The article presents the author's opinion on why new leaders fail and what they need to learn. As an executive coach, the author regularly works with clients who are challenged to let go of comfortable behaviors and instead adopt new behaviors that are required of them as executive leaders. The author has asked many successful executives to provide their insights about the behaviors and mindsets that executives need to pick up and let go of to meet a new set of expectations. The first challenge faced by new executives is to quit relying on the set of functional skills that have been the foundation of their success.