For nine years, alongside my co-founder title, I’ve been Chief Operating Officer at Patchwork Health. But at the beginning of this year I said a fond farewell to this role and moved into a new phase of my journey as Patchwork's Chief Growth Officer. Making this ‘C-turn’ - moving from one exec position to another - was not a decision taken lightly. As our company scaled from just two founders to a business with over 100 team members, my brief as COO had grown beyond recognition. But responding to the short-notice, time-pressured demands inherent to an ops role was forcing me to deprioritise more long-term work - work the business needed me to be able to focus on.

After much discussion and planning, I made the switch. As Chief Growth Officer, my new scope aligns with my priorities as a founder and suits the current stage of the business. But taking the decision to change roles isn’t without its challenges. Here are three obstacles I faced during my ‘C-turn’, and some tips on how to overcome them:

  1. Letting go of your old role

The most difficult thing about switching C-suite seats is resisting the urge to stay involved in your old domain. Letting go can be scary, but failing to do so will give you no chance of succeeding in your new role. What’s more, trying to micro-manage from afar can be incredibly disruptive for your successor, creating a ‘lose-lose’ scenario where neither of you is able to fully embrace your new positions.

My transition was eased by the fact that my co-founder, Dr Anas Nader, and I have always placed a huge emphasis on ensuring that everyone in our team has a mature understanding of our own roles and responsibilities. We set the standard for this on day one, when we agreed that Anas would be CEO and I would be COO. This involved laying aside egos and making sure we were clear on exactly what our expectations were of each other.

We took a similar approach to my move to CGO. Whilst taking time to acknowledge that making such a big change at this stage in our growth could have a short-term destabilising effect, we talked through exactly what my new position would involve, and the value that bringing in an experienced professional to pick up some of my previous responsibilities could add. Setting these objectives and expectations in stone from the outset has made hiring my replacement and transitioning between roles infinitely smoother than it might have been.

  1. Building and rebuilding key relationships

This change could never have worked unless, firstly, we found the right person to ‘replace’ me and, secondly, I committed to giving them everything they needed to succeed. This meant doing the groundwork to build a strong working relationship with our brilliant new COO - Georgie - as quickly as possible. I made a conscious effort to articulate where I believed she could do a better job than me as COO, made sure she could approach me for advice or context whenever necessary, but also gave her the space to put her own stamp on the position.

Shifting positions also means recalibrating existing relationships with existing colleagues. It sounds simple, but spending less time with colleagues you previously worked closely with is a real challenge, and it’s important you don’t try to retrofit your new role around old connections. Similarly, leaning more on people who you perhaps haven’t worked alongside before requires a genuine effort to build rapport.

While the culture and collegiate nature of our team made this easier for me, the key to cultivating and maintaining these relationships is the same for companies of all sizes. When switching positions, it’s vital that you communicate exactly what the change means - not just for you and your successor, but for everybody involved. Once you’ve laid out how the two of you will be working, ensure that colleagues know how they are expected to interact with each of you. Clarifying this is an ongoing process, and requires a continued commitment to develop new relationships and reshape existing structures.

  1. Embracing uncertainty

There’s no getting away from it, stepping into a new senior role can feel exposing. You are still a leader, and you’re expected to go about your work with the same sense of authority and expertise that you always have. You’ve done the groundwork, you’ve defined your roles and responsibilities, you’ve started to build and rebuild relationships with colleagues, you’ve worked out exactly what your targets are; now it’s time to deliver. This step is always going to be the hardest, and it’s perfectly natural to feel unsure about your own ability to make this switch work.

The truth is, no matter how well you prepare, making such a big change at this stage in your career will always bring a degree of uncertainty. Acknowledging this is not just okay, it’s crucial to making your switch a success. What’s important is that you don’t shy away from this challenge, or try to avoid the elements of your new role which you find most daunting. Your biggest barrier to a successful transition will be yourself.

Switching C-suite positions is a big step, but it can be a great catalyst for personal and business growth. To make it a success, you have to lean into the discomfort. Be honest with yourself, remember why you made this decision and most importantly, commit to it.

Dr Jing Ouyang is co-founder and CGO at Patchwork Health, and co-host of the Out Of Programme podcast.