Starting any new job is tough, and the pressure cooker is even hotter if the job involves leadership of some sort. There’s simply so much history and dynamics that the new leader is unaware of and so many new difficulties that have not been surmounted. Yet leaders are responsible for lots, and their actions can impact how hundreds of thousands of dollars – if not millions – are spent. How can we improve the chances of success? This book offers practical ways organizations can help their leaders achieve early and lasting success at their new roles.
Several of Watkins’ suggestions stand out in my mind. First, aim for early successes, no matter how small, in order to gain credibility. Second, plan out the first 90 days and stick to the plan. Third, organizations can have employees explicitly focused towards leadership transitions to smooth the waters. Finally, Watkins provides several conceptual buckets to help the new leader understand the company’s and new position’s main challenge.
This book certainly addresses an important issue in an original, novel way. It’s geared specifically towards senior leadership (leaders of leaders), where much is at stake. It does not significantly address lower levels of the organization, like managers and lower-level leaders. Likely, this is because much less is at stake. An opportunity is nonetheless missed at broadening the potential audience of this book. By focusing on the highest levels of leadership, more general job transitions are not really addressed in this work. That’s a definite shortcoming.
For its niche – executive-level enterprise leadership – this book seems to hit the nail on the head. Nonetheless, it seems to avoid other opportunities to generalize its insights. It definitely gave me a thing or two to think about, and its analytical power stands out. I just wish that it hit more than the C-suite.
The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter
By Michael D. Watkins
Narrated by Grover Gardner
Copyright (c) 2013
Gildan Media
ASIN B00CH7FE1O
Length: 6:58
Genre: Leadership/Business
www.amazon.com