The Tale of Two Leaders
The only constant in organizations is change. And with every change, whether a restructuring, new initiative, or leadership shift, comes the opportunity to either build alignment or create confusion.
I once worked with two teams involved in a senior manufacturing initiative. Both were assigned to high-profile, mission-critical projects and led by newly appointed leaders for an 18-month assignment. Each leader received the same coaching: to plan a two-day offsite retreat to charter their team, clarify goals, and conduct a leadership assimilation to establish trust and alignment.
Their choices couldn’t have been more different.
Leader A decided to skip the retreat, insisting the work was too important and time too limited. “We’ll fix any issues in real time,” he told me, moving straight to execution.
Leader B, on the other hand, prioritized the offsite. She gathered her team for two and a half days of connection, strategic planning, and honest conversation, with a little fun mixed in.
Eighteen months later, the difference was undeniable. Team B had become a model of collaboration and performance. Team A, struggling with conflict and inefficiency, was eventually integrated into Team B, and its leader joined under Team B’s leadership structure.
The lesson was clear: taking time to align a new leader and team isn’t a luxury; it’s a strategic necessity. When a new leader takes over a team, the transition period is critical. It sets the tone for relationships, expectations, and performance for month, even years, to come.
Yet one of the most underused tools in this process is a New Leader Assimilation, a structured experience that helps both leader and team align, building trust, and creating the conditions for success.
What Is Leadership Assimilation?
A leadership assimilation isn’t traditional onboarding. It’s an intentional, interactive process that gives both the leader and the team time and space to learn each other’s styles, strengths, and priorities. It gives the new leader an opportunity to assume leadership of the team and establish new ways of working. It often includes:
- Team workshops or listening sessions
- Scenario planning or real-world case discussions
- Role-playing difficult conversations
- Clarifying values, communication norms, and decision-making preferences
- Mapping out team goals, strengths, and skill gaps
It’s less about “training” and more about relationship calibration, slowing down to understand before speeding up execution.
The Advantages of Taking Time on the Front End
- Faster Trust-Building
Trust doesn’t come with a title. By engaging early in leadership assimilations, leaders model curiosity, openness, and respect, fast-tracking psychological safety. - Avoids Dangerous Assumptions
New leaders who skip this step often make false assumptions about culture, capability, or morale. Assimilations surface the unspoken, both strengths and fault lines, that could otherwise derail success. - Clarifies Expectations on Both Sides
Structured inductions allow everyone to define how they want to work together, communication styles, decision-making authority, and success metrics. - Uncovers Landmines Early
Every team carries unwritten rules and emotional history. A facilitated assimilation helps leaders identify sensitive areas or resistance patterns before they become performance barriers. - Accelerates Performance
When trust, clarity, and alignment exist early, execution follows naturally. The result: faster productivity, better morale, and stronger collaboration.
The Danger of Skipping It
Too often, new leaders rush to prove themselves, taking action before alignment. But the cost of skipping this relational groundwork can be steep:
- Breakdowns in Trust: Teams that don’t feel heard quickly disengage. Once trust erodes, influence evaporates.
- Hidden Resistance: Compliance without commitment is silent sabotage. Without open dialogue, resistance goes underground.
- Culture Clashes: Mismatched norms or unacknowledged histories can create tension that undermines credibility.
- High Turnover: Ignoring a team’s voice during transition often drives away its best talent.
- Wasted Time and Energy: Repairing fractured trust later costs far more than preventing it on the front end
Final Reflection
Taking time for leadership assimilation isn’t optional, it’s a strategic investment in trust and alignment.
Leadership transitions are moments of high leverage. Done well, they ignite clarity and connection. Done poorly, they create a culture of confusion, friction, and frustration which leads to a toxic environment.
If you’re stepping into a new leadership role, resist the urge to sprint. Slow down to speed up.
The time you spend listening, aligning, and learning your team will pay off in every decision, every milestone, and every success that follows.
Click here to schedule a discussion about your team’s charter and new leadership assimilation.
About Dr. Ollie G. Barnes III
Dr. Ollie G. Barnes III is an organizational performance consultant, keynote speaker, and author of Diagnosing Toxic Leadership: Understanding the Connection Between Personality Disorders and Toxic Leader Behaviors. As the founder of Impact Performance Consultants, he brings over 25 years of experience helping organizations transform workplace culture, improve leadership effectiveness, and build psychologically safe environments. Learn more at ImpactPerformanceConsultants.com