The First 90 Days - Final Take

Dear Managers and Leaders!

Today, we complete the analysis of the excellent book “The First 90 Days” by Michael Watkins. It is a book I particularly liked and I want to share my thoughts about the book with you. Today, we close by looking at two more aspects of leadership transitions, the topic of the book, in more details.

Transitioning into a new leadership role is an uphill credibility battle. You have to become credible if you want to gain trust from the people on your team. Without that credibility, your leadership will never be effective!

So how can you gain credibility as a new leader? According to Watkins, news leaders will be seen as more credible when they exhibit the following traits:

• Demanding but able to be satisfied – You have to press people to make realistic commitments, but if you are never satisfied, you’ll sap people’s motivation.
  
• Accessible but not too familiar – You have to be approachable, but in a way that preserves your authority.
  
• Decisive but judicious – Take charge, but do not jump too quickly into decisions that the team is not ready to handle.
  
• Focused but flexible – Zero in on issues, but make sure that you consult others and encourage input.
  
• Active without causing commotion – Make things happen, but avoid pushing people to burnout!
  
• Willing to make tough calls but humane – Show that you can make tough calls, but ensure they will be perceived as fair.
  

Note that I feel the above also applies to well establish leaders, not only to transitioning leaders. If you are leading a team and you are not seen as having the above qualities, chances are that your team does not see you as a credible leader that they really want to follow!

One of the best ways to build credibility is to secure a few early wins. This is the second element of Watkins’ book. Improving a few aspects of your business in short order will gain you the trust of your followers and give a sense of security to your new boss as well. What could be these early wins?

Some easy early wins can be gained by having an impact on the quality of life of your team. Try to remove minor but persistant irritants in your new organization. For instance, cut out redundant meetings, bring in tools for team collaboration, improve their equipment problems, or improve relationships with suppliers.

Second, look at your A-Items (see the previous post) and identify good, impactful, achievable first steps. Start to implement those and show that you are making progress in the right direction.

Note that your early wins need to matter both to your team AND to your boss. You need to choose your first actions to matter to both so that you can win in multiple dimensions.

This concludes my brief look at Watkins’ book “The First 90 Days”. I hope what I highlighted here has shown you the value of having a structured approach to leadership transition. Too often, organizations handle leadership transitions as sink-or-swim event, providing absolutely no support or training whatsoever. This often leads to great potential leaders leaving companies or worst, being fired because of a few mistakes made during a transition. This is terrible! Watkins really sold me on the importance of supporting leaders as they transition into new roles. This is essential.

What about you, dear leaders? Do you believe in the sink-or-swim model of leadership transition? Does your organization help you during your career transitions?

Until next time,

Remi Cote