New leader assimilation: Process and outcomes

Purpose – This study seeks to test the researchers' theory that a leadership development intervention called “leader assimilation” for newly appointed leaders and their subordinates will facilitate feedback‐seeking and a leader‐team dialogue which will accelerate leader/team learning, leader adaptation, and relationship building between the new leaders and their teams.Design/methodology/approach – Robert Yin's positivistic multiple case study research method was used. Four primary modes of data collection were used in each of the three cases: observation during the five steps of the intervention, documentation review after the intervention, a pre‐ and post‐survey, and individual interviews with the leader and the leader's direct reports approximately seven days after the last phase of the intervention.Findings – The researchers found support for their theory from a leader and team perspective. The three leaders in the study experienced accelerated learning, adaptation, and they built relationships with th...