First 100 days: taking on a new leadership role

Today, managers are often expected to deliver top performance overnight in a new function, a new culture or a new task, sometimes in all three at once. Assignments in other cultures in particular require capabilities that differ significantly from practised patterns of thinking and acting.

In the first 100 days they are under particular scrutiny. During this time the organisation forms its view of the new person and whether it trusts them to solve the tasks set.

Companies that know this do not leave managers alone in this situation. On the basis of a competence assessment, they enable a 100-day programme supported by coaching. This saves the costs associated with mistakes at the start.

Clarify what is to be changed, what scope for decisions exists and how the responsible management wants to assess progress. A title alone does not explain the actual expectations.

Superiors, team and other functions may expect different things. Conversations help to understand the history and experience of the team. Divergent expectations are named and worked on together.

The first step in the 100-day programme is the analysis of the relevant stakeholders. It provides indications of the expectations that need to be met and the influences that affect the new role. Five questions guide it. Who exerts formal or informal influence on me? Who provides resources that are particularly important to me? Who needs me to fulfil their own interests or demands? On whom am I dependent every day? Who has an interest in my successful development?

The answers can be arranged in a picture that shows the importance of each stakeholder and the intensity of the relationship. A constellation of the most important stakeholders using figures, reminiscent of a game of chess, has also proved useful. It quickly makes the web of influence and expectations visible. Opportunities, risks and mutual dependencies stand out.

The initial phase should be shaped by the mandate and the observations gained. Decide which topics need to be understood first and where action is already needed.

Stakeholders pursue different goals. The analysis is therefore followed by a differentiated positioning, which is recorded in writing. The paper describes the interests and possibilities of influence of the individual stakeholders. It contains one's own core messages on content, organisation and structure, values and personnel topics, tailored to the respective group. In addition, there are immediate measures with the highest priority, possible change goals and monitoring.

The basis is a clear picture of the task. Which strategic and operational tasks need to be accomplished? What kind of decisions are due? What conflicting goals and contradictions are to be expected? The relationship and networking work associated with the task is also one of the success factors. These conditions shape the requirements profile for the manager.

Accompanying reflection links one's own actions with the organisation's reactions. This can reveal that the role, the cooperation or an assumption made needs to be sharpened. The number 100 names a start phase and not a universal recipe for success.

Every task requires a coherent requirements profile. This includes potentials, risk factors in stressful situations, one's own motivators and competences as a mixture of knowledge, will and ability. In addition to self-image, external assessment is important, i.e. how others see and judge the person. The resulting development plan feeds into the 100-day programme.

Drawing up a plan is one thing, implementing it another. Regular reflection sessions clarify where the manager stands, how they observe implementation and how they and those around them are faring. If desired, the coach accompanies them on site and then evaluates their observations with them.

This can be supplemented by short qualification modules, after which what has been learned is applied in real situations. The review compares the extent to which the expectations agreed in contracting and the contribution expected of the manager have been met.

Starting in a new leadership function is a phase in which expectations, relationships and tasks have not yet been fully clarified. A 100-day programme therefore begins with contracting and the question of how the client and the manager want to observe the start. Important stakeholders, strategic and operational tasks, core messages and first measures are then considered.

The manager examines their strengths and risks in relation to the new role. First decisions are prepared in coaching and later reflected on in the light of the reactions of those around them. Superiors and, where applicable, HR support the agreed goals. Confidential personal topics stay in coaching. After the start, the positioning is reviewed and further development needs are recorded. The number 100 is a working framework, not a promise of a completed change.