Want to know how leaders transition successfully to new roles and responsibilities? Curious about the strategies and pitfalls during the crucial first 90 days? Intrigued by the stories of Elena Lee, Claire Weeks, Hannah Jaffey, and others as they navigate their career transitions? Discover how to align strategies with organizational culture, plan for early wins, and build the right team. Dive in to learn from their experiences and research-backed insights!

The First 90 Days

Starting a new job can be both thrilling and daunting. Just like the President of the United States gets 100 days to prove himself, you get 90 days to make a lasting impression. These first three months are crucial, as they set the stage for your future success or failure in your new role. The challenge is significant: transitioning into a new job means you're vulnerable because you don't yet understand the organization's nuances or have established relationships.

Research shows that it takes a typical mid-level manager about 6.2 months to reach the 'breakeven point'—where they've contributed as much value as they've consumed. The goal is to accelerate this process, making you a net contributor to your organization sooner. Yet, despite the stakes, guidance on navigating these transitions effectively is surprisingly scarce.

This book aims to fill that gap by offering a blueprint for transition acceleration, helping new leaders avoid common pitfalls and reach the breakeven point faster. Observing various leaders, certain patterns emerge about what makes transitions succeed or fail.

First, failure often stems from a mismatch between the leader's skills and the demands of the new situation. Successful leaders adapt and avoid misunderstanding the essential demands of their new roles. Second, systematic methods can significantly reduce the risk of failure and speed up the transition. While every transition is unique, common features and traps can be identified and addressed with a tailored strategy.

Third, the goal during a transition is to build momentum by creating 'virtuous cycles' that enhance credibility while avoiding 'vicious cycles' that damage it. Leadership is about mobilizing the energy of others, and early actions can either build or undermine this effort. Fourth, transitions are crucial for leadership development. They test and grow a leader’s diagnostic skills, adaptability, and stamina.

Finally, organizations stand to gain significantly by adopting a standard framework for accelerating transitions. Given the high turnover rates in leadership positions, a shared 'transition language' can make these inevitable shifts less disruptive and more productive.

Take the case of Julia Gould, who was promoted to a project leader position after eight years in marketing. Despite her remarkable track record, Julia struggled because she didn't mentally promote herself into her new role. She continued to rely on her marketing skills, micromanaging her team, which alienated key members. Julia's failure highlights the importance of recognizing that what made you successful in your previous role may not necessarily guarantee success in your new one.

Similarly, when Douglas Ivester became the CEO of Coca-Cola, he couldn't let go of his previous role as COO. His attention to detail and operational focus, which had been his strengths, became liabilities. Ivester's story underlines the necessity of embracing new responsibilities and letting go of old habits.

To avoid these traps, you need to:
1. Set a clear breakpoint between your old and new roles.
2. Hit the ground running by planning your first 90 days meticulously.
3. Assess your vulnerabilities and compensate for them.

4. Be mindful of your strengths and their potential downsides.
5. Relearn how to learn, as the steep learning curve of a new job can evoke feelings of incompetence.
6. Rework your network to include advisers who can offer political counsel and personal advice.
7. Watch out for people who may unintentionally hold you back.

In essence, promoting yourself into a new role requires a mental shift and a strategic approach. By addressing these challenges head-on and crafting a tailored 90-day plan, you can accelerate your transition and set yourself up for lasting success.

Can You Prove Yourself in Your New Job Role Within 90 Days?

Chris Bagley, formerly head of the quality function at Sigma Corporation, joined White Goods as the general manager of its largest plant. Excited by the challenge, Chris quickly decided to transform the struggling plant by implementing the “Sigma way.” He brought in high-powered operations consultants who delivered a harsh critique of the plant's outdated technology and marginal workforce skills. Chris shared the report with his team and interpreted their silence as agreement.

However, his changes led to a drastic drop in productivity and quality, and worker morale plummeted. Chris’s boss confronted him, highlighting his failure to understand the plant's history and achievements. This was a turning point for Chris. He began to listen to his managers, supervisors, and workers, learning about the creativity they had shown despite limited resources. Chris praised the workforce for their past efforts and announced a pivot to upgrade the plant's technology before making further changes.

Chris’s initial missteps underscore a common pitfall for new leaders: acting without adequate learning. Effective leaders must quickly learn about their new organization to avoid costly errors and make informed decisions. This involves a systematic approach to learning, focusing on culture and politics alongside technical aspects.

To avoid learning disabilities—like information overload, the action imperative, or arriving with a pre-set "answer"—new leaders should develop a learning agenda. This involves posing key questions about the past, present, and future of the organization. Effective learning also requires identifying the best sources of insight, such as customers, distributors, suppliers, and internal staff.

Structured learning methods, such as one-on-one interviews and focus groups, can help new leaders gather comparable responses and avoid being overly influenced by early conversations. For instance, asking direct reports the same set of questions about challenges, opportunities, and priorities can yield valuable insights into both the organization and the team dynamics.

A structured learning process can lead to actionable insights that enable better decision-making. For example, if Chris had known about White Goods’ history of underinvestment and the workforce’s pride in their achievements, he would have approached his role differently.

Learning about an organization’s culture is crucial. Culture can be dissected into symbols, norms, and assumptions, and understood through organizational, professional, and geographic lenses. Leaders must decide whether to adapt to or alter the existing culture, recognizing which cultural traits aid or hinder performance.

Developing a learning plan is part of a successful transition. This plan should include pre-entry research, early meetings with key personnel, and ongoing assessments of the organization’s processes and culture. Revisiting and refining this plan ensures that learning continues to evolve as new insights are gained.

In short, effective learning is critical for new leaders to navigate their transition successfully. By systematically gathering insights and understanding the organization’s culture, leaders can make informed decisions that foster positive change and reinforce their credibility.

Learning to Lead: Navigating Successful Leadership Transitions

When Claire Weeks took over the industrial products division of a large multinational company, she was optimistic about achieving double-digit earnings growth, following a strong performance trend. However, she soon realized that her predecessor had masked deep-seated issues with pricing, inventories, and distributor relationships. 

Instead of addressing these structural problems, Claire attempted to push through with price increases and acquisitions, which eventually led to her failure and loss of credibility. She resigned when the CEO lost confidence in her leadership.

Claire's downfall was rooted in a fundamental misdiagnosis of the business situation. She believed she inherited a sustaining-success scenario, but the division actually needed realignment. This common mistake among new leaders stems from relying too heavily on previous experiences without accurately diagnosing the current situation.

To avoid such pitfalls, it’s essential to match strategy to the situation, a concept encapsulated in the STARS model: Start-up, Turn-Around, Realignment, and Sustaining Success. Each scenario demands different strategies and skills. For instance, start-ups and turnarounds require rapid decision-making and bold actions, while realignments and sustaining-success situations call for careful cultural and political navigation.

Understanding the history of the organization helps in diagnosing the current state accurately. Successful start-ups evolve into sustaining-success businesses but can drift into trouble due to complacency, necessitating realignment. If realignment fails, a turnaround becomes essential, requiring drastic measures to salvage the core business. Failure to turn around leads to shutdown or divestiture.

Each STARS situation presents unique challenges and opportunities. For example, start-ups involve building new structures, while turnarounds focus on reenergizing demoralized employees and making quick, impactful decisions. Realignments require changing deeply ingrained cultural norms and convincing employees of the need for change, whereas sustaining success involves playing good defense and finding ways to continue growth.

Leaders must adapt their skills to the situation, whether it’s the decisive “hunter” mindset needed in turnarounds or the patient “farmer” approach in realignments. Success in these transitions also depends on understanding the organizational psychology and transforming it as needed. For example, in a start-up, channeling excitement into productivity is crucial, while in a turnaround, providing hope and direction is key.

Early wins are vital for building momentum. In start-ups, assembling the right team and achieving strategic focus are wins. In turnarounds, making critical cuts to preserve the core business is crucial. In realignments, gaining acceptance for change is a significant victory, while in sustaining success, demonstrating an understanding of what has made the organization successful is essential.

Leaders often manage a portfolio of situations within the same organization, requiring different approaches for each part. Successful leaders also need to reward and evaluate their teams based on the specific challenges and opportunities of each STARS situation. For instance, turnarounds are often highly visible and rewarded, while realignments, which aim to avoid disaster, are less easily recognized.

Ultimately, the STARS framework can guide leaders in selecting and developing talent, ensuring that high-potential individuals gain experience across different business situations. This holistic approach to leadership development prepares them to succeed in various contexts, whether it’s starting new ventures, turning around troubled units, realigning drifting organizations, or sustaining successful ones.

Can the STARS Model Save New Leaders from a Downfall Like Claire Weeks?

When Elena Lee took charge of the customer-service unit at a major retailer, she knew she had to overturn the punitive culture left by her predecessor. Drawing from her previous experience within the organization, she envisioned a more participative and innovative environment. 

Elena's first steps included communicating her goals through memos and meetings, which were met with skepticism and resistance. She then initiated bi-weekly reviews with supervisors, emphasizing coaching over punishment and taking personal charge of disciplinary cases temporarily.

Elena soon identified supervisors who adapted to the new culture and those who resisted. She placed the latter on performance-improvement plans, leading to one departure and one successful adjustment. Focusing on customer satisfaction, she formed a process-improvement team and implemented their new performance metrics and coaching process in a pilot section. This initiative was successful and expanded across the unit, significantly boosting quality and employee morale in just one year.

This story exemplifies the importance of securing early wins in leadership transitions. Early wins build momentum, engender trust, and establish credibility. Ensuring these wins align with both immediate and long-term goals is crucial. Avoid common pitfalls like losing focus, misreading the business situation, and failing to secure wins that matter to your boss. Leaders must also align their strategies with the organization's culture and be mindful of how their actions are perceived.

Research by Jack Gabarro suggests leaders implement change in waves: initial changes to build momentum, followed by a period of consolidation, deeper strategic changes, and finally, fine-tuning. Each wave should be planned with clear phases: learning, designing, building support, implementing, and observing results.

In planning early wins, leaders should target A-item business priorities and desired behavioral changes. These priorities should be clear, measurable, and flexible, allowing for adjustments as more is learned. Behavioral changes should address dysfunctional patterns and promote desired conduct, as Elena did by fostering a coaching culture over a punitive one.

Building personal credibility is vital in the first 30 days, focusing on small victories and signaling change. Quick, tangible performance improvements should follow, addressing key business issues with visible gains. Avoid taking on too many initiatives and manage risks by diversifying efforts.

Leaders should also anticipate and mitigate predictable surprises by understanding external and internal risks. The choice between planned change and collective learning is crucial, depending on the organization's awareness, diagnosis, vision, plan, and support for change.

Ultimately, the goal is to create a virtuous cycle of behavior that supports long-term priorities. Leaders must balance immediate actions with strategic vision, ensuring that early initiatives lay the groundwork for sustained success.

Securing Early Wins in Leadership: Elena Lee's Transformative Journey in Customer Service

When Michael Chen was promoted to manage the IT function for a business unit of an oil company, he was thrilled. But his excitement quickly turned to concern after two colleagues warned him to update his résumé. His new boss, Vaughan Cates, had a reputation for being tough and aggressive, which contrasted sharply with Michael’s planning and team-building style.

Forewarned, Michael took a strategic approach. He proposed a 90-day plan to Cates, with the first 30 days dedicated to understanding the business before making any major decisions. Despite pressure from Cates, Michael stuck to his timeline and delivered a strong plan that won her approval. 

Over the next few months, he continued to provide updates and secured additional resources after demonstrating early wins. Michael even addressed their different management styles, asking Cates to judge him on his results rather than his methods. Over time, he built a productive relationship with her.

Michael’s experience underscores the importance of negotiating success with a new boss. This involves proactive engagement to align expectations, secure necessary resources, and establish a clear plan. The relationship with your new boss is crucial, as they set benchmarks, interpret your actions for others, and control access to key resources.

To succeed, initiate five key conversations with your new boss:
1. Situational Diagnosis: Understand how your boss views the business situation—whether it’s a startup, turnaround, realignment, or sustaining success.
2. Expectations: Clarify what your boss expects you to achieve in the short and medium term, and agree on how success will be measured.

3. Style: Discuss how you and your boss can best interact, including preferred communication methods and decision-making processes.
4. Resources: Negotiate for the resources you need, whether financial, technical, or political support.
5. Personal Development: Explore opportunities for your personal growth and development within the role.

By following these steps, you can create a solid foundation for your success, just like Michael did. Remember, the goal is to shape the game so you have a fighting chance of achieving your objectives. This proactive approach not only helps in aligning with your boss but also accelerates your transition and sets you up for long-term success.

Can You Successfully Negotiate Success with Your New Boss?

Hannah Jaffey, a former HR consultant, joined an investment services company as the VP of Human Resources amidst intense internal conflict. Senior executives were barely speaking, and the company's structure and incentives system were in disarray. Hannah's mission: support the president in making personnel changes and revamp the organization.

The company had grown by organizing new products into separate business units. With overlapping customer bases and no incentives to cooperate, confusion and conflict ensued. Hannah saw the need for a structural overhaul but faced resistance from the president, who believed personnel changes alone could fix the issues. Persistent, she highlighted instances of misalignment and presented data from other companies. Gradually, she convinced the president of the necessity for structural changes.

The company shifted its marketing and sales units' focus from products to customers and consolidated operations. This realignment, coupled with a new head of sales, led to smoother operations, happier customers, and a 15% profit increase within a year.

As leaders climb higher in organizations, they become architects of the organizational context, ensuring strategy, structure, systems, and skills are aligned. Misalignment feels like pushing a boulder uphill. In new positions, leaders should analyze their organization's architecture and include alignment plans in their 90-day strategy.

Organizational design involves five elements: strategy, structure, systems, skills, and culture. Misalignments in any of these can render even the best strategies ineffective. For example, an R&D group aiming for more new product ideas may falter if they lack the latest techniques. Similarly, a marketing group targeting a new customer segment will struggle without systems to analyze customer data.

Common pitfalls include restructuring without addressing root problems, creating overly complex structures, automating flawed processes, making changes for change's sake, and overestimating the group's capacity for strategic shifts. Leaders should start with strategy, then align structure, systems, and skills, making changes incrementally.

Aligning an organization is like preparing for a long sailing trip, starting with the mission and goals, then strategy, structure, systems, and skills. Leaders should ensure these elements support each other. For instance, if a strategy emphasizes customer satisfaction, processes must align to achieve this goal.

Hannah's story demonstrates the impact of addressing misalignments. Initially resistant, the president eventually saw the wisdom in her approach. This led to a cohesive strategy that transformed the company. Leaders must persistently diagnose and realign their organization's elements to achieve superior performance.

Revamping Organizational Structure: Hannah's Successful Transformation of an Investment Services Company

When Liam Geffen took over a troubled unit at an instrumentation company, he discovered a team fraught with favoritism. Performance evaluations were polarized—either outstanding or marginal—indicating his predecessor's bias. Liam faced the challenge head-on, assessing his team members and recognizing the need for changes. 

The head of marketing, highly rated but not exceptionally competent, believed his own hype. Conversely, the head of sales, previously blamed for poor decisions, showed solid potential. 

Liam met with each separately, candidly discussed their evaluations, and set clear two-month plans. Simultaneously, he initiated a discreet search for a new head of marketing and held skip-level meetings to gauge midlevel sales talent. By the third month, the head of marketing was out, and the head of sales rose to the challenge, eventually taking over both sales and marketing.

Liam's story underscores the importance of building the right team. The first 90 days are crucial for assessing and restructuring your team to achieve superior results. Making early personnel decisions is critical; bad choices can haunt you. Liam’s approach offers valuable lessons:

1. Assess Existing Team Members: Determine who stays and who goes. Develop plans for transitions without harming short-term performance.
2. Avoid Common Traps: Don’t keep ineffective team members too long. Establish deadlines for personnel decisions within your 90-day plan.
3. Repair the Airplane in Midflight: Make necessary team changes while keeping the business running. Develop interim solutions and explore internal talent.

4. Organizational Alignment: Align team restructuring with changes in strategy, structure, and skills. Ensure clarity about the organization's direction.
5. Retain Top Performers: Signal to top performers that their capabilities are recognized to prevent them from leaving amid uncertainty.
6. Delay Team Building Until Core Team is Set: Avoid strengthening bonds within a team that is yet to be finalized.
7. Involve HR: Legal and policy complications in restructuring require HR’s support.

Assessing Your Team involves rigorous evaluation based on six criteria: competence, judgment, energy, focus, relationships, and trust. Assess team members’ performance, probe their judgment, and understand team dynamics.

Restructuring Your Team: Categorize team members based on their performance and potential. Consider alternatives to termination, develop backups, and treat people respectfully.

Aligning Goals, Incentives, and Measures: Define clear goals and establish effective incentives. Use a mix of individual and group rewards based on the team's structure and interdependence of tasks.

Establishing New Processes: Assess existing team processes and introduce necessary changes. Manage decision-making effectively by balancing consult-and-decide and build-consensus approaches depending on the situation.

Liam’s approach illustrates that successful team building and restructuring require a blend of clear assessment, strategic planning, and respectful management. This process, when handled well, can transform a team and drive superior results.

Can Restructuring Your Team in the First 90 Days Drive Superior Results?

After five years as a country manager at a medical devices company, Jack Daley was promoted to head global marketing for a key orthopedics product. Used to wielding authority, Jack found himself needing to persuade his former peers, the country managers, who were known for their autonomy and high status. His initial hard-sell approach flopped, but he quickly adapted. 

Jack identified key markets, highlighted his product's benefits, and offered to cover training costs for sales reps. More importantly, he listened. This approach won over several country managers, leading to broader acceptance.

Jack's experience underscores the importance of influence without authority. When success depends on external support, building coalitions is crucial. New leaders often focus too much on vertical influence—upward to bosses and downward to direct reports—neglecting the horizontal dimension, peers, and external stakeholders.

To build effective coalitions, start by mapping the influence landscape. Identify key players and understand informal networks of influence. Ask your boss for introductions to critical contacts and set up early meetings. Analyze who defers to whom and the sources of power, such as expertise, access to information, and control of resources.

Draw an influence map to visualize these dynamics. This helps identify supporters, opponents, and "convincibles"—those who are undecided but potentially persuadable. Understanding the motivations of each group is key. Supporters align with your vision or see merit in your ideas. Opponents resist for various reasons, from comfort with the status quo to fear of losing power. Convincibles need tailored arguments to sway them.

Persuasion strategies include reshaping perceptions of choices, framing compelling arguments, and setting up action-forcing events. For instance, you could offer bribes or threats to alter perceived alternatives or craft persuasive rationales based on logic or values. Setting up events that force decisions can eliminate inaction.

Entanglement strategies involve moving people from A to B in small steps, leveraging small commitments into larger ones. Behavior change can also drive attitude change, as people adjust their beliefs to align with their actions.

Sequencing is critical in coalition-building. Approach potential allies in a strategic order to create momentum. Start with those who already support you or have compatible interests, then leverage their support to recruit others. This can set off a virtuous cycle, increasing your resource base and the likelihood of success.

In short, building coalitions involves consolidating existing support, developing new relationships, and persuading convincibles. The sequence of these efforts is crucial. By strategically managing influence networks and employing varied persuasion techniques, you can successfully advance your agenda.

Mastering the Art of Influence Without Authority: Jack Daley's Success Story in Global Marketing

After six years at a Manhattan advertising firm, Kipp Erikson was promoted to a senior position in Toronto, expecting the transition to be smooth. However, he quickly found himself struggling with cultural differences and a slower pace at work. His wife Irene and their two children, Katherine and Elizabeth, faced their own challenges, including finding a suitable school and adjusting to a new city. The family's initial excitement turned into frustration, leading to increased stress and tension.

Kipp's new colleagues in Toronto found him brash, while he found them overly polite and resistant to direct discussion. With his family still in New York and commuting back and forth, Kipp's performance at work began to suffer. Eventually, the strain on his marriage and work led him to quit and return to New York.

Kipp's story illustrates the importance of keeping balance during transitions. According to Ron Heifetz in "Leadership Without Easy Answers," leadership is not about being a lone warrior but about building support systems.

Assess your balance with questions like: Are you finding time for important tasks? Are you avoiding tough decisions? If you score high in these areas, you might be at risk.

Try These Steps To Avoid Vicious Cycles:
1. Riding off in all directions: Focus on vital tasks to avoid a cycle of constant firefighting.
2. Undefended boundaries: Set limits to avoid being overwhelmed by others' demands.
3. Brittleness: Stay flexible and open to new approaches.

4. Isolation: Build connections to avoid uninformed decision-making.
5. Biased judgment: Be aware of biases that can cloud your judgment.
6. Work avoidance: Face tough decisions head-on to prevent problems from escalating.
7. Going over the top: Manage stress to avoid burnout.

Learn The Three Pillars of Self-Efficacy:
1. Adopting Success Strategies: Follow strategies to learn, set priorities, and build momentum.
2. Enforcing Personal Disciplines: Develop routines like planning, deferring commitments, and setting aside time for important work.
3. Building Support Systems: Stabilize your home front, create a local support system, and build a network of advisers.

Your daily choices create momentum or lead to setbacks. Focus on personal disciplines, control your local environment, and support your family's transition. Strengthen your advice-and-counsel network to stay balanced and effective.

Balancing during transitions is crucial for both personal well-being and professional success. By focusing on key strategies, personal disciplines, and support systems, you can navigate the challenges and emerge stronger.

Can Maintaining Balance During Transitions Be Key to Your Professional Success?

Why do most companies neglect to prioritize the rapid adaptation of their managers, despite the high turnover and widespread impact of these roles? A few forward-thinking companies, like GE, offer explicit transition acceleration programs, but they are the exception rather than the rule.

The flattening of corporate hierarchies and the fast pace of business have minimized the time senior managers can dedicate to guiding new leaders. Instead, professional education units have taken over, emphasizing hard skills at the expense of crucial soft skills. This has given rise to a "sink-or-swim" culture, where transitions are used to test managerial aptitude in a Darwinian fashion. This often results in promising leaders either drowning due to early mistakes or swimming only because they fit well in their new roles or have the right mentor.

Recalling McKinsey & Company's 1998 "war for talent" survey, which identified transitions as key developmental experiences, it's clear that while challenging situations are crucial for growth, merely throwing leaders into difficult roles unprepared is flawed. Such unregulated Darwinian leadership development doesn't serve organizations well. True meritocracies level the playing field, ensuring success is based on skill rather than sheer luck.

The solution? Institutionalize a transition acceleration model. Imagine if everyone in your organization could reach their breakeven point just 5% faster. This would translate into significant gains in market share, cost reductions, and new product launches. A shared language and framework for transitions, such as the STARS model (Start-up, Turnaround, Realignment, Sustaining Success), can make discussions more efficient and foster a supportive environment.

To implement this, start locally. Challenge your new direct reports to create 90-day acceleration plans. Use the five-conversations framework to build strong relationships and diagnose business situations. Then, extend this method to their teams. Experiment with helping a long-term direct report accelerate their own team's transitions by teaching them the model.

For team-building, use the transition framework to create a common language that unites both new and experienced members. Diagnose the situation together, define priorities, and build necessary coalitions.

When bringing in outsiders, ensure they are equipped with a 90-day plan and understand the company's transition vocabulary to avoid cultural and political missteps. Similarly, integrate the transition model into executive development programs to nurture high-potential leaders.

Strengthen succession planning by evaluating both people and the types of transitions they've navigated. Use the STARS model to compare performance across different situations and design a progression of roles that build versatile leadership capabilities.

In post-merger integrations, the transition model can serve as a common language to mitigate culture clashes and misunderstandings, thus easing the integration process.

By adopting these strategies, you not only prevent failures but also unlock massive potential gains, accelerating success across the entire organization.

Expedite Success: Accelerating Leadership Transitions in Your Organization

Starting a new job is both exciting and challenging, with the first 90 days being critical for making a lasting impression. This period sets the stage for future success or failure, highlighting the importance of adapting quickly to the new environment. Research indicates it typically takes around 6.2 months for a mid-level manager to contribute more value than they consume, but accelerating this process is crucial.

Transition success hinges on matching skills to the new role's demands, using systematic methods to avoid common pitfalls, and creating momentum through early wins. Effective leadership during transitions tests and grows diagnostic skills, adaptability, and stamina. Organizations benefit significantly from a standard framework for accelerating transitions, which can make leadership changes less disruptive and more productive.

Key strategies for a successful transition include setting a clear breakpoint between old and new roles, meticulous planning for the first 90 days, assessing vulnerabilities, leveraging strengths while being cautious of their downsides, relearning how to learn, and reworking your network to include advisers.

Understanding the organization's culture and politics, diagnosing the business situation accurately, and aligning strategy with the STARS model (Start-up, Turnaround, Realignment, Sustaining Success) are essential. Building early momentum through strategic actions and avoiding common traps is vital. Negotiating success with a new boss through proactive engagement and clear plans can also set the foundation for a productive relationship.

Aligning the organization's strategy, structure, systems, and skills ensures that all elements support each other, preventing misalignment. Building the right team involves assessing existing members, making necessary changes, and aligning goals and incentives.

Influence without authority requires building coalitions, understanding informal networks, and using persuasion strategies effectively. Keeping balance during transitions involves adopting success strategies, enforcing personal disciplines, and building support systems.

Accelerating transitions organization-wide can unlock significant gains. Institutionalizing a transition acceleration model and integrating it into executive development programs and succession planning can foster a supportive environment and expedite success across the organization.

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The First 90 Days

Michael D. Watkins

Want to know how leaders transition successfully to new roles and responsibilities?

Curious about the strategies and pitfalls during the crucial first 90 days?

Intrigued by the stories of Elena Lee, Claire Weeks, Hannah Jaffey, and others as they navigate their career transitions?

Discover how to align strategies with organizational culture, plan for early wins, and build the right team. Dive in to learn from their experiences and research-backed insights!

Key Ideas

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