Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
The First 90 Days
When a new leader takes the reigns of an ongoing initiative, the transition is fraught with potential setbacks that can cripple the project’s chances of success. To meet the challenges, you need to diagnose the situation and tailor an action plan. Here is a framework that can help build momentum and credibility during this vulnerable period.
Leaders, regardless of their level, are most vulnerable in their first few months in a new position because they lack detailed knowledge of the challenges they will face and what it will take to succeed in meeting them. They also have not yet developed a network of relationships to sustain them. For a project leader, failure to create momentum during the first few months virtually guarantees an uphill battle for the rest of the project. Building credibility and securing some early wins lay a firm foundation for longer-term success.
The challenges of transition acceleration vary depending on situational factors. The fundamental goal of Michael Watkins’ The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at all Levels (Harvard Business School Press) is to provide new leaders with practical frameworks for diagnosing their situations and developing their own customized transition acceleration plans. That is, to move you — and your organization — beyond the Darwinian (sink-or-swim) approach of …
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