The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter

by Michael D. Watkins

Your STARS portfolio has implications for the precise mix of heroes and stewards (every organization needs both) on your leadership team.

The most challenging situation was assessed to be realignment, followed by sustaining success and turnaround.

It is not the case that people are drawn to the easy situations. Rather, they are drawn to situations that are (1) more fun and (2) get more recognition.

It is hard to measure results in a realignment when success means that nothing much happens; it’s the dog that doesn’t bark.

Also, success in realignment requires painstakingly building awareness of the need for change, and that often means giving credit to the group rather than taking it yourself.

As for rewarding sustaining success, people seldom call their local power company to say, “Thanks for...

TABLE 3-4 STARS challenges and preferences

Realignment 30.3% 12.7%

Few high-potential leaders show much interest in realignments, preferring the action and recognition associated with turnarounds (and start-ups). So who exactly is responsible for preventing businesses from becoming turnarounds?

What portfolio of STARS situations have you inherited? Which portions of your responsibilities are in start-up, turnaround, accelerated-growth, realignment, and sustaining-success modes?

What is the prevailing climate in your organization? What psychological transformations do you need to make, and how will you bring them about?

Which of your skills and strengths are likely to be most valuable in your new situation, and which have the potential to get you into trouble?

Michael laid the groundwork with Vaughan to gain time for diagnosis and planning. “I want to operate on a 90-day time frame, starting with 30 days to get on top of things,” he told her. “Then I will bring you a detailed assessment and plan with goals and actions for the next 60 days.” Michael updated her regularly on his progress. Pressed by her to make a call on a major systems purchase after three weeks, Michael held firm to his schedule. At the end of 30 days, he delivered a strong plan that pleased his new boss.

month later, Michael returned to report some early wins and to ask Vaughan for more head count to advance a key project. She subjected him to withering questioning, but he was on top of his business case.

Building on his momentum, Michael raised the question of style at their next meeting: “We have different styles, but I can deliver for you,” he said. “I want you to judge me on my results, not on how I get them.” It took nearly a year, but Michael built a solid, productive working relationship with Vaughan.

it’s wise to negotiate success.

Negotiating success means proactively engaging with your new boss to shape the game so that you have a fighting chance of achieving desired goals.

shape the game by negotiating with your boss to establish realistic expectations, reach consensus, and secure sufficient resources.

What you need from a boss also varies among the STARS business situations.

In turnarounds, you may need to be pushed to cut back the business quickly to the defensible core.

When you’re accelerating growth, the key may be securing appropriate ...

If you’re in a realignment, you may need your boss to help you make...

There is much you can do to build a productive working relationship with your new boss, and you should start doing it as soon as you’re being considered for a new role.

Think also about how you might use the ideas in this chapter to accelerate relationship building with your own new direct reports.

Don’t stay away. If you have a boss who doesn’t reach out to you, or with whom you have uncomfortable interactions, you will have to reach out yourself. Otherwise, you risk potentially crippling communication gaps.

It may feel good to be given a lot of rope, but resist the urge to take it. Get on your boss’s calendar regularly.

Don’t surprise your boss.

It’s usually best to give your new boss at least a heads-up as soon as you become aware of a developing problem.

you don’t want to be perceived as bringing nothing but problems for your boss to solve. You also need to have plans for how you will proceed. This emphatically does not mean that you must fashion full-blown solutions:

(This is a good thing to keep in mind in dealing with direct reports, too. It can be dangerous to say, “Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.” Far better is, “Don’t just bring me problems, bring me plans for how we can begin to address them.”)

Don’t run down your checklist. There is a tendency, even for senior leaders, to use meetings with a boss as an opportunity to run through your checklist of what you’ve been doing. Sometimes this is appropriate, but it is rarely what your boss needs or wants to hear.

Don’t go in without at most three things you really need to share or on which you need action.

Don’t expect your boss to change.

it’s your responsibility to adapt to your boss’s style;

Clarify expectations early and often. Begin managing expectations from the moment you consider taking a new role.

It’s wise to get bad news on the table early and to lower unrealistic expectations. Then check in regularly to make sure your boss’s expectations have not shifted.

Take 100 percent responsibility for making the relationship work.

Negotiate time lines for diagnosis and action planning.

Buy yourself some time, even if it’s only a few weeks, to diagnose the new organization and come up with an action plan.

Aim for early wins in areas important to the boss.

One good way is to focus on three things that are important to your boss and discuss what you’re doing about them every time you interact.

Pursue good marks from those whose opinions your boss respects. Your new boss’s opinion of you will be based in part on direct interactions and in part on what she hears about you from trusted others.

it’s valuable to include plans for five specific conversations with your new boss about transition-related subjects in your 90-day plan. These are not subjects to be dealt with in separate meetings but are intertwined threads of dialogue. The

seek to understand how your new boss sees the STARS portfolio you have inherited.

Your view may differ from your boss’s, but it is essential to grasp how she sees the situation.

What does your new boss need you to do in the short term and in the medium term? What will constitute success?

What do you need to be successful? What do you need your boss to do? The resources need not be limited to funding or personnel. In a realignment, for example, you may need help from your boss to persuade the organization to confront the need for change.

The style conversation. This conversation is about how you and your new boss can best interact on an ongoing basis. What forms of communication does he prefer, and for what? Face-to-face? Voice, electronic? How often?

The personal development conversation. Once you’re a few months into your new role, you can begin to discuss how you’re doing and what your developmental priorities should be.

When you feel the relationship is reasonably well established, you can introduce the personal development conversation. Take time to plan for each conversation, and signal clearly to your boss what you hope to accomplish in each exchange.