#107: Why Executive Transitions Fail More Often Than You Think episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 15, 2026 · 20 MIN

#107: Why Executive Transitions Fail More Often Than You Think

from Stepsero

Executive transitions are more fragile than most people assume. 40% of executive appointments fail within the first 18 months, not because of technical incompetence, but because of people, politics, and culture. And yet organisations continue to spend 90% of their budget on selection, and only 10% on supporting the executive once they are in the role. In this episode, we speak with Navid Nazemian about what actually goes wrong, and what a more deliberate approach to transition looks like.We discuss why the skills that get you hired into the C-suite are rarely the ones that determine whether you succeed, what Marshall Goldsmith's "what got you here won't get you there" really means in practice, and why vertical development (expanding how you think, not just what you know) matters more than most executives realise. Navid also walks us through his Double Diamond Framework©, a seven-phase approach to executive transitions spanning twelve to eighteen months. We touch on the pre-onboarding phase, stakeholder mapping, and why phases one and seven (the ones that bookend the entire journey) are almost always the first to get skipped. Our Guest: Navid Nazemian Navid Nazemian is the world's #1 executive coach, ranked by CEO Today three years running, and the international bestselling author of Mastering Executive Transitions. A former global HR leader at Vodafone, Roche, and BAT, he has coached 350+ executives across five countries — more than half of them CEOs. He's the creator of the Double Diamond Framework© and lives in Dubai.References:Navid Nazemian LinkedIn profile Listen to the next Episode All Podcast Episodes

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#107: Why Executive Transitions Fail More Often Than You Think

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