- by Sophie Pinkoski

According to Deloitte, 75% of organizations say creating and preserving knowledge is an important priority for their leadership transition process. Yet only 9% of these organizations feel well equipped for knowledge transfer. The reality is that 40% of new leaders fail within their first 18 months within their role. A significant part of their success is owed to a thorough transfer of knowledge from their departing leader. But knowledge transfer doesn’t end when the previous leader leaves. It’s a process that involves continuous learning throughout your tenure as you grow and evolve as a leader.

Knowledge transfer should be an intentional process of capturing, sharing, and applying critical information, experiences, and insights from not only the departing leader, but from your team and board as well.

Without a knowledge transfer plan in place, your organization runs the risk of losing crucial information when certain individuals leave. What’s more, you understand what you need most to be the best leader you can be. Though your board is there to support you, they won't be able to identify any information gaps you have unless you can communicate it to them.

Utilizing knowledge transfer throughout your tenure allows you to advocate for yourself to improve and develop your leadership skills. After all, you can’t be expected to know everything right away. It takes exploring the often-untapped resource of institutional knowledge your team holds. By doing so, you set an example for your team, empowering them to pass on what they have learned within a culture of open knowledge sharing.

A huge part of facilitating knowledge transfer within your organization is turning individual learning into a collective strength by not just acquiring information but circulating it amongst your team.

A free flow of communication and thoughtful reflection normalizes conversations around successes, failures, and challenges in a holistic way. While explicit knowledge of how the organization works is easily documented, tacit knowledge is much more difficult to articulate, as it is often information that comes naturally with experience over time. By opening up the conversation with your team, you give them a voice to put to words the things they may never have considered worth recording, but that are still crucial insights nonetheless. Creating a culture of psychological safety will help you leverage your team’s institutional knowledge in an environment of trust and honesty.

Here are ways you can leverage knowledge transfer to develop your leadership impact:

Capture what matters most to your organization–– During your leadership transition, get together with your board and departing leader to identify what information you need most to set yourself up for success. Certain explicit knowledge will be needed for you to understand the operations and decision making process of your organization. These are easy enough to collect and document in reports, manuals, and tutorials, but other high impact knowledge is sometimes best captured from firsthand accounts. Relational information comes from building connections with individuals who understand the ins and outs of the organization well.

Be curious and ask questions about any unspoken rules you need to take into account before meeting with key stakeholders or partners.

This will keep you abreast of any cultural expectations and prevent you from making any avoidable missteps. When considering what information you need, put together a living knowledge map to track what you know, what you have yet to learn, who has what knowledge, and what knowledge gaps are left to fill in. This will help you keep track of who holds what information. Be mindful of how you preserve that information should those individuals leave the organization one day.

Turn tacit knowledge into shared wisdom–– Some of the most valuable insights are often the most difficult to document. This is where translating people’s experiences into narratives comes into play. Tacit knowledge can be disseminated through storytelling and mentorship, where you can hear these accounts firsthand with the full context and reasoning behind the decisions made. Model curiosity whenever you have opportunities for informal one on ones with individuals in your organization. Don’t be afraid to ask why things are done a specific way. Record any reasoning patterns, frameworks, or mental models you notice behind your organization’s most sound judgements. Introducing a regular practice of reflection with your team can also help individuals extract meaning from their projects and discussions before the information can be forgotten.

Embed knowledge sharing in your organization’s culture–– Knowledge transfer thrives when it's woven into daily routines. Weekly rituals of learning can help normalize thoughtful reflection within your team to share what everyone has learned from their experiences.

Addressing what went well or what didn’t in the first weeks and months and why can identify areas for increased focus and growth.

Celebrate achievements and reward team members who participate in knowledge transfer when they share their insights openly. Sometimes, leading by example means expressing vulnerability in admitting your limitations. When you open up that empathetic dialogue, that makes your team more willing to share what they know with you when you need it most.

Build a knowledge hub–– It’s important to have a centralized place to store institutional knowledge for your organization. A knowledge hub must be an accessible, easily searchable digital space where your organization can build their memory bank of key information over time. This can include a range of different formats and media to get the full picture of the organization. Explicit knowledge can be captured in written documents like process guides, FAQs, or best practice summaries, while tacit knowledge might be collected in a video library where individuals can record training, reflections, process walk-throughs, and tutorials. This isn’t just a place to dump old manuals and policy instructions. The knowledge hub should be treated as a living system, which requires updating to keep up with the organization as it continues to evolve with you. In Halford Consulting's world, we keep all of our insights and knowledge in a secure, centralized AI hub called Delphi.ai. This way team members (or the new leader) could ask questions verbally or in written format any time of the day or night.

Knowledge transfer isn’t just about preserving what others know—it’s about accelerating your own growth as a leader.

By actively seeking, sharing, and applying knowledge, you build the kind of confidence that defines great leadership. Every conversation, lesson, and story becomes an opportunity to grow and learn something new. The more openly you engage in knowledge transfer, the more effectively you’ll lead—turning learning into lasting impact.

Download our free CEO Transition Resource Kit tailored for boards, senior leaders, and CEOs.

Have questions about leadership transition, governance, or family business? Try our free AI tool: Ask Jane 

Further Reading:

Capture What Employees Know Before They Leave the Company, SHRM

The Art of Knowledge Transfer: A Leadership Tool for Organisational Growth, LinkedIn

Leading By Example: Seven Knowledge Management Practices For Leaders, Forbes

How to Achieve an Effective Knowledge Transfer, Training Magazine

How to Build a Successful Knowledge Transfer Plan in 7 Steps, Procedure Flow

What Makes Storytelling So Effective For Learning?, Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning

Why Leadership Storytelling Is Important, Forbes                

Facilitating Knowledge Management Through Storytelling, KMI Institute

Improve Knowledge Transfer Through Storytelling, Narativ

Storytelling in Business: Capturing Organizational Wisdom, ADP

The Power of Storytelling, The Grossman Group: Your Thought Partner Blog

Turning Tacit Knowledge into Explicit Knowledge: Why This is Important, LinkedIn

Strategies For Tacit Knowledge Transfer, The eLearning Coach

Tacit Knowledge – How to Capture and Codify It for Your Employees, elium

From Tacit to Explicit: Unraveling the Secrets of Effective Knowledge Transfer, LinkedIn

Passing Down Tacit Knowledge In A Digital World, Forbes

Why The Unwritten Rules May Be Most Important, Forbes

Tacit Knowledge: Why and How to Capture It, KM Institute