The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels

The title hooked me. The introduction intrigued me. "The president of the United States gets 100 days to prove himself; you get 90." The first chapter plowed new ground with five propositions on transitioning to a new job. "Too often...the new leader behaves more like a virus..." Really? Why?

In this remarkable book (I can think of seven transitions where this book would have saved me--and others--major pain), Michael Watkins, a Harvard Business School prof, delivers a thoughtful and well-reasoned plan for what he calls "critical success strategies for new leaders at all levels." It's the difference between virtuous and vicious. He says, per Proposition #3, "that the overriding goal in a transition is to build momentum by creating virtuous cycles that build credibility and by avoiding getting caught in vicious cycles that damage credibility."

I'm recommending this to all my clients. The first 90 days of a new job are critical for everyone: first-time managers, long-time managers now leading new departments, plus first-time CEOs and experienced CEOs recruited to other organizations. "Like swimming," says Watkins, "transitioning is a teachable skill."

Perhaps the biggest a-ha moment was his brilliant segmenting of the four kinds of organizations (or departments). Which one did you inherit in your last transition? His acronym, "STARS," describes the four: Start-up, Turn-Around, Realignment, and Sustaining Success. A successful CEO of a Turn-Around may fail at a Realignment. Chapter 3, "Match Strategy to Situation," is worth the price of the book. The "STARS" theme oozes out and through all the chapters. Example: rewarding success is easiest in a Start-up, and rarely acknowledged in a Realignment. He explains why.

He gives examples across all sizes of organizations: small departments, medium-size companies and then an astounding example from Coca-Cola. Warning leaders than no one is immune from the perils of transition, he discusses the CEO stint of Douglas Ivester, promoted to Coke's CEO in 1997, after serving three years as president and COO.

"But Ivester was unable to make the leap from COO to CEO. He refused to name a new COO, even when strongly pressed to do so by Coke's board of directors. Instead, he continued to act as a `superCOO' and maintained daily contact with the sixteen people who reported to him. His extraordinary attention to detail which had been such a virtue in finance and operations, proved to be a hindrance in his new position. Ivester could not free himself from day-to-day operations enough to take on the strategic, visionary, and statesmanlike roles of an effective CEO."

The Wall Street Journal even piled on. "The job of running a giant company like Coca-Cola Co. is akin to conducting an orchestra, but M. Douglas Ivester, it seems, had a tin ear...[He] knew the math, but not the music required to run the world's leading marketing organization."

Yikes. There are a lot more stories and case study examples. I know that I recommend a lot of books. Trust me--every staff resource shelf needs this one. I measure a book by the number of dog-eared pages. You've heard of the musical group, "Three Dog Night?" This is a "27 Dog-eared Pages" act--and I've become a groupie.

Your first 90 days in a new position will determine whether you succeed or fail. The initial impressions that you make on your subordinates, co-workers and senior management continue with you for the duration of your tenure at your employer. Any good executive intuitively knows this. For new and upcoming executives - those who haven't yet developed that intuitive knowledge - this book can prove invaluable. It is designed to help you methodically assess the situation at your new company and to develop an action plan.

Highly recommended. If you already know what you're doing, The First 90 Days is a good review. If this is the first or second time that you are changing companies or positions within a company, it could prove to be invaluable.

This is one of my two favorite business books. It is fantastic for anyone entering a new company at any level or moving to a new role/organization within your current company. Often when we enter a new position, we make mistakes that get us started off on the wrong foot without even realizing it. This book is essential to understanding how to enter in a way that builds your credibility from Day 1. I would recommend this to everyone who works.

Management books are usually not a major topic of interest for me.

Michael Watkins presents a methods for success for new leaders in positions with various issues.

The methods involve: promote yourself, accelerate your learning, match strategy to the situation, secure early wins, negotiate success, achieve alignment, build your team, create coalitions, keep your balance, expedite everyone,

This book will not teach you how to be a leader but it can help you avoid problems when assuming command of groups or companies. Each chapter presents situations where people made mistakes and shows how they could have been avoided.

Overall, I found the book to be useful as I read issues where I could have handled better and learned a few tips to do things better.

I do suggest this book for people as it can help the beginner with advice and I think it can help the experienced manager with a few suggestions to consider.

This is the first time I have ordered a book on 24hr-shopping-center. I was impressed with the prices and the quality. I bought a used book that I was seeking for work and it came quickly and looked brand new. I was pleased and definitely will order from 24hr-shopping-center again.