The offer is signed and everyone's relieved. The hire now succeeds or fails over the next 3 months, and much of what determines that success happens in plain sight: how the new leader is introduced to the team, and whether anyone asks how it's going before small problems harden into big ones.
Between the yes and day one
Until your new leader walks in the door, the hire can still come apart. A counteroffer lands, or a spouse has second thoughts about the move.
So watch for the signs that it's real. On a recent construction search, the client was uneasy until two things happened: the candidate resigned, and he signed a lease on an apartment in the new city. Once both were done, everyone relaxed. Resignation and relocation are the two moves that are hard to take back.
Stay in touch during the gap. A short call or a text keeps the new leader connected to you while their current employer is working to keep them. We do the same from our side, and we usually send a note on their first day.
Before they start, tell the team what's changing
New leaders walk into teams that have questions. The first one is always some version of "what does this mean for me?"
On that same construction search, about 10 project managers were about to report to the new hire. Their old boss was hands-off. The new one would be far more involved, which the owner saw as a clear improvement. But a change like that lands differently on the people living through it. It helps to explain why the role exists, what the new leader will own, and what will stay the same.
There's a timing call here. That owner waited to announce the hire until he was sure the new leader would actually show up. That's reasonable. Just don't wait so long that the team hears it secondhand, and make sure to plan a proper introduction in the first week.
The first weeks: widen the circle
Your new leader will meet their own team first. Make sure they also meet the people they'll depend on outside it.
When a nonprofit client brought on a new development leader, her first week included time with people well outside her own team: the mid-level donor group and the staff who work the phones. None of them reported to her. All of them would shape whether she succeeded. She left that week knowing the lay of the land, which is hard to learn later once the calendar fills up.
Some first-week moves that help:
- Introduce them to their peers and to the people their work depends on, beyond their direct reports.
- Put regular one-on-ones on the calendar now, before the job gets busy.
- Agree on what success at 90 days looks like, in writing if you can.
- Give early, specific feedback. Small adjustments in month one beat a hard conversation in month four.
The 30-day check-in
About 30 days after the start date, we set up two short calls: one with you, then one with your new leader. We talk to you first.
Most of the time it's good news. The point is to catch the exceptions while they're still small. We ask things like:
- Is their work ethic or value add what you both expected it to be at this point?
- Are one-on-ones actually happening?
- If something's bothered you, have you said so, and how did they take it?
A leader who hears feedback and adjusts is on track. One who gets defensive is worth watching.
What if it isn't going well?
One client asked us this directly: "What role would you play if there was anything other than roses to report?"
Here's what we do.
We ask questions before anyone draws conclusions. Is this a small thing or a pattern? Has the new leader actually been told? How did they respond? Does it need a frank conversation, or a formal performance plan?
We act as a buffer. What you tell us stays confidential. Sometimes the new leader tells us something too, like "the job isn't what I was told it would be." When expectations have drifted on either side, we help both of you see it early, before it turns into a resignation.
We stand behind the hire. Every FireSeeds search carries a guarantee. If the placement doesn't work out within the agreed period, we re-run the search.
The 90-day check-in
At 90 days we check in with both of you again. By now the new leader has a read on the team and a few decisions behind them. The questions shift from "how's it going?" to "is this working?"
- Are they delivering on what you agreed success would look like?
- Has the team moved past "what does this mean for me?"
- Is there anything either of you wishes you'd known on day one?
That last answer goes into how we run your next search.
Keep paying attention after the offer
Plan the gap between the offer and the start date, prepare the team, widen the new leader's circle and check in on purpose.
If you're about to hire a leader and want a search built to stick, let's talk. And if you'd like to see how a FireSeeds search runs from start to finish, here's the whole process.