The First 90 Days is a guideline or method that will help many employees who are starting a new job or are in a probationary period pass with flying colors. What will the story and methods be like? What will we do to pass the probationary period and successfully step up to become a new manager? Let’s find the answer from the book The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter, Updated and Expanded, written by Michael D. Watkins.
“At least once in our lives, we have to change jobs.”
Because our lives don’t work in one position all our lives, the career goals that each person sets, no one wants to be a subordinate for others to order all their life either. Because everyone wants to advance and many people believe that there must be a day or a workplace that sees our value and pushes us to be able to advance to a position that requires “leadership” as well.
If one day we get the chance, it is considered a time of change, which is a very important time in life. Our role during this time will change. If we succeed, it will lead to another big change in our life as well. But this process is not as easy as it seems. There are still many people who miss out on this opportunity.
“In this transition period, what we need to do is start creating more value for the organization than we have ever received.”
As we move through our corporate careers, there will come a time when we may be offered the opportunity to move on to the next level (e.g. to a higher level, to a manager, etc.) of our career. During this transition, it is a time of intense self-discipline for us to strive to live up to the opportunity. The faster we can build trust, the better, because that means not only will we be accepted as the new manager, but they will also trust us and support us in every way they can.
The trap of the new boss
When we are placed in a new role or new responsibility by the executives, at this time we want to create results for the organization to prove ourselves that we are suitable for the position we have received. Unfortunately, most new managers often fall into a big trap during this period of change, which is “making the wrong decision”. With the impatience and desire to create good results, what we get in return is a loss of credibility that is difficult to regain. In addition, the people in the team who work with us may also lose faith in this new manager.
The traps that arise from these wrong decisions will create a vicious cycle that will cause us to make the second and third bad decisions because of the frustration that we want to make excuses to regain credibility. Not only will it not help, but we may also waste a great deal of energy and time. This book, The First 90 Days, is a helper for us to design the right strategies that will help us propel ourselves to become a new leader or to the position we want with the most success and perfection within 90 days.
“We must try not to approach our new roles in the same way that brought us success in the past.”
One of the most common mistakes new leaders make is to continue doing the same things that have been successful in the past. What we should do is not to do the same things, but to step out of our old roles and prepare ourselves for the changes that will help us succeed in the new roles. Even though doing the same things that made us shine and get promoted, that doesn’t mean that we will do the same things and be the star in the new role because it’s a different context.
“Let’s start focusing on the basics in preparation for our new role.”
When a job change happens quickly, like a sudden new job or a promotion in an organization, most people develop a very specific sense of clarity during that time. It is important to take a breath, to let go of the old feelings from the old position. Take a weekend to sit somewhere quiet and imagine yourself leaving your old position. You may be nervous about your new position, but let’s turn it into an excitement to create a change in ourselves.
“Find your strengths and weaknesses.”
The only way to find our strengths is to think about the problems we have faced in the past. What kind of problems do we find easy and enjoy solving the most? The same goes for weaknesses. What kind of problems are extremely difficult and we have never been able to solve them by ourselves? Or if we do solve them, they always create difficult times. But when we find our weaknesses, in order to deal with them, we have to set rules for ourselves and take time to develop our abilities in those areas. Or try to find people in the organization who are good at those things and start learning from them.
“We need to match the strategy with the right organizational development period.”
Most organizations go through five stages: 1. Startup, 2. Change, 3. Growth, 4. Reinvention, and 5. Continued success. Of these five stages, the primary goal is to drive the business to success. Therefore, it is essential that you understand what stage your organization is in when you become a leader so that you can drive your organization in the right direction.
“To move an organization forward, we need to know where the process starts, where we are now, and where we are going.”
At the beginning, we may feel the challenge of using our own skills and potential to create a product or a project that is satisfactory. In a transition period, our main goal as a new leader may be to try to get everyone on track, to reorganize the team to get them together. In a business growth stimulus, the organization is experiencing a situation of rapid expansion, and we must be able to put in place the systems and processes necessary to support the growth of the organization. In a transformation or remodeling period, we want to re-energize the energy that made our previous projects or projects successful. This is a risky and precarious situation, and if we have the opportunity to enter a successful company, our challenge will be to maintain this high standard and try to push the organization to a higher level.
“We must give up the fruits that are easily accessible and choose to reach for the fruits from the tall trees instead.”
Stop focusing on projects that don’t concern us. Many new managers fall prey to what Michael Watkins calls low hanging fruits, or goals that we can easily achieve. What we need to do should be meaningful to us in the long run, and not too difficult, but enough to help us build the momentum and put all the effort into turning them into victories.
When we have the opportunity to work with the right team during a time when we are changing or developing ourselves, we can easily achieve our goals. Whether we are building a team from a splintered one or a succession plan, it is important to reach out to the team members first by making them feel that we are in the same boat and that we are ready to get them in the same boat. We can follow these principles as follows:
- Competence Are they capable enough to perform their job effectively?
- Relationship: Do they have a good relationship with each other?
- Trust Can you trust them to do what they are assigned to do?
- Decision Making Can They Make Good Decisions?
- Energy Do they have the right energy for the team?
- Focus on your team members. How committed are they?
If we were to give a score of 100, then we would need to consider how important each of these factors is to us. We might give 10 points for belief and 20 points for competence. If we inherit a team and there are a lot of people who don’t meet the criteria that we really want, then we would start working on replacing them as quickly as possible.
“Cultivate good relationships with everyone, even if we don’t directly control them.”
We can ask our boss to introduce us to important people in the organization, create appointments for us to meet with those important people. This process is definitely a good way to build relationships and get attention. It also helps us to know their opinions, which is very important for running towards success. Although this can create a lot of influence and support in the organization, remember to be careful not to get sucked into unnecessary negative power, which can make us lose focus on achieving our goals.
“Keep yourself grounded during changes or development.”
In the face of all challenges, it is important that we take care of them ourselves. During this time, we need to balance ourselves well because we have to work hard to improve our abilities and make good decisions. We should not be alone during this time. We should always be determined, be ready to look for important work opportunities, try to build stable support, show that we have the courage to make decisions that have been carefully considered, and of course, we must be ready to accept the consequences of those decisions responsibly.
Conclusion
In changing roles, duties or positions in a better direction, it is more pleasing than to let us sit and pressure ourselves with these things. Thinking too much or being stressed is useless because the change has already happened. In preparing for more intensive work than before, we must believe that we are capable and that we can do it. Being a star in the old role does not guarantee that we will be a star in the new role again.
Therefore, we need to put in more effort to be able to hold this leadership position perfectly. Be mindful, prepare your body and mind to be ready to receive new things that are coming, find your strengths and develop your weaknesses well, see the situation and see what you can do to help drive the organization forward, build good relationships with your colleagues so that you will receive good support from them, hold on to yourself and try to develop yourself continuously, and finally, don’t let anything distract you along the way. If we can do this, we will be able to step up to become a perfect leader within 90 days.
“At the beginning of a change, there is a high risk that we will lose the perspective we have set. This is why creating balance in life is so important.”
