The First 90 Days

The First 90 Days – Michael D. Watkins

Transitions into new leadership roles are critical moments in a career. Whether you are joining a new company, being promoted or taking on a new assignment, the actions you take during your first few months can largely determine whether you succeed or fail. In The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter, Michael D. Watkins, a leadership expert who has taught at Harvard Business School and IMD, offers a practical road map for navigating these transitions.

Watkins explains that new leaders are often vulnerable because they lack the knowledge, relationships and support systems they need. To accelerate their progress, he outlines a series of strategies, including preparing yourself mentally for the new role, accelerating your learning about the organization, matching your strategy to the situation, negotiating success with your boss, securing early wins, achieving alignment between strategy and structure, building your team, creating coalitions and managing yourself.

A key insight of the book is that different situations call for different approaches. Watkins describes common business situations, such as start-ups, turnarounds, realignments and sustaining success, and explains how leaders should adapt their priorities to each.

Practical tools, checklists and examples help readers create their own transition plans.

Concise and widely used, The First 90 Days has become a standard guide for leaders in transition and is used by many organizations to support new managers. It is a valuable read for executives, managers and professionals starting a new role.