. That does not mean coaching guarantees a successful appointment. It does, however, provide evidence that structured coaching can add real value.

Finding the right person is only half the job

Think about how much time and money organisations invest in making senior appointments. There are interviews, assessments, reference checks, board discussions and negotiations.

We go to considerable lengths to establish whether someone has the capability to succeed.

Then they arrive. And in some organisations, after a handful of introductions and an induction programme, they are largely expected to work everything else out

for themselves. I think that represents a missed opportunity, because finding the right executive is only part of making a successful appointment. We also need to help that person establish themselves in an unfamiliar environment.

Perhaps it is time we stopped assuming that the more experienced someone is, the less support they are likely to need. Every newly appointed leader deserves the support of a coach. Not because they lack capability, but because even exceptionally capable people need time, relationships and support to succeed in a new organisation.