Your First 90 Days: What Actually Matters
“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
Stephen R. Covey
The Pressure to Prove Yourself
You step into a new leadership role and feel it immediately: the urge to act. To show your team you know what you are doing. To show your boss they made the right call. So you make changes. You set new expectations. You call out what is not working. And then, about six weeks in, you notice the team has gone quiet. Doors that used to be open feel closed. The energy is different. You did not do anything wrong. You just moved faster than understanding could keep up with.
I Have Been There
The first time I stepped into an independent leadership role, I had a list of what I would do. I was super proud of my list. I thought I knew what needed to change, and what needed to happen…I was ready. Within two weeks, I made three obvious changes that needed improvement. What I did not know was that one of those "obvious" changes eliminated an internal workaround the team had developed to cover for a failed admin process regarding digital documentation that could not be corrected in programming. I, in my days of experience, had not experienced the problem. I fixed the symptom and made the actual problem worse. My team knew it. I did not. Not yet.
That was the moment I learned that moving fast without listening and understanding first is not leadership. It is just a loud noise coming out of a pile of positional authority.
What the Research Actually Says
Michael Watkins, in his research on leadership transitions, found that the most common reason new leaders struggle in the first 90 days is not lack of skill. It is moving too fast to understand the context they stepped into. The leaders who learn the terrain first stop making the expensive mistake of solving the wrong problem at full speed.
Linda Hill’s research at Harvard Business School on new manager transitions found that the leaders who earn credibility fastest in a new role are not the ones who change things first. They are the ones who ask the best questions. Listening is not passive. Coming in with questions before you come in with answers is one of the most effective things a new leader can do.
The Three-Phase Map
The first 30 days are for listening. Not just observing from a distance, but genuinely sitting with your team, asking what is working, what is getting in the way, and what they wish the last leader had known. This approach helps your team feel heard and valued, building trust early on.
Days 31 through 60 are for your first deliberate moves. Choose something that addresses a real problem you heard in month one. Make it visible and explain why you are doing it. When your team sees you listened and acted thoughtfully, it fosters respect and trust in your leadership.
Days 61 through 90 are for locking in your rhythm. This is when your habits start to show. How do I run my meetings? How do I follow up? How do I hold people to what was said? In three months, your team has already decided on a picture of who you are as a leader, it is up to you what picture they see.
What Not to Do
Do not reorganize before you understand the informal structure. Do not make personnel calls in the first 30 days without significant cause. Do not confuse urgency with importance. And do not mistake a quiet team for a content one. When a team goes quiet, it usually means they are still figuring out if they can trust you as a leader or not.
Reflection
What are the three most critical insights you need to gain about your team through listening before making any significant changes? Reflect on how understanding their obstacles can shape your leadership approach.
If you asked each person on your team what the biggest obstacle to their best work is, how many different answers would you get?
You cannot lead what you do not understand. Asking is not stalling. It is Leadership applied.
This Week’s Challenge
Schedule one short conversation with each team member this week. Not a check-in. Not a performance conversation. A listening conversation. One question only: "What is getting in the way of your best work?" Write down what you hear. Do not fix anything yet. Just listen.
Pull up your Boots, and Go Lead!
You’ve Got This.
Suggested Reading
The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter. Michael Watkins. Harvard Business Review Press, 2013. The definitive guide on leadership transitions. Watkins’s research on new leader assimilation is essential reading for anyone stepping into a role for the first time or the fifth.
Becoming a Manager: How New Managers Master the Challenges of Leadership. Linda A. Hill. Harvard Business Review Press, 2003. A research-based account of what new managers actually experience and what separates the leaders who build credibility fast from the ones who don’t.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. Stephen R. Covey. Free Press, 1989. The source of the opening quote. Habit 5, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood,” applies directly to every new leader navigating a team they have not yet earned the right to change.
Right from the Start: Taking Charge in a New Leadership Role. Dan Ciampa and Michael Watkins. Harvard Business Review Press, 1999. A practical companion to The First 90 Days, focused specifically on the transition period and how to avoid the most common derailment traps.
How Managers Become Leaders. Michael Watkins. Harvard Business Review, June 2012. A concise, research-grounded article on the seven seismic shifts new leaders must make when moving from individual manager to organizational leader. Highly applicable to frontline leaders stepping up for the first time.
