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100 Day Plan for Leaders New in Role (Examples + Template)

When I dropped my son off at school on his first day of kindergarten, he looked at me and said, “I can’t wait to not be new anymore.” Thinking about the many people changing roles and companies these days, I can’t help but wonder how many may be counting the days until they’re not new anymore, too.

No matter how many years of experience a person has – even the most senior of leaders – being the “newbie” is daunting for most and hard enough that many avoid taking the new job in the first place. Add to it the complexity of the workplace these days – exhausted teams, workforce shortages, supply chain and business disruption, the war for talent, and constantly shifting ways of working and connecting as teams and organizations – being a leader in a new role is even more challenging.

For those talented and brave souls venturing to new roles and opportunities, congratulations. Instead of a new coffee mug or new decoration for your Zoom background (or at least, in addition to it), give yourself the gift of preparedness so you make the most of your first months on the job and set yourself up for success.

Is a 100 Day Plan Necessary for Leaders New in Role?

In short, yes. As a newly appointed leader, it’s easy to fall into the trap of waiting for the dust to settle – for you to get comfortable in your role and get a lay of the land, for your employees and teams to get accustomed to having a new leader before you start making any plans. However, waiting to form your plan means you lose the opportunity to set the right tone from the start by being purposeful, organized, and action-oriented.

What is a 100 Day Plan for New Leaders?

A 100 Day Plan is an action plan to guide executive leaders through their first critical months in a new role – outlining strategies and tactics to identify and engage key stakeholders and to build relationships, understand the business, set goals, and gain traction quickly so you can set up a foundation for long-term success in an organization.

While a plan needs to be customized for each leader – and you can download a 100 Day Plan Template here to get started – our experience points to six critical strategies all leaders can deploy to ace their first 100 days regardless of industry or function.

What should a 100 Day Plan include?

While a 100 Day Plan for executive leaders in a new role can take on many forms and is as unique as the business challenges leaders face, there are some core components that the best plans have. Use this 100 Day Plan example framework as a guide:

• Situation Summary – Outline the current business landscape, strengths, opportunities and other important headlines that capture the context you’re stepping into as the leader in your role. This might include the state of engagement at your organization, cost pressures, how employees perceive you as the new leader and more. Take an employee-centric point of view by key audience segments and then try to understand the challenge they need to overcome in today’s environment. You may need to set up informational interviews with a few key colleagues to help confirm some of your assumptions and to highlight details that you wouldn’t yet know.
• Longer-term: What do you want people to say about you and the business 18 months from now and what are some of the big actions you might consider taking to make your vision a reality?
• Near-term: Where do you want to be 100 days in on the job? What impact do you want to have made and how does that line up with your longer-term goals? List your goals, ensuring there are business metrics and relationship goals.
• Evolve the vision and goals for the organization’s future (if needed)
• Retain top talent
• Know : What facts do they need from me? What new information can I provide them? Examples: Key milestones I’m setting, changes from how the role was previously defined and new priorities / expectations I’m establishing.
• Feel: What do I want to be top of mind when they walk away from meeting with me? What pain point are they currently experiencing that I might be able to begin alleviating? Example: Confidence in the path forward, comfort in their ability to talk to me.
• Do: Is there an action that you need them to take right now? Is there a behavior that you want to see them demonstrate going forward? Example: Share the information you’ve provided them with their team, commit to asking questions and keeping the lines of communication open and adopt a mindset that assumes good intent even when faced with challenges or times of change.
• Key Messages – Articulate what the main messages are that you want to convey as you get to know your various key stakeholders. These may be key themes that you know you want to highlight about your leadership style and vision for the role, high-level examples of how you view your function tying into broader company goals and strategies, or a list of commitments you are making to your staff and the actions you are asking them to take while you settle in.
• Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Plan – Make a plan for how you’ll purposefully reach your stakeholders and how you’ll communicate over time to accomplish your goals. When you consider your stakeholders, think about big “centers of gravity” so you can separate out how to allocate time and where you can have the greatest impact by investing time and energy. Also, consider what key relationships you need to build because they’re critical to establishing bridges and sponsorship across the organization. Look for communication channels that already exist so you can simply plug in without having to build infrastructure – don’t underestimate the value of informal conversations and small group huddles as a powerful vehicle while people are getting to know you.
• Quick Win Tactics – Identify opportunities to generate quick and meaningful wins that demonstrate progress toward your overall goals. It is easy for leaders to get caught up in the long game, focusing on the notable impact they aspire to make within a business, but it’s the small wins along the way that both give you something to celebrate and help your stakeholders appreciate the impact you are already making.
• Measures for Success – Consider how you’ll know when success is achieved. Identify the metrics and how you’ll monitor progress – remember, this is a 100 Day Plan, so the metrics should fit accordingly with that timeline. For example, a measure could be around moving sentiment – such as belief in the company, confidence and optimism in the future, and clarity around where we’re heading and why. Use the progress in your stakeholder engagement and communication plans to show momentum.

Want help getting started? Download our free 100 Day Plan Template .

100 Day Plan Example – Your 3 Month Action Plan

The following is a sample 100 Day Plan that shows how to quickly and strategically build out your approach. You can simply customize this list, or you can use the list for inspiration to develop a more detailed plan in alignment with your or your new organization’s preferred format.

Before you get started:

• Continue to learn as much as you can about the organization and your team
• Have pre-meetings with identified stakeholders to discuss the game plan and listen for key expectations, core issues and opportunities
• Begin to map key stakeholders
• Get briefed on the employee, culture and communication landscape (set up an initial meeting with the Communications team, if possible)
• Consider having an informal visit with your new team over breakfast or lunch
• Prepare your elevator speech and/or your initial message platform
• Create a list for your Listening plans, outlining who all you need to meet with to hear perspectives, observe and tap for insights; set up meetings with key stakeholders (including senior leaders, peers, direct reports and skip-level reports/teams) ; if you don’t yet know their names, list their roles to prompt you to then find out the right point of contact
• Begin your listening “tour;” reinforce that you’re hearing what people are saying and make a point to circle back with anyone who asked a question that you couldn’t answer in the moment
• Connect with Communications and HR partners to understand the company culture and how communication happens
• Set the stage with your team and stakeholders with what to expect these first days and weeks, including what to continue to focus on and do
• Identify key contributors and any key people who are flight risks on your team and engage with them, including conducting stay interviews
• Actively participate in company onboarding so you experience what others also experience
• Continue listening tour
• Work with team members to codify strategy; involve people representing a cross-section of the organization whenever possible
• Identify communication channels you’ll regularly use to share updates on what you’re hearing, doing and thinking in advance of the formal launch of your communications plan
• Finalize your strategy and plan and socialize with key stakeholders for alignment
• Develop a communication plan for playback of listening and to share strategy going forward
• Refresh key messages and leader platform
• Implement communication plan
• Continue a steady cadence of employee listening, and update/amend the plan and messages in real-time based on new, viable insights that come from listening and any key changes within the business or your work environment

6 Strategies to Learn and Lead in Your First 100 Days

From our years of experience working with senior leaders as they navigate being new in their role while leading teams and organizations, we’ve compiled a list of six strategies that will help you learn while leading yourself and others with confidence and credibility.

1. Study up

Learn everything there is about the team or company you’re joining, but also spend the time where it counts so you don’t get caught up in analysis paralysis. Have a game plan leading up to your start date for what you need to know to hit the ground running, what you can learn along the way and how you want to get immersed. There’s plenty you can read online, but there’s so much more you can learn from inside the organization, especially by speaking with those who have the pulse.

Get to know the Communications and HR/People/Culture teams early on because they likely have a wealth of information about employee mindsets, hot-button issues and the best ways to reach and interact with employees. Many Communications teams we work with would be happy to help you know how information flows in the organization and what channels are best for leaders like you to get information and communicate effectively with your teams.

When an incoming senior executive was getting ready to join the organization, we partnered with the Communications team to develop an executive briefing book on the state of the workforce and how communication happens inside the company. There was a briefing meeting, great discussion and an opportunity for the leader to get to know the Communications team as they discussed shared needs and expectations so the leader could get connected and communicate effectively with key audiences. All of this led to a better, more actionable 100 Day Plan.

2. Figure out where to start

The first months are an exercise in drinking from a fire hose. Prioritizing is essential, but it can be hard to know where to start. Many leaders we’ve worked with have found it helpful to have a “working session.” In those sessions, we work with the leader to sort through critical business and communication demands and needs and then map their 100 Day Plan – with a particular eye on the next 30 days. These sessions give the leader a chance to step out of the day-to-day, assess the situation, determine priorities and frame a practical action plan for how to spend their time – always with business outcomes and stakeholder needs in mind. This session also sets the foundation for the key messages to convey and what to communicate and when.

3. Hit the road

Get out of your office . Whether you’re rounding, doing listening tours, road shows or coffees, get in front of as many people as you can so you get to know people across levels and roles in the organization. There’s nothing like being in person to ask questions, surface ideas and stories, read the room, feel the vibe and get a sense of what’s being said (and not said). If you can’t be in person, do your best to hit the road virtually with virtual office visits, coffees and the like. Make a commitment to visit those teams and sites as soon as possible when you can. This one is easy to put on the back burner, so make a point to schedule a set number of meet-and-greets per week to hold yourself accountable.

Asking questions during your onsite or virtual meetings is an important part of your listening. The best leaders lead by listening . They seek to understand, not to judge, and make this a regular part of how they lead. Find out why things are the way they are. Get to know people’s stories. Ask them what gets them excited to come to work, and what pain points or barriers they see and experience that get in the way. Make it about them, while also giving them a window into who you are.

As important as listening is, that doesn’t mean you can’t also share your story. As a leader, people need to know you first before they’ll get on board with your vision or strategy. Help them know who you are as a person and as a leader – what gets you excited, why you want to be a part of the team, how people who know you best describe you, what principles you live by and what brings you joy outside of work. All these things give others a chance to know you, how you tick and how you think about the world, which gives them a chance to have a human connection with you and to be able to help you deliver on your vision.

Another key part of sharing your story is being ready with your elevator speech and core messages. The elevator speech is the main message that you want to convey succinctly to your key stakeholders and audiences. Have your story ready and use it regularly from day one. You may customize this a bit for your various audiences and over time, but there’s power in being consistent overall.

Determining your Elevator Speech as a Leader New in Role

Keep it short and make it conversational. Speak to what your role is and how you’ve been here before in your previous role. Write it out so you’re thoughtful about what you want to convey. This is how many people will first remember you. For example:

Example Elevator Speech 1:

I’ve seen the power of transforming the employee experience and am excited to lead our team as we make it happen here together.

• This says you know employee experience and that you’ve been here before, which speaks to credibility and confidence in the role and where you’re going to take the team.
• This shows that you’re bringing energy and enthusiasm, and that you want to be part of the team because you view yourselves on a common journey aimed at getting results. This is motivating, speaks to a shared end game, and reinforces camaraderie and collaboration.

Example Elevator Speech 2:

Having a child with medical issues, I have immense appreciation for how much work goes into making great healthcare possible . I’m grateful to be part of this team and to partner together with you to improve access to great care for those we serve.

• Self discloses something personal and relatable, and establishes that this is a field of work that the person respects and appreciates.
• Sharing gratitude signals a person with character, humility and heart.
• Speaks to leading the team as colleagues, not subordinates, and that we’re in this together.
• Signals a vision of what’s possible that you want the team to work toward.

For senior-most executives, a best practice is having your own leadership message platform. Much like a “stump speech” for politicians, this is a set of key messages and stories to help you tell your story in a way that connects to your audiences and drives line of sight and engagement. It’s a useful tool for driving message consistency across communications and channels, as well as for saving time preparing for meetings and communications (for both the leader and the communicators who support them).

When leaders are new in role, the method of developing this platform is especially powerful in helping leaders think purposefully about how to articulate their story, their vision and their approach to shaping the strategy.

4. Have a stakeholder engagement and communication plan

The complement to your core messages is an engagement and communication plan. Whether you’re preparing your own, or have the support of your Communications team, this is a must so that you are intentional in your first 100 days (and beyond) about which stakeholders and audiences you are reaching, the best approach to do so and the outcome you want to see.

Take a few minutes to follow this 5-step method to plan your communication:

• OUTCOME: What’s the business goal for your engagement and outreach? As a leader new in role, your business goal may be to keep people focused on the current strategy, while you listen and determine the path forward. Or perhaps you need to stabilize the business and/or team. Whatever the situation, pinpoint what your business outcome is for the first 100 days.
• AUDIENCE: Who are the key audiences you need to engage and where are they coming from? Different audiences will have different perceptions and information needs – and the more you know about each, the more effective you’ll be at connecting with them and ultimately moving them to action. If you discover that you don’t know much about some audiences, it’s a signal you need to go and get to know them more.
• Why (rationale and context)
• What (what’s happening and what to focus on for now)
• When (a sense of timing for what’s happening and what’s to come)
• How (how you’re approaching the coming weeks, how they can help, how you’ll use their insights to develop your action plan)
• Who (who you are, what brings you here, what’s important to you, what they can expect from you and what you expect from them)
• WIIFM (what’s in it for “me” – in other words, what all of this means for them)
• METHOD: What’s the best way to reach them? Map your plan for how to connect with people in ways that foster conversation and the ability to share information freely and candidly. In-person is ideal. Consider where you need one-on-one conversations vs. where small group sessions or larger sessions – such as town halls – can be helpful. Maybe there are feedback channels you want to use or initiate. Consider the mix of methods.
• MEASURE: How do you know if the plan is working? You can learn a lot about what’s working based on the nature of the conversations you’re having, whether you sense people are sharing their views openly and the questions you’re getting. Engage your direct reports and Communications team to share insights and feedback on what they’re hearing. Consider whether informal or formal pulse checks would be useful to get a sense of things as well.

TIP: Having a stakeholder engagement and communication plan is a critical tool beyond your first 100 days, too. The best leaders are always purposeful about how they stay connected with stakeholders and audiences and how they’re showing up regularly through communications.

5. Resist the urge to make change right away

Most leaders are hired to be change agents, so it’s counterintuitive to say don’t come in and change things right away. Even if you think you know what needs to change, try to avoid making big changes in those first 100 days as it can usually cause more harm than help.

Typically, leaders use the first 100 days to listen and formulate an informed strategy, gain key stakeholder buy-in, and then they roll out the strategy in a thoughtful way, so the right audiences are reached at the right time and with the right message. To the greatest extent possible, let others be part of the strategy shaping so it’s the collective plan, not “your” plan alone. WATCH OUT: Without adequate upfront listening in the first 100 days, there’s an assumption that the leader may be uninterested, uninformed or misaligned with the company’s heritage, culture and people. Any which way, it’s a bad look, and it hinders your and the team’s ability to get things done if you come out of the gate with your mind made up about what needs to happen.

There are a few exceptions when making changes in the first 100 days could be the right option. Perhaps there are things you’ve heard and seen that are clearly broken and getting in the way of the employee experience that could be fixed right away and that signal your focus on the people. Or, perhaps something is happening that’s putting the organization at major risk and cannot wait for action. In those cases, immediate change may be the answer to stop the bleeding and/or to signal important and meaningful change right away.

Engage key stakeholders who have institutional perspective in the planning so you’re aware of blind spots or bright spots and leverage your Communications team so what’s communicated is done in the right way and casts a positive light on your approach and intention.

6. Be yourself

All eyes are on you as the new manager or leader, especially those first 100 days, and people are searching for meaning in everything you do (or don’t do). Consider your leadership style and what has served you well and will continue to serve you. Bring that forward with intentionality in how you show up. Check the old habits or ways of working that may not have been as effective at the door. Communicate with purpose.

Lead with heart – knowing that the best leaders today are those who bring authenticity, empathy and humanity to the workplace, so teams can be their best selves and deliver on their mission and goals in the best way.

Empathy is not a “soft” skill

Leaders who practice empathy have more engaged and higher-performing teams, as well as more profitable businesses overall. (Catalyst research study: “The Power of Empathy in Times of Crisis and Beyond,” Sept 2021)

• 79% of US workers agree empathetic leadership decreases employee turnover. (EY Consulting survey, Oct. 2021)
• 85% of employees report that empathetic leadership in the workplace increases productivity. (EY Consulting survey, Oct. 2021)

The Bottom Line

Being an executive leader in a new role comes with big responsibility and a lot of hard work. With the right preparation and thoughtful approach to how you lead and communicate in your first 100 days – and year – you can make your first weeks and months ones that recharge, inspire, motivate and chart the path for great work together to accomplish your goals and strengthen your company’s future.

Don’t feel you need to do this important work on your own. Let those with expertise in these areas partner with you so you can elevate your presence, focus your time where you can have the greatest impact on the business, and achieve the results you want faster and better. If you’d like to discuss ways we can help you get quick wins and plan for long-term impact, contact us today.

—Kate Bushnell

Set the right tone in your new role from the start by being purposeful, organized, and action-oriented with the help of this 100 Day Plan Template. Click the image below to download the 100 Day Plan Template today!

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THE FIRST 100 DAYS

”The beginning is the most important part of any work.”

– Plato, 4th Century B.C. Greek Philosopher

I’ve parachuted in to lead many teams. I love it! The first 100 days in a new role are exhilarating, challenging, and a ton of problem solving . You get dropped into a war zone, with a team, partners , and processes , and you have to figure out how to start driving value quickly. You have peers and other teams to your left and right who are part of a broader equation, but critical to your success. You have your boss, who has high expectations of you. And, you just walked in the door to the beginning of the rest of your life. Where do you start?

Let’s go over the First 100-Day Game Plan to equip you with effective strategies when you get dropped into a new situation.

Before Day 1

To set yourself up for success, you can accomplish a lot before day 1.

1. Clarify role, expectations & resources

Before starting a new role, clarify the role, expectations, and resources.  Use the ROLES framework to work with your new manager to properly define your role, success, and support. Also, clarify the expectations for the first 50 days, 100 days, and the year. What are the big issues and opportunities to tackle? Also, understand the resources you’ll be leading, regarding people, partnerships, budgets, and infrastructure. The likelihood of success goes up with clear roles , expectations, and resources. If they aren’t clearly defined, it can be a sign of potential issues and trouble with the role or your future boss.

2. Learn as much as you can

Typically before starting a project at McKinsey, the team sends the client a “data request” asking for existing documentation, presentations, SOPs, analysis , org charts , and financial and operational data relating to the project. Similarly, before starting a new role, send the boss a “data request.” This will get you up to speed and signal to the boss you want to hit the ground running. Once the data starts rolling in, read and absorb as much as you can and start a log of questions , hypotheses , and other data that could be helpful. You can learn a ton about an organization and business through a data request.

3. Set up the first few weeks

Schedule your first few weeks before day 1. For the first few weeks, focus on building relationships and learning. I typically schedule 20-30 30-minute conversations with members of my team, peers, leadership , internal customers, and other important stakeholders. I create simple interview guides to help with structuring the conversations. I cover questions such as “What are your role and accountabilities ?”, “What are the biggest issues and opportunities with the team?”, “If you were in my shoes, what would your plan be?” You will learn a lot about the organization by keeping the questions open-ended and focused on the other person’s ideas. Also, make sure to get the important weekly or monthly meetings on your schedule.

The First 50 Days – Listen, Learn and Diagnose

As a strategic leader, the first 50 days on a job are crucial. You need to gain context, develop key relationships and create positive momentum. Focus on the below building blocks to set yourself up for success.

4. Listen to the voice of the customer

Everyone in an organization has customers, whether they are the end-consumers that purchase services or products , or internal customers that utilize the services and processes of a team. Customers ultimately decide the long-term success of a leader. Listen to their voices early on in a new role. For internal customers, many of the 30-minute conversations should be with customers. If the customers are end-consumers, you can lean on previous research, online reviews, and the views of internal team members. You should also create primary research, including immersing yourself in the frontlines, being a customer, conducting focus groups or a survey, and interviewing customers. By whatever means get the customers’ views on the strengths , opportunities, weaknesses , and issues of the products and services of the team.

5. Build relationships & learn

You need relationships to get things done in organizations. In the first 50 days, relationship building is a core activity. In the beginning, you build relationships by listening and finding commonalities. And, as the days go by, the more you can address peoples’ issues and be a collaborative problem solver, the stronger those relationships will become. Most of what you will learn in the first 50 days will be from others in the organization. Your job is to listen, learn and ultimately synthesize all that you hear to develop hypotheses on the big issues and opportunities.

6. Set the mission & expectations

From day one people are going to be interested in what you think about the organization. The safest path is to set a broad mission quickly and elevate expectations. For a sales team leader, the mission should be about improving the sales funnel to land more customers. For an operations leader, the mission should be about driving the efficiency and effectiveness of the process to deliver an exceptional customer experience. Furthermore, set high expectations for peoples’ work product, innovation , focus on the customer, and solving problems .

7. Set Up your governance

New leaders change organizations largely by making different decisions than previous leaders. In the first 50 days, define the team’s governance . How will decisions be made? In what forum? What are the necessary facts to make decisions? What are the controls for spending money? When are the different team meetings, and what are their agendas? Laying out and quickly implementing new governance will go a long way in improving the decision-making of the organization.

8. Assess the team

If you inherit a team, start assessing them quickly. First, understand their roles, and have them take you through what they do and how they spend their time. Also, get to know their aspirations, what motivates them, their interests, and their ideas. Read their past performance reviews. Then, given their role, begin assessing their strengths, and weaknesses, and use the Skill Will Matrix. You’ll receive a lot of unsolicited feedback from peers, stakeholders, and leaders, but always make your own judgments too.

9. Empower to get the low-hanging fruit & early wins

From day one people look towards a new leader to start creating value , while the leader is simply trying to get up to speed. The earlier you can create and start executing your Prioritization Matrix of ideas the better off you’ll be. To gain momentum start tackling those low-cost and high-value projects .

The most effective way to start creating value is by empowering others. You’ll often find empowerment opportunities during the initial one-on-one conversations, where a team member might say, “Doing XYZ would really help the team.” And, the leader’s response should be, “Well, what would it take to get XYZ done?” Then, the leader should ask the team member, “Could you take on XYZ? What do you need? When do you think you could get it done by?” Getting people to take ownership of opportunities they’ve seen but haven’t acted on is one of the most powerful ways to generate positive momentum and get some early wins.

10. Understand and measure core KPIs

You can abstract the processes and end-products of any team as KPIs . In the first 50 days, understand what KPIs exist, their trends, and what is behind the trends. Then build a path for establishing, measuring, and managing the necessary KPIs that don’t exist. It is essential to make sure you have the right scoreboard to help set goals and measure success.

11. Start problem solving the issues

At the end of the first 50 days, you should have a semblance of a strategy emerging from the ether. That means in the first 50 days; you need to problem solve the significant issues and opportunities. If you have the resources, put a team together a team to parallel a strategy project from day 1. They’ll come up with a solid plan, and it grows people and allows you to evaluate the strength of the team.

In the first 50 days, spend a lot of time on the frontlines, in the trenches with the team helping them problem solve their accountabilities and potential improvements. Utilize coaching and walkabout management to get better context and provide problem solving help with the team. Walkabout management creates solutions, speeds up decision-making and thought processes, establishes mutual respect, and shows how people think.

The Second 50 Days – Develop Strategy, Change, and Execution

The second 50 days in a new leadership role are when everything should come together, and the team begins to pivot into a new strategic direction.

12. Explore & develop big opportunities

By your 50th day, you should have a pretty good handle on your options to drive substantial value. Once you figure out the 2-4 significant opportunities, then you need to start developing them with the team.

13. Get the right people, in the right roles

Once you have clarity on the big opportunities, you should take a deep breath and be honest with yourself about whether or not you have the right people in the right roles. If you don’t, make changes sooner rather than later. If you can develop existing talent then that is a nice plus, but more often than not you’ll have to reconfigure the team and bring in external talent.

14. Collaborate on goals, strategy, and plans

Drive to clear goals, actions, and plans to realize the big opportunities. This step necessitates a high level of collaboration. Involve those accountable for execution , to develop and decide on the BHAGs – Big Hairy Audacious Goals. And, then coach your team on the creation of their strategies and plans.

15. Manage change and focus

At this point, you’ll have to drive fundamental change in people’s behavior. Use the change management model to increase success. Also, ensure the team is laser-focused on the change agenda.

16. Execute & Measure

Keep the focus on execution. Periodically measure the impact of the strategy on the BHAGs (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals) and the important KPIs. You’ll start getting a rhythm to the execution and begin learning what is working and what needs to be adjusted. At this point, you’ll hopefully begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Keep the team focused, energized, and driving impact, and you’ll see them and yourself grow.

Set yourself up for success by following the First 100 Days Game Plan. As always, enjoy the journey and create value!

And, if you are looking for someone to help you create and execute a great 100-day game plan set up some time with me . I really enjoy supporting clients with their transition to new roles and they get the coaching and strategies they need to lead and be successful in their new organization.

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New corporate CEO first 100 days plan: drawing the curtain to personal challenges (Examples + Template)

What should a CEO do in their first 100 days? Is there a plan ? This is a common question in the coaching room; one new CEO would prefer to search in Google rather than discuss. It's not their shortage of brilliance, vision, or expertise; they're not even lacking a strategic plan. Then what is the question behind their question?

Simona Spilak, MSc 08 Nov. 2023

In this article, I want to draw the curtain on the rollercoaster you may or will experience as a new CEO on a personal level - also if you're a seasoned manager. Your personality determines how you proceed, plan, and prioritize success . There is nothing like a magic formula that fits us all. Still, I will help you understand the essentials so you can prepare yourself for the good (and challenging) to come in your first 100 days as a new corporate CEO—as per usual, guiding you with my mixed background of corporate management experience, CEO of two businesses, and executive coach to top level management and CEO level.

Why is the first 100 days important for a CEO?

What are the key objectives of a ceo during the first 100 days, how does personality determine your success as a new ceo beyond the first 100 days, enablers for your first 100 days as a new ceo, are you making the right decision to become a ceo.

Despite new CEOs undergoing a strict selection process that involves delivering a strategic plan , expectations, and inner doubts skyrocket once the competition ends and they´re appointed in their new role. Why?

During the first 100 days, two significant themes unravel:

• One is the perception of one quarter as the crucial probation period .
• The other closely related is the navigation of external and internal expectations .

The Seduction Game and the myth of the 100 days.

Like dating someone you feel attracted to, you want to be liked (even if they have appointed you for the post), and you want your debut to be a great success (even if you´re just partially clear about how someone will measure your success beyond metrics).

What is the probation period for a new CEO?

New CEOs unconsciously “mistake” their first 100 days with their probation period on the post. Although we all like to have a grand debut , selection committees grant 6 to 12 months for a new CEO to unfold their strategic plan and build a solid foundation .

So yes, you´re being evaluated over a more extended period.

Ensure it is someone other than you who rushes into the rabbit hole of wanting to achieve more than what is possible or wise in a business quarter.

What is expected from a new CEO?

With all eyes on you, your decision-making, and your leadership course, the pressure to surpass performance indicators and do it quickly is enormous in the first 100 days.

How do you know your inner expectations are not sabotaging your strategic plan? Distinguishing external and internal expectations is critical:

• External expectations position your strategic plan as the benchmark against which stakeholders measure you.
• Inner expectations are often unconfessed and run the show in the shadows .

Inner expectations are often related to the wit to overachieve and have a quick impact . These unconfessed goals convey both professional and personal targets, such as:

• The M&A of a company you should have mentioned in your strategic plan
• Increasing your achievement target from 3% to 5%
• Avoiding media exposure
• Playing hard on your media strategy
• Pursuing the board´s respect for your results and personality

Inner expectations run the show in the shadows. You can dynamite your first 100 days, spinning around conflicting priorities without noticing. I recommend my clients discuss them in the privacy of their coaching setting before conflicting goals or excessive load pulling them apart. Notice this discussion is not about the adequacy of your internal expectations but about staying focused and prioritizing.

Your priority in the first 100 days is getting to know the organization , that is:

• Its challenges

The next 200 days will be about designing actions and accomplishing them.

Crucial Milestones for new CEOs in the first 100 days

While getting your strategic plan in place, you should take into consideration these six milestones:

• The Significance of the First 100 Days: The initial 100 days of your CEO's tenure are crucial for setting the direction and vision for the company. It's a time for boldness and clarity.
• Creating an Integrated Narrative: As CEO, you should develop a multifaceted narrative encompassing their strategic ambition, transformation plans, stakeholder management, communications strategy, and talent assessment.
• Rigorous Planning and Trusted Partners: Part of your CEO role is to engage with trusted partners who can stimulate and challenge them during the planning process. These partners can be internal (e.g., HR officers) or external experts.
• Stepping Out of Comfort Zones: As CEO, you can step outside your comfort zones and challenge traditional leadership styles, especially if they come from different backgrounds or industries.
• Reflective Thinking Exercises: Benefit from structured reflection exercises, such as developing a personal strategic narrative , creating a leadership imprint , evaluating top leaders , and preparing a personal action plan . Executive coaching can support you enormously in that!
• Preparation for the Next 1,000 Days: The work done during the first 100 days sets the stage for the next 1,000 days and beyond, and rigorous planning and reflection are essential for long-term success.

This is how you build engagement in the first 100 days

Present a compelling WHY As a new CEO, you must offer a compelling WHY to mobilize the organization in a specific direction. A clear WHY helps stakeholders embrace your vision and align with what and HOW you want to achieve it.

Lead by example You can rely on your personality traits to communicate in a motivational, practical, and emphatic way. I encourage you to be accessible and dedicate time to know the organization's challenges and people.

Leading by example, people follow you without being told what to do.

What should I do about my team?

Whether to keep your team or replace everyone is one of the most challenging, high-stakes decisions you'll face as a new CEO. Either way, it showcases your leadership style. The decision depends on:

• The needs of the company in that phase
• Your ability to work on the strategy and the people simultaneously.

Sometimes, a new set of skills is lacking, making it easier to decide on hiring new talent . Others, you will prioritize long-term employees and invest time and money in their development. You must be willing to adapt and be resilient .

Prioritize building a resilient organization

Check the mental health and well-being of the organization because they are part of its resilience . As a new CEO, you should define how things are done , which is intimately linked to the emotional intelligence of your staff.

It's not just WHAT you achieve, but HOW you achieve it

I encourage you to pay equal attention to how you achieve your goals. Your how is determinant to:

• How stakeholders perceive and value your performance
• How you come across in internal communication and external media
• The impact and innovation you bring to the industry
• The position of your company in that industry
• Your long-term fuel for success

How you do things is not an improvisation . Mastering your strengths and benefiting from your personality structure depends on your self-awareness and leadership. Let 's see how.

Based on experience and cutting through all nuances that make you unique as an individual, there are two types of new CEOs. In my terminology:

• The Individual CEO: Individual CEOs are often high-achievers . Self-motivated, high-paced, ambitious, and creative, they excel at solo performing, out-of-the-box solutions, contaging their enthusiasm, and taking others on board in the initial stages. Elon Musk could fall into this category.
• The Reciprocal CEO: Reciprocal CEOs are often people-prioritizers . Emotionally intelligent, steady-pace, fulfilled by transformation and positive impact, they excel in strategic alliances, connecting dots, and innovation opportunities. We could use Satya Nadella as an example.

In the Process Communication Model (PCM©) , they would come across as:

• Thinkes and Promoters , with a more logical and organized structure that makes it easier for them to think on data and translate them into strategic information and benchmarks.
• Harmonizers , focusing on people inclusion, transformation, and engagement, excel in conceptual thinking and creating a shared story that embodies highly talented people and stakeholders.

Both types are equally ambitious and driven by hitting revenue goals, benchmarks, and innovation.

They come from different angles, which speaks volumes about the challenges they will face during their first 100 days as new corporate CEOs.

What are the coaching challenges for each during their first 100 days as CEO?

Individual and Reciprocal CEOs are two very different personality types in the coaching room. As an executive coach, I guide them to succeed by building on their personality, not despite it . Two examples.

Individual CEOs in their first 100 days (and beyond)

• Challenges : Individual CEOs will force themselves to overachieve. They come across as ambitious, performance indicators driven, and workaholics. People often perceive them as “the smarter person in the room”; they secretly doubt themselves . Their challenges are related to precipitation, poor self-reflection, and low engagement . After the “love at first sight” effect, they either attract or repel people. In their multifaceted and fast-paced actions, they lose focus and take others along.
• Actions : Coaching topics include guiding them back to their focus lane . They must persuade themselves that focusing on one thing is a more effective use of energy and time. Then, they need to learn how to do it. That involves adequate physical training to achieve their intimate goal, often around IMPACT . I use coaching questions that help them zoom out and prioritize the action that will move the needle in the shortest time. My coaching questions address the dilemma of multi-focus versus narrowing down to one thing at a time.
• Lasting results: After the initial resistance to being coached, they find intimate conversation away from the public eye a rich space for self-reflection, clarity, and focus. Once they see a clear path, they can use their outstanding energy in a focused and streamlined way. Slowing down allows them to understand changes-- in stakeholders, in a given situation, in the industry or economic environment- and adjust their plan accordingly.

Reciprocal CEOs in their first 100 days (and beyond)

• Challenges: Reciprocal CEOs will spend more time getting to know the details and the people . They will first build relationships and then think of the result. They believe they need that level of detail to conceptualize various business development scenarios and create an inspiring vision. They invest time discussing with people and reflecting and thinking it over, often prolonging their decisions. Their rabbit hole is over-adaptation to the organization, appearing indecisive and “too soft.”
• Actions: Reciprocal CEOs benefit enormously from having allies who are strong in finances and structure. The coaching process involves identifying the right partners to keep them in the frame while they INNOVATE and shift industry mindset and trends. My coaching questions address the dilemma of being understood and respected versus the discomfort of taking action and identifying the data and support needed to dive into the arena.
• Lasting results: Once they reinforce their strategic thinking and understand that delegation helps more than support, they skyrocket in the actions that help business priorities.

When I started my company, I used Daniel Goleman's leadership enablers to conquer challenges and sometimes negative thoughts and impostor syndrome.

How strong are your Emotional Intelligence Competencies?

Awareness of using empathetic listening and social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies is crucial to successful CEOS, especially in their first 100 days.

Daniel Goleman's domains of Emotional Intelligence are the foundation of empathic leadership and coaching leadership . Whether self-awareness and self-management are foundational, it's in the domain of "relationship management" where most leadership shortcomings appear - i.e., skills for inspirational leadership, effective communication, employee development, collaboration, and conflict management .

As you may know, I´m the founder and CEO of two businesses. Leaving a well-compensated and safe management position in corporate could have paid a toll on my marriage, not to speak of the long working hours of my current schedule.

Most days, I go home with pride, excitement, and joy: an immense inner power of “Yes, we can do that.” But not all days. I support myself on a team in the office and executive coaching to reflect on my challenges as a CEO and course of direction with a clear head .

I walk my talk.

From a humble position, I want to share the learnings I took from my first 100 days as a new CEO and my first seven years.

How can you create work-life balance as a new CEO?

• Inner motivators. Becoming a CEO comes with doubts . In their first 100 days, my clients doubt their move, themselves, and their decision. It's normal and best to sort them out in a private and professional space .
• Connecting the role to the person is crucial. I wanted to end the painful split of characters and be myself as "Simona the CEO" and Simona the spouse. I insist on the power of authenticity in impactful leadership .
• Create a support system. Everybody who succeeded in the CEO role for more than one mandate or two mandates has a support system, regardless of gender.
• Be present with people , whether they are a team or family. Spouses, children, and friends will resent you if you're halfway there at the dinner table or when they need your attention . It's more about the quality of your presence than the time you have available for them.
• Comunícate and agree with your spouse. I'm grateful for the support from D., my spouse. In our case, I'm the CEO, and he runs the show in our private life. There are many things I don't have to pay attention to because he does. We decided to take at least seven days of "workation" per quarter as part of our agreement. After all these years, the expectation of that time together fuels me when things get hard in the office.

Before marrying a new company, be aware of who you´re married to and prepare together. Couples “at the top” require a high level of emotional intelligence . The support you need is often a step away if you inform your partner about your dreams and inner motivations. That could be mutual .

The higher you climb the corporate ladder, the more you need to invest in yourself

When becoming a CEO, your time investment should shift from gaining specific expertise in the field to acquiring and polishing self-mastery.

Whether new to executive coaching or a seasoned coaching leader, new challenges will present you with unique development needs. Working with professionals who are up to the occasion gives you the perspective and the space to self-reflect, prioritize, and either think long-term or narrow down to the strategy, allies and support you need to debut in your new role successfully—the one they hired you for.

Do you think I´m your person? I invite you to reach out and have a conversation. Use this link to check availability .

To your success, Simona

I'm the founder of BOC Institute , one of the renowned consulting agencies for international companies operating in Slovenia and South-East Europe. I coach CEOs and top managers 1:1 worldwide. I'm here to save you time, energy, and money through your objectives, decision-making, and leadership development. I understand we can change the world one coaching session at a time! Do you feel like having a call? You can reach out here and let me guide you from there. BOOK A CALL Simona Špilak www.simonaspilak.com

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CEO first 100 Days Plan

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First 100 days: The start-up checklist every new business needs

Our experts

Written and reviewed by:.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a start-up cheat sheet for budding business owners? Well, now there is!

With the help of some of the country’s top start-up businesses, we’ve compiled an essential checklist of the key tasks and activities that need to be considered in the first 100 days of starting any business.

As most people aren’t familiar with the steps to start a business, this checklist covers everything you need to know pre-launch and post-launch; from market research to domain names and business banking. If you’ve got a business idea, then this checklist will help ensure your start-up hits the ground running…

Don’t quit the day job until you have to

Talk to business owners and peers that you know and trust, consider a co-founder, join an online business community, define your customer profile, research the market, assess the competition, draw up a brief business plan, choose a business name, register a website (or two).

Check out the UK's best website builders for small businesses today.

Make a list of suppliers and distribution partners

Make something you can show people – an mvp, find your first customers, look for small business grants and/or consider raising investment, register your business with companies house, build a website, get a business bank account, days 81-100, make your first hire(s) if you can afford to.

Many entrepreneurs launch a start-up with the mindset that they can do everything themselves – from sales to marketing to HR – but this simply isn’t the case. Rebel Kitchen’s Tamara Arbib, Currency Cloud CEO Michael Laven, RefME’s Hatton, and SMARTech Energy  managing director Stuart Pearce have all made a case for hiring in the first 100 days:

• Arbib: “Recruitment is key; hire like-minded people that share your passion and drive and make sure their skill set complements yours.”
• Hatton: “Build a team with uniquely different skills and knowledge which will […] accelerate growth. Remember that new businesses are […] full of highs and lows, successes and pitfalls, so having a team that can persevere is very important in the first 100 days.”
• Laven: “Great people make a great company. And for a business that is just getting off the ground with little money, strategy or even product in place, having the right people on the ground floor is even more essential. When hiring for a new company, it’s more important to find someone who actually learned from their last job than someone with a stellar résumé.”
• Pearce: “By developing a strong team you can build your new business far faster than by doing it all on your own – learn to delegate.”

Get an accountant or purchase accountancy software

Test, measure and iterate your business concept, develop stories, lastly, make sure you can walk before you run, written by:, leave a comment.

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100 Day Plan

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Imagine stepping into a new leadership role or taking on an ambitious project. The first 100 days are crucial to establishing your credibility, building relationships, and setting the groundwork for long-term success. But how can you make sure you hit the ground running in your new job? A well-structured 100 Day Plan Template can be your secret weapon for achieving your goals and making a lasting impact.

Key Takeaways

> Create an actionable 100 Day Plan Template for successful outcomes and long-term growth.

> Establish relationships, credibility & quick wins to maximize impact of your plan.

> Track progress regularly & communicate effectively for the best results!

Understanding the 100 Day Plan Template

Taking on a new leadership role or project requires a precise strategy and well-defined goals for successful outcomes. A 100 Day Plan Template is your roadmap to staying focused, motivated, and on track with your objectives. It helps you:

> Develop essential strategies > Allocate resources > Monitor progress > Establish a robust timeline for achieving your goals

It also promotes effective communication and engagement with your team and key stakeholders, paving the way for successful transition and sustainable growth. Now, we’ll delve into the purpose, advantages, and elements of a 100-day plan template, and comprehend its role in driving success.

Purpose of a 100 Day Plan

A 100 Day Plan is a powerful tool designed to help new leaders and managers achieve long-term success in their roles. By setting clear goals, fostering key relationships, and demonstrating decision-making prowess, a 100 Day Plan can cast new leaders in a positive light within their organization. It helps you create a strong foundation from the outset while showcasing your commitment to being purposeful, organized, and action-oriented.

A 100-day plan also allows you to recognize and prioritize required changes for enhancing operational performance and steering your team strategically towards marketplace leadership. For a new leader, making the most of the initial 100 days is vital to create a lasting impression and lay the foundation for a thriving future.

Benefits of using a 100 Day Plan Template

Utilizing a 100 Day Plan Template empowers organizations to effectively manage their business by providing a comprehensive overview of essential tasks and objectives for the upcoming period. A well-structured template can enhance collaboration and coordination within the team, ensuring that everyone knows their roles and responsibilities. This clarity and alignment make it easier to:

> Set goals > Track progress > Identify potential roadblocks > Allocate resources effectively > Monitor performance > Make informed decisions

Ultimately, using a 100 Day Plan Template can be a useful tool, leading to better outcomes and increased efficiency for the organization.

In project management, a 100 Day Plan Template provides several distinct advantages like offering a clear direction, improving tracking and reporting, and promoting accountability. Utilizing a template allows managers to start their new roles confidently, make data-driven decisions, and establish success paths for new hires from the beginning.

Components of a 100 Day Plan Template

The essential components of a 100 Day Plan Template include:

> Clear and achievable goals > Specific tasks > Resource allocation > Priorities > A timeline with milestones > Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

These elements ensure that your plan is successful and motivating, especially when starting a new job or taking on a new project. By focusing on these core components, you can hit the ground running, measure success, and track progress effectively throughout your 100-day journey.

Collaboration is crucial for developing a 100-day plan that helps you achieve ambitious goals, take decisive actions, and capitalize on opportunities. Working closely with your team and stakeholders enables you to create a tailored action plan that addresses the unique challenges and opportunities of your new role or project.

Customizing Your 100 Day Plan Template

To fully benefit from a 100 Day Plan Template, it’s necessary to develop it according to your specific situation and goals. This adaptation involves evaluating your current position, defining achievable objectives, and adjusting the plan to meet your unique requirements. By doing so, you can create an action plan that resonates with your team and stakeholders, ensuring a higher likelihood of success and long-term growth.

We will now examine how you can evaluate your situation and set achievable goals to craft a personalized 100-day plan that helps you accomplish success.

Assessing Your Situation

Determining your current position and challenges is a vital step in customizing your 100-day plan. To do this, take the time to evaluate your new role or project, the company’s culture, and the expectations of your team and stakeholders. Understanding these aspects helps you identify the areas that require improvement and growth, allowing you to create a plan that truly addresses your unique needs.

Developing strong relationships with your team and stakeholders is also crucial in assessing your situation. Here are some steps to take:

1) Engage in open and honest communication.

2) Learn about their aspirations and motivations.

3) Gain valuable feedback on their perceptions of the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges.

This information will serve as a solid foundation for creating a customized 100-day plan that resonates with your team and drives results.

Setting Realistic Goals

Upon gaining a clear comprehension of your situation, you should aim to set attainable and quantifiable objectives for your 100-day plan. These objectives should abide by the SMART criteria (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) to guarantee success and progression. By setting realistic objectives, you can prioritize tasks, allocate resources effectively, and track progress towards your targets.

Furthermore, synchronizing your goals with your overarching objectives and priorities guarantees that your 100-day plan is substantial and adds to your organization’s long-term success. It also stimulates responsibility and cohesion among team members, enabling collaborative efforts towards a common goal.

Key Strategies for a Successful 100 Day Plan

Efficient execution of your 100-day plan necessitates focusing on key strategies that lead to success. These strategies involve relationship building, credibility establishment, and attainment of quick wins. By honing in on these strategies, you can maximize the impact of your 100-day plan and lay the groundwork for long-term success in your new role or project.

We will now examine each of these strategies and understand their contributions to a successful 100-day plan.

Building Relationships

The foundation of a successful 100-day plan lies in fostering strong relationships with stakeholders and team members. Creating powerful connections with these individuals ensures effective collaboration and communication, which is vital for achieving your objectives. Building relationships also helps to ensure that everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals, ultimately contributing to the long-term success of your organization.

To build strong relationships, engage in open and honest communication with your team and stakeholders. Take the time to learn about their roles, aspirations, and motivations, and listen to their feedback and concerns. By doing so, you can build relationships and create a solid foundation of trust and understanding, which will serve as the bedrock for successful collaboration and execution of your 100-day plan.

Establishing Credibility

Establishing credibility is another crucial strategy for success in your 100-day plan. Demonstrating your expertise and competence in your new role or project is essential for building trust and confidence among your team and stakeholders. This trust and confidence enable you to effectively carry out your plan, gain their approval, and secure early successes.

To establish credibility, focus on showcasing your knowledge, skills, and abilities in your field. Set realistic goals, communicate effectively, and be open to feedback and suggestions. By doing so, you can create a positive reputation within your organization, lay the foundation for successful collaboration, and acquire new skills for long-term growth.

Achieving Quick Wins

Identifying opportunities for early success is vital for building momentum and confidence in your 100-day plan. Achieving quick wins demonstrates progress, generates tangible results, and fosters a sense of accomplishment within your team. These early successes help to build confidence, create a positive reputation, and gain the approval of stakeholders.

To achieve quick wins, focus on setting achievable goals, breaking tasks into smaller, manageable steps, and prioritizing the most important tasks first. By doing so, you can create a sense of achievement and enthusiasm that drives your team forward and inspires them to tackle more ambitious goals and challenges.

Top 100 Day Plan Templates to Get You Started

Having comprehended the significance of a 100-day plan template and the strategies for its successful realization, it’s time to examine some practical examples of successful templates. These examples serve as an inspiration for creating your own customized plan to achieve your goals and make a lasting impact in your new role or project. Whether you’re a new leader or tackling an ambitious project, these templates can provide a starting point for your journey towards long-term success.

One of the best places to find a 100 Day Plan Template is on PowerSlides. We offer a wide variety of templates to help you create a clear and actionable plan that aligns with your specific needs and objectives. Downloading a template from us saves you time and effort, allowing you to focus on executing your plan and achieving your goals.

Tips for Maximizing the Impact of Your 100 Day Plan

Effectively executing your 100-day plan and maximizing its impact requires dedication and focus on two key areas: regular progress tracking and effective communication. By honing in on these aspects, you can ensure your plan stays on track, adapts to unforeseen challenges, and delivers the desired results.

Let’s examine these two vital tips for enhancing the effectiveness of your 100-day plan.

Regular Progress Tracking

Monitoring your progress throughout your 100-day plan is essential for staying on track and making necessary adjustments. Regular progress tracking allows you to:

> Proactively identify potential issues or roadblocks > Address them in a timely manner > Stay motivated by celebrating your achievements > Recognize areas where you need to improve

To track progress effectively, set up checkpoints at regular intervals throughout your 100-day plan. These checkpoints provide an opportunity to evaluate your progress, reassess your goals, and make any necessary adjustments to stay on track. By regularly monitoring your progress, you can ensure a higher likelihood of success in your plan and long-term growth.

Effective Communication

Maintaining open lines of communication with stakeholders and team members is crucial for ensuring alignment and support for your 100-day plan. Effective communication helps keep everyone informed of your progress, goals, and expectations, fostering a sense of unity and purpose within your team. It also helps build trust and credibility, which are vital for achieving long-term success.

To ensure effective communication, follow these steps:

1) Establish regular communication channels with your team and stakeholders. This can include meetings, progress updates, and feedback sessions.

2) Be open and truthful in your communication.

3) Actively listen to the concerns and suggestions of your team and stakeholders.

4) Create an environment of transparency and collaboration.

5) Maximize the impact of your 100-day plan.

By following these steps, you can create an environment of effective communication and collaboration.

In conclusion, a well-structured 100 Day Plan Template can be the key to unlocking success in your new role or project. By understanding the purpose, benefits, and components of a 100-day plan, customizing it to your unique situation, and focusing on key strategies like building relationships, establishing credibility, and achieving quick wins, you can maximize the impact of your plan and lay the groundwork for long-term success.

Remember, the first 100 days are crucial for setting the stage for your future achievements. So, take the time to create a comprehensive plan, track your progress regularly, and communicate effectively with your team and stakeholders. By doing so, you can ensure a higher likelihood of success and make a lasting impact in your new role or project.

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The New Leader’s 100 Day Plan

18 powerful questions you need to ask.

If you’re taking on a new leadership role, your first 100 days are critical. As you’ll be aware, the stakes - for you and your organisation - are high. Check out this graphic from McKinsey, a consultancy:

As you can see, 90% of leaders who had a successful transition deliver on their three-year performance goals. But when leaders struggle through a transition, the performance of their direct reports is 15 percent lower than it would be with high-performing leaders.

The problem with most advice on 100 Day Plans

The idea of a new leader 100-day plan is common. There are plenty of articles and books on the topic. Whilst I’ve benefited from these myself, they tend to fall down in two ways:

• They can be incredibly detailed and long. It’s like operating a computer with an enormous ring-bound user manual at your side. Great as a reference tome, but hardly as a day-to-day guide.
• The shorter articles can be incredibly vague. “Build relationships with your team”, “Deliver some quick wins”, “Identify strategic priorities”. No s^^t, Sherlock!

Advice for a 100 day new leader plan: “Build relationships with your team”, “Deliver some quick wins”, “Identify strategic priorities”. No s^^t, Sherlock!

Time for a new approach:

• Wouldn’t it be great if you had a one-page roadmap, a simple list of powerful questions to be answering during this critical 100 day period as a new leader?
• You’d be able to print it out, carry it with you, jot down thoughts against each question, see where you’re coming up short of answers, and be able to course correct as you go.
• Even better, the questions would be organised by month, so you don’t have to be looking at all the questions all the time.

Guess what? It’s your lucky day. This article covers 18 powerful questions you should be asking in the first 100 days of a new leadership role. You can also download   a one-page PDF “cheat sheet” for simple reference by clicking the link below.

FREE EMAIL COURSE

NAILING YOUR NEW LEADERSHIP ROLE

Discover our 8-lesson course to maximise your impact in your new leadership role.

You won't find low-level management tips. You will find key mental shifts, insights and new ways of thinking to stretch you and help you step up to a new level.

Simply download the 18 question checklist using the button below and then we'll add you to this free course within 48 hours.

Is a New Leader 100 Day Plan truly necessary?

Whilst some books and analysts certainly overplay the importance of 100 days (research suggests the reality is investors will give CEOs 8 months to articulate a strategic vision and almost 2 years to turn a company around), it’s important to build credibility and momentum early.

Avoid common mistakes: Korn Ferry researched leaders in Americas, Europe, and Asia and identified the common mistakes that senior executives make during their first 100 days. Which of the top five is the mistake you’re most likely to make?

• Failing to establish strategic priorities - 24%
• Committing cultural gaffes and/or political suicide - 16%
• Waiting too long to implement change - 16%
• Not spending enough face time with subordinates - 14%
• Getting sidetracked by “fire drills” — having a short-term focus - 11%

Design for success: Korn Ferry also surveyed the #1 thing — above all else — that a senior executive must build into their new leader 100 day plan to succeed. Which of these is most likely to be your blindspot?

• Assemble and solidify a team - 25%
• Articulate a statement of vision and goals - 25%
• Identify and address what’s most important to the CEO, board of directors and other key executives - 16%
• Understand and adapt to the new culture - 14%
• Identify the leverage points and the metrics for success - 10%

Boston Consulting Group (2) asked 20 CEOs for their top advice about the first 100 days in position. Here are some of the key quotes:

“Diagnose first, decide second.”

“Follow your instincts.”

“Take notes, then prioritise and act.”

“Understand that as the head person, you have only three topics: people, strategy, and values. Everything else is secondary.”

“Find people you trust and use them for problem solving.”

Finally, Harvard Business Review surveyed executives to find the biggest errors and pitfalls in the first 100 days that impacted their ability to deliver the results they wanted.

Action Point : In summary: you need to be on your A-game at this period. There are a lot of moving parts, and change once for one to get this right.

New Leader 100 Day Plan: Overall Roadmap

There are 6 phases you need to be thinking through, and there are specific questions for each. You’ll notice that the first two or three of these are typically forgotten about by new leaders (at their peril!):

Before day 0: CHOOSE A WINNABLE GAME Before you accept the role, there’s some due diligence you absolutely need to do. Use these 3 questions to make sure your new leadership position isn’t doomed from the start.

Day 0: PREPARE FOR TAKEOFF This is the period between accepting the offer and turning up for the first day on the job. Most leaders fail to take advantage of this unique season. But you, high performer, are different, and will use the time to develop some relationships and perspectives prior to arrival. Here are the questions you need to be asking during this period, sometimes called the ‘fuzzy front end’.

Day 1: BE THE MANIFESTO Your first day sends huge messages. Get it right with this one critical question.

Days 2-30.: FIND THE RALLYING CRY The first month of your new leader 100 day plan is about understanding the people and the issues, and validating your #1 strategic objective. Ask yourself these powerful questions to rock this phase!

Days 31-60: MAKE YOUR MOVE The second month of your new leader 100 day plan is when you’re likely to make some major moves, in terms of people and projects. Here are 18 important questions to be asking.

Days 61-100: KEEP IT UP The final period of your 100 day plan as a new leader is a mixture of execution and preparation for the longer term. Here are three questions you should not forget as the honeymoon period comes to a close.

So, with the overall roadmap in mind, we can jump in to the questions. But for a deeper understanding, I recommend you check out the box below:

The power of CONTEXT to frame CONTENT

A piece of information, in isolation, is very difficult for us humans to process and evaluate. We need to compare it to something else. Apples to apples, or oranges to oranges.

It’s this CONTEXT that allows us to assign a level of "value" to the new piece of information.

Say I was talking to you about, say, some new videoconferencing software. Consider the difference between:

• “It’s so good you don’t need to spend $1000 on airfare each time you want to run a meeting. The software costs $50 per month.”
• “It’s so good it’s a real step up from using Skype for free. The software costs $50 per month.”

Similarly, when I coach leaders I often suggest they invent a catchphrase . It’s a great way to change culture and spread their way of thinking within their organisation.

The thing about a catchphrase is it needs context . Otherwise people won’t notice.

Simply saying “ we have a saying around here ” opens up a context for what is now going to be said. The expectation is that some valuable piece of insight and shared wisdom is about to be shared, and people listen up and pay attention.

The power of using CONTEXT to shape in your new leadership role.

There are six distinct phases to a successful 100 Days as a new leader. The initial phases build context in a very specific way to make success way more likely. Indeed, one central phase is almost ALL about delivering a powerful context to the organisation.

Check out this quick (4 minute) video where I explain all:

New Leader 100 Day Plan: Before Day 0

The motto for this phase is CHOOSE A WINNABLE GAME. You need to do your due diligence BEFORE you accept the role (which is a great reason to forward this article to anyone you know considering a job offer).

Before you accept the offer, speak with a handful of stakeholders  with varying perspectives, and ask them these questions to validate that your New Leader Plan has a good chance of succeeding.

Q1. Is there a clear, differentiating, and winning strategy?

You really want to know this before you start. You don’t want to get on a ship that’s already sunk! These follow-up questions can help you dig deeper (1):

• What is our sustainable competitive advantage?
• What are the risks with our customer base?
• What are the risks with our key collaborators?
• What capability gaps do we need to address?
• What’s the main threat from competitors?
• What external conditions are threatening us?

Q2. Does the organisation’s Readiness To Change match their Need To Change?

This question goes hand in hand with the previous one.

Because the lack of winning strategy might not be a problem, if the organisation is ready and willing to do what it needs to change.

If you’re a turnaround expert AND the organisation is aware of its need to urgently make significant changes, that’s one thing - but otherwise you are setting yourself up for failure from the outset.

Q3.  How will I know if I’ve been successful - and what resources do I have to do the job?

Many leadership roles are effectively impossible from the start because of unrealistic or conflicting expectations among key stakeholders. Speak with your key stakeholders and listen carefully for contradictions, uncertainty or signs of internal friction.

Specifically, find out what each stakeholder understands as regards your (1) role and responsibilities, (2) goals and timeframe, (3) authority, (4) access to essential resources.

Xavier, a new president, failed to consider reporting lines and resources, and soon learned that his only direct reports were the heads of sales and business development. Marketing, finance, information, or human resources did not report to him. By taking the title of president, but not having the appropriate authority, he’d set himself up for failure from day 1.

Q4.  What, specifically, about me led you to offer me the job?

This gets at the tricky question of personal fit. You need to be ruthless about your motivation, your skill set and your cultural match - otherwise you and your employer will be both heading for a rude awakening in a few months time.

For example, I’ve seen a number of cases where a VP at a tech giant has jumped into a CXO role in a hot new startup - only to be shocked and disillusioned at the lack of resources and the amount of ‘rolling up their sleeves’ that’s necessary in the new environment.

"I am personally very disciplined around the first 100 days. Spend massive time within the teams to get a grip on the business and the culture; assess top management; have a defined vision and first roadmap at the end of the period and communicate around it; get two to three concrete results to demonstrate momentum."

- Thoughts on new leader 100 day plans from Pierre-Antoine Vacheron (CEO, Natixis Payments)

New Leader 100 Day Plan: Day 0

The motto for this phase is PREPARE FOR TAKEOFF. “Day 0” is not just one day of the new leader 100 day plan. It’s actually the period between your acceptance of the position and the first day on the role. Many leaders ignore this period entirely with the excuse they’re too busy wrapping up their previous role or taking a family break.

Big mistake. This “day 0” period is a fantastic time to prepare to hit the ground running and make an impression right on day 1. In day 0, you’ll be focusing on building a draft communication plan , learning plan and stakeholder map .

Let me say it clearly:

Contacting key stakeholders before you start will make a huge difference. It’s a game changer . If you do one thing from this entire article, do this!

A good checklist of people to contact would include:

• Your new boss.
• Key board members.
• Critical peers.
• Key customers.
• Key direct reports.

Q5.   What are the key priorities that you see?

Get a sense of what your stakeholders see as the critical issues. Remember, this is a listening and rapport exercise. With senior stakeholders, you’re looking for direction. With peers, you’re building mutual understanding. With your own reports, you want to learn about their reality and needs.

Q6.  How would you prefer we communicate?

Now’s a great time to start to map out your communications plan, so ask about their communication preferences: their idea of what the best manner (email, call, coffee/chat,…) and frequency would be, and how they would prefer you to handle disagreements (for example: no holds barred, tell me privately, never ever disagree with me,…).

Q7.  What do I need to know about how decisions get made?

Ask about the decision-making process, control points and vetos, who to keep in the loop, personalities to be aware of, and so forth.

Q8.  How am I likely to sabotage my own success?

This is a question to be asking yourself during this period. You have a fantastic opportunity to “up your game” and play at a higher level, so think about your tendencies and consider how they are most likely to undermine you in the early months.

For example, introverts might have a tendency to under-communicate; extraverts to fail to listen deeply and to pick up on subtle warnings. Visionaries might tend to frustrate operationally-minded folk with vague inspirational speeches, and more hands-on leaders may fail to step back from immediate operational requirements to develop fresh new strategies.

Identify one or two key tendencies to be aware of.

Q9.  What’s my leadership message?

This is the other question to be asking yourself during this period. You need to prepare a couple of ready-to-go speeches about who you are, why you’re here, what you believe in, and why people should listen to you. You’ll need to set some expectations from day one.

"I’ve already reached out to some future colleagues and some agency counterparts just to introduce myself. You’re right—it is game changing. Everyone has reacted with warmth and candour, and it will make the first few weeks far more effective and enjoyable."

- Nathaniel

New Leader 100 Day Plan: Day 1

The motto for this phase is BE THE MANIFESTO. Your first day sends huge messages. Here’s the one critical question to be asking.

Q10.   How is my first day going to communicate my values and the tone I want to set for the organisation?

First impressions count. A lot. So your first day on the job will be a crucial moment. Make the most of the insights you’ve gained in ‘day zero’ to structure your first day so that your actions speak just as loud as your words .

For example, if “listening to the customer” is a big part of your message, set things up so that you do just that on your very first day.

Bradt et al (1) suggest the following checklist as a good template to start with, but you’ll need to adapt it quite considerably to your situation:

• Early-morning meeting with your boss to reconfirm and update.
• Breakfast meeting with broad group to say hello (and not much more).
• One-on-one meetings as appropriate.
• Lunch with direct reports and their direct reports.
• Afternoon activity/meetings/walkabout to reinforce key message.
• End-of-day cocktails/coffee/social for more informal greetings.
• Courtesy notes, voicemail for thanks or follow-up as needed.

Karen was coming into a bank to merge three divisions into one. Each division manager had an off-site meeting already planned for her first two weeks, and she initially decided to use those as a chance to meet the key players. However, these individual divisional meetings perpetuated the culture of three different divisions as opposed to one combined group.

So to set a new course, Karen rented a theatre for Day One and invited the entire staff of each division. Then she introduced herself to the entire staff of the new division at the same time. She followed this with a social event designed to get the three divisions mingling. She eventually went to the old divisions’ off-sites, but only after setting the stage for the new, combined division.

"As a new leader you are absolutely sure to feel imposter syndrome. Fight it: you’ve earned this and I’m sure you’re here for a reason. Put your head down and do the work, you will succeed!"

- Thoughts on new leader 100 day plans from Gabriel Jarrosson (Founder, Leonis Investissement)

New Leader 100 Day Plan: Days 2-30

The motto for this phase is FIND THE RALLYING CRY. The first month of your new leader 100 day plan is about understanding the people and the issues , and validating your #1 strategic objective.

Q11.  Who should I be speaking to? Who would you warn me against?

As you meet the most obvious stakeholders, get their view on the less obvious people to speak with. You’ll want to spend a good amount of time with people on the frontline of the business, such as salespeople and customers. But ask around for ideas.

Q12.   What’s the festering wound?

As Boston Consulting Group say, “understand the problems that reside on the balance sheet and communicate them early. You get one chance to erase the mistakes of your predecessors. Identify and deal with these legacy issues immediately.

Unpleasant surprises—obsolete inventory, insufficient warranty reserves, excessive goodwill, unresolved customer disputes, and festering litigation—have a way of hiding behind the numbers.”

Q13.  What’s the Rallying Cry?

Towards the end of the first 30 days it’s normally a good idea to bring your leadership team together to define the overall narrative of the business. This includes the high-level vision/mission, strategic anchors and key performance indicators (KPIs).

But most critical of all, this workshop needs to build agreement and clarity on the all-encapsulating phrase or tagline that defines the burning imperative in the business.

This is the rallying cry - the #1 priority for the organisation right now.

Once you have this in place, it becomes so much easier to communicate your vision of a better future and help employees understand how they can contribute to the new direction.

"In your first 100 days don’t promise any answers. Promise to listen; promise to summarise and feed back what you learn; promise to use the time to come up with a considered plan that you can then be held to."

- Thoughts on new leader 100 day plans from Ashley Friedlein, CEO & Founder, Guild

New Leader 100 Day Plan: Days 31-60

The motto for this phase is MAKE YOUR MOVE. The second month of your new leader 100 day plan is when you’re likely to make some major moves, in terms of people and projects .

Q14.   What’s one simple, inexpensive thing we could do?

As you explore the business, keep a list of potential quick wins by asking as many people as possible this question.

You can then filter and prioritise. Bradt et al (1) give 6 helpful criteria for quick wins:

• They will make a meaningful external impact.
• Your boss will want to talk about them.
• You’re sure you can deliver them.
• They will model important behaviours.
• They would not have happened if you had not been there.
• You can establish them by day 60 and deliver by your sixth month:

You’ll need to judge how many you can truly deliver “quickly”. Allocate enough resources, give the team responsible a clear charter, and celebrate and communicate on early successes (champion the champions!).

Q15.   What’s holding your execution back?

Now’s also a good time to understand the bigger systematic issues that are holding your teams back. Organisational inefficiencies in decision-making, unclear roles/responsibilities, linkages across groups, information flows and inadequate collaboration can all come into play. You need to start to understand which are annoyances and which are real roadblocks.

Q16.   Who’s my core team?

You need to have your leadership team pretty much in place by day 60.

Sometimes you need to move faster, though there is a risk that you’ll make poor decisions and come across as too impulsive. But moving too slow is a greater risk. 

After 100 days, the team will be seen as ‘your team’. The problem children become your problem children, and no longer the legacy of your predecessor. High performers will be frustrated if low performance is still being tolerated or ignored.

"At first, meet as many people as possible, at any level. You need to understand how the business works, not just the C-Suite. Then look, feel, test and iterate. You're here to try new things, and not to change everything. Finally, find who are the best people you want to work with, and take your responsibilities: change what you want to change."

- Thoughts on new leader 100 day plans from Matthieu Stefani (CEO, CosaVostra)

New Leader 100 Day Plan: Days 61-100

The motto for this phase is KEEP IT UP. The final period of your new leader 100 day plan as a new leader is a mixture of execution and preparation for the longer term .

Q17.   Am I communicating consistently?

A consistent drumbeat of communication to all stakeholders - up, down and across - is something I see leaders struggle with on a regular basis. After the initial flurry of activity, good intentions can fade away around the 61-100 day period. Work with your leadership team to make sure that everyone - from your board of directors to the front line - is receiving consistent, relevant communication.

One of my Founder/CEO clients, Mike, was shocked during a workshop we were running to find that his management team didn’t know his strategic priorities. He believed he’d communicated incredibly clearly - but the reality was was very different. It was an ‘aha moment’ for him and made a big difference to how the team pulled together.

Q18.  What ongoing rhythms do I need to put in place?

At around the 61-100 day period, it’s good to give some thought into the ongoing governance that will continue to drive your change initiatives forward. How are you going to ensure cross-team interlock? Solve strategic issues? Identify and resolve roadblocks on strategic projects? Periodically review and refine the organisational strategy?

Our experience is that separate meeting formats are needed for each of these aspects. Merging them into a general ‘management meeting’ is a recipe for the typical “meeting muddle” of updates, discussions, debate - but not a lot of strategic decision-making and bold moves forward.

In a future article I’ll cover this essential topic in a lot more detail, but for now the graphic above can give you a simple structure to follow.

Prove it! Companies are living, breathing organisms, and when the environment changes there’s inevitably disruption. As leaders, introducing change is part of the job description as we evolve any business. Yet change for change sake without it being thoughtful and stress-tested will likely set the business back, versus catapult it forward. Be able to clearly articulate what change is required, for what purpose, with what expected measurable outcome…and work to prove it.

While boldly attempted by many, building a CEO platform of trust just doesn’t happen in 100 days. Instead focus on building the foundation. Trust is earned through transparency (what’s going well and not so well at the moment), care for your people (a true partnership in their development and involvement), and doing what you say you’re going to do."

- Thoughts on new leader 100 day plans from top CEO Phil Saunders (President & CEO, SABA Software)

If you’re taking on a new leadership role, these 18 questions for your first 100 days represent a powerful checklist to keep you thinking through all the bases in what’s likely to be a hectic time.

If you’d like to download the questions as a simple ‘cheat sheet’, then you can do so here.

Finally, I specialise in helping ambitious, competent leaders dramatically grow their impact and influence and achieve more than they could imagine. And if you’re starting a new role, that’s a perfect time to reinvent yourself and play a bigger game.

If you’d be interested in rolling up your sleeves and mapping out what the top 1-2 game-changing moves will be for you in your new role, you can apply for a complementary coaching session , with no obligation to buy or do anything.

(1) The New Leader’s 100 Day Action Plan ; 2011; by George B. Bradt, Jayme A. Check, Jorge E. Pedraza; Wiley.

(2) Assuming Leadership: The first 100 days ; 2003; Patrick Ducasse, Tom Lutz; Boston Consulting Group.

Successfully transitioning to new leadership roles ; McKinsey & Co; 2018

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The First 100 Days: 5 Ways to Make Your Mark

As with a president, how new employees show up during the first 100 days can be critical. Some key steps to distinguish yourself.

For More Expert Insights

Career Coach, Korn Ferry Advance

Senior Client Partner

Chief Executive Officer, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)

In 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression, President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt passed 15 major bills and 76 new laws during his first 100 days in office, among them measures to revive the economy, get Americans back to work, and even end Prohibition. This was a landmark achievement to help a reeling nation. A president’s first 100 days in office have been a key timeframe ever since for evaluating their performance. 

But the first 100 days on the job isn’t important just for presidents. How new employees show up during their first 100 days can be critical to their long-term success as well, says Nancy Holtze , a Korn Ferry Advance coach. “Having a plan sets you apart from a new hire who simply reacts to the twists and turns of a new role,” she says. 

With job openings shrinking and firms girding for a possible recession by cutting back on new hires, making a strong impression out of the gate is more important than ever. Here are five ways our experts suggest new employees can distinguish themselves.

Start before you start.

Before starting your new job, develop a road map with your boss about their expectations during your first 100 days. Devise a schedule for check-in meetings at least once a week to make sure you are delivering on those expectations. Jonathan Wildman , a senior client partner with Korn Ferry Advisory, says that will show your boss you are already thinking strategically and being proactive about how to add value. Experts also suggest reading through the social media feeds of managers, team members, direct reports, and other senior leaders to get a sense of their priorities and interests both at the office and outside it.

Create monthly markers.

Don’t look at the first 100 days in one big chunk. Instead, set monthly goals that escalate in responsibility and performance. Jeanne MacDonald , president of global RPO solutions at Korn Ferry, suggests focusing on understanding the company culture during your first 30 days, for instance. That involves taking responsibility for developing a working relationship with your new boss and networking with as many new colleagues as possible. If you’re not in sales, ask if you can listen in on a sales call. This will not only help you understand the company’s products and services, but will also open the door to developing relationships with other company leaders. 

Build trust with small wins.

Holtze says new employees often fall victim to trying to do too much, too soon. She calls it the “huge-impact syndrome.” Instead, she says to focus on implementing small changes and finding wins, even if they’re tiny, where you and your team members can. “Small and steady with buy-in and engagement helps build trust and is more sustainable,” Holtze says. Being accountable for the output of your work will help establish your reputation as a person who can be counted on to help an organization perform and develop.

Learn the company cadence.

Your new company may move faster or slower than your previous one, so it’s important to modulate your pace accordingly—at least in the beginning. All companies say they want new employees to bring new ideas, for instance, but understanding when and where to introduce those ideas is vital for your credibility and success, says Wildman. Introducing a new idea when there’s time pressure to deliver on a project could cause more stress for colleagues, he says; saving it for a later time could be more effective. Experts advise refraining from talking about your old company and how it did things, as that could give the impression you are challenging your new colleagues or telling them they are doing things wrong. 

Plan for day 101.

Holtze calls the first 100 days at a new job “the honeymoon period”. After that, she says, new employees should have a firm command of the corporate culture and be fully integrated into their roles. “Now it’s growth time,” says Holtze. If you have ideas for improving or creating systems or processes, this would be the time to present them. Holtze suggests preparing a summary of your accomplishments during your first 100 days. Then align with your boss on goals for the rest of the year, as well as how your success will be measured. “Day 101 is the time to scale what you’ve learned and have a larger impact,” she says.

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How to create a powerful 100-Day Plan for a new job

A 100-day plan is a tool to help establish yourself in a new position, set goals and priorities, and begin making progress towards achieving them. Typically, a 100-day plan will outline specific actions to be taken and milestones to be achieved within the first 100 days of starting the new role, with the goal of making a powerful impact and establishing a solid foundation for future success.

A 100-day plan typically contains several key elements that are structured specifically to help you achieve their goals in the first 100 days of their new role.

• Background and context: This section summarizes the current situation and the reasons for creating the 100-day plan.
• Goals and objectives: This section defines the specific goals and objectives that the business professional hopes to achieve within the first 100 days, along with a plan for achieving them.
• Prioritization: The plan should contain a list of priorities that are ranked in order of importance, so that the business professional can focus on the most important tasks first.
• Action plan: A detailed plan of action outlining the specific steps that will be taken to achieve the goals and objectives, with timelines, resources and teams needed to execute it.
• Metrics and measurements: This section outlines the key performance indicators (KPIs) that will measure progress and success, and how they will be tracked and reported.
• Review and adjustment: This section outlines a plan for regular reviews of the 100-day plan, and how it will be adjusted as necessary to ensure that goals are met.

The structure of 100-day plan can vary depending on the organization or individual's preference, but the key is to include the above elements in a clear, concise and actionable format that is easily understood by all stakeholders.

A 100-day plan typically addresses several aspects or dimensions to help the business professional establish themselves in their new role, set goals and priorities, and begin making progress towards achieving them. Some of these aspects include:

• Organizational goals: The plan should align with the overall goals of the organization, and should include specific actions that will help the business professional contribute to achieving those goals.
• Team and stakeholders: The plan should identify key team members and stakeholders, and should outline specific actions that will be taken to build strong relationships with them.
• Operations and processes: The plan should identify key operational and process improvements that will be made, and should include specific actions that will be taken to implement those improvements.
• Culture and values: The plan should align with the organization's culture and values, and should include specific actions that will be taken to reinforce those culture and values.
• Learning and development: The plan should include specific actions that will be taken to learn about the organization, the industry and the role, as well as actions to develop the skills and knowledge needed for the role.
• Communication and visibility: The plan should include specific actions that will be taken to communicate progress and results, both internally and externally, and to build visibility for the business professional and their team.

It's important to note that the 100-day plan should be tailored to the specific role and organization, and can include other aspects as necessary.

Creating a 100-day plan involves several key steps to ensure that it is comprehensive, actionable, and aligned with the organization's goals and objectives.

• Research and analysis: Gather information about the organization, its goals and objectives, the industry and the specific role. This will help to understand the current situation and identify areas for improvement.
• Set clear and specific goals: Identify the specific goals and objectives that the business professional hopes to achieve within the first 100 days, and ensure that they align with the organization's goals and objectives.
• Prioritize: Rank the goals and objectives in order of importance, so that the business professional can focus on the most important tasks first.
• Create an action plan: Outline the specific steps that will be taken to achieve the goals and objectives, along with timelines and resources needed.
• Identify key performance indicators (KPIs): Identify the key performance indicators that will measure progress and success, and how they will be tracked and reported.
• Communicate and get buy-in: Share the 100-day plan with key stakeholders, including the team and leadership, to get buy in and support.
• Monitor, measure and adjust: Regularly review the progress of the 100-day plan and make adjustments as necessary to ensure that goals are met.

It's important to keep in mind that a 100-day plan is a living document that should be flexible and adaptable based on the progress and the outcome.

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A CEO’s First 100 Days: What Should a New CEO Do First?

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As a new CEO, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Those first 100 days on the job are crucial, as they set the tone for your tenure and potentially impact your effectiveness as a leader. For a CEO, the first 100 days can make or break the future success of your entire company. 

But what should you do to make a strong start? Within those first 100 days as a CEO, focus on honing in on your leadership skills and taking a thoughtful approach to integrating with a new company. Implementing effective business strategies and techniques will help you create an impactful new CEO 100 day plan. 

For insight and advice, we turned to three seasoned executives from the Vistage community: Carol Steinberg, President of CIK Consulting; Robert Powell, CEO of Invictus Leadership Group; and Charles Bernard, CEO of Criteria for Success. Together, they offered these 15 tips for CEOs in their first 100 days , spanning leadership qualities , strategic mindsets, and more. 

• Prepare Thoroughly
• Begin Well-Rested
• Assess the Situation
• Develop a Game Plan
• Prioritize Knowledge Transfer
• Communicate Clearly
• Actively Listen
• Address Talent Challenges
• Build a Collaborative Sales Team
• Connect With Your People
• Foster Creative Connections
• Resolve Conflicts Swiftly
• Engage Customers Effectively
• Create a Sales Playbook
• Encourage Open Dialogue

First 100 Days as a CEO FAQs

Wrapping up: a ceo’s first 100 days.

1. Prepare Thoroughly

What should a new CEO do first? Before your official start date as a new CEO, spend time conducting in-depth research about your competitive environment, says Steinberg. Consider some of the following:

• Look closely at what your competitors are doing and how they’ve been successful.
• Study the economic trends that could impact your business in the near term.
• Start thinking ahead, considering how you might use advancements such as Artificial Intelligence or the Internet of Things for competitive gains in the future.

2. Begin Well-Rested

When deciding what a new CEO should do first, it’s important not to overlook the need for self-care. Starting a new role and becoming a new leader are stressful positions. To deal with the demands of leading a company, you have to come to the job feeling rested. So, take a long vacation before you start. “Really get away — for at least a week — so that you won’t get exhausted in the new role,” says Powell. “I’ve seen it before: Someone immediately jumped from one job into another, and they never had time to take a break. They were ineffective.”

3. Assess the Situation

Good decision-making skills will keep your business on track. A new CEO 100 day plan should take the current situation into consideration to provide context for future business decisions. Is the business you’re leading financially stable or in financial distress? If it’s the latter, have a good understanding of the issues before going in, along with a realistic plan for how you’re going to handle them. “If the house is burning, you’ll need to make quick decisions around what changes need to take place and what expenses have to be cut,” says Powell. For example, you might need to realign product mixes or realign the entire organization in your first 100 days.

4. Develop a Game Plan

As a CEO, you’re the person responsible for setting a vision and getting everyone else on board. Establishing this vision in your first 100 days will help you stay focused on the issues that matter most, says Steinberg. “It’s really important to lay out your game plan so you don’t get distracted, fall down rabbit holes, chase after tangents, or ignore the things that you should really be looking at,” she explains. 

Creating a game plan can help ensure a smooth transition, which is crucial to your success. In fact, a successful transition results in a 90% higher likelihood that organizations will meet their 3-year performance goals and result in a 13% lower attrition risk.  It will also help you manage the wide array of challenges you’ll inherit as a new CEO, whether you’re replacing someone who retired or someone who was let go.

5. Prioritize Knowledge Transfer

As a CEO, you need to give people the context, permission, and space to transfer knowledge to other people in the company, says Bernard. Otherwise, you’ll inevitably become a bottleneck for your direct reports. In leadership team meetings, he says, encourage your top salespeople to share their “secret sauce” with their colleagues. Better yet, create projects that organically involve knowledge transfers, such as building a sales playbook for the company. During your first 100 days as CEO, prioritize knowledge-sharing, open communication, and cross-functional meetings. 

6. Communicate Clearly

Within your first month on the job, have a full company meeting and outline your action plan. Communicate what you intend to do over the next one to two quarters. Be open and transparent with your plans. Otherwise, you’ll leave people guessing or forming opinions based on something they’ve heard, which may or may not be accurate. “Give people the unvarnished truth,” says Powell. “A lot of times CEOs think they need to put their spin on things, but that’s not necessary — because people often already know the truth.”

7. Actively Listen

When CEOs are eager to establish themselves as leaders, they may focus on issues in the company where they can bring the most expertise. Resist this urge and instead “be a sponge,” says Steinberg. “Listen and let people know that you’re listening and that their input is important to how you formulate your business strategy, your thoughts, and your priorities. Don’t come in there saying, ‘I’ve done this before and know exactly what I’m going to do.’” Make it a priority to listen actively over speaking. Active listening not only helps your staff feel heard but also provides you the opportunity to learn more about the company in your first 100 days as CEO.

8. Address Talent Challenges

The COVID-19 crisis has revealed a lot about talent: how important it is, how expensive it is, how harmful toxic employees can be, and how challenging it is to lose your best people. For these reasons, a new CEO needs to get directly involved in talent issues. As a first step, Steinberg recommends reading performance reviews or assessments to get a good sense of your talent pool. She warns against the practice of dismissing existing teams so you can bring in your own people. “This is dangerous — it makes the rest of your employees think, ‘Maybe I’m next,’” she says. “You have to understand your talent before you try to clean the slate.”

9. Build a Collaborative Sales Team

This team should work across sales, marketing, operations, finance, human resources, and executive leadership, says Bernard. “The new paradigm for a new CEO is sales is no longer a separate function,” he says. “If your focus is growing the business — which I can’t imagine it wouldn’t be — then you must form a sales growth team.” By focusing on a collaborative approach to sales, you ensure your business teams are equipped with the tools and knowledge needed to operate efficiently. As a CEO in the first 100 days, assess the current structure of sales, marketing, and operations teams to discover how you can improve the setup for a more streamlined approach.

10. Connect With Your People

It’s a given that you’ll need to study your company’s operations, processes, KPIs, trends, and economic influences. But it’s important to know your stakeholders just as well, whether that’s employees and shareholders or vendors and customers. Understand what people are doing at all levels; visit different sites and facilities and have frank and strategic conversations . “Don’t just sit in your corner office listening to the four people who report to you,” says Steinberg. “Really get out there. People need to see that you mean business.”

11. Foster Creative Connections

If you’re leading a company with a remote workforce — as many CEOs are during COVID-19 — you’ll need to use nontraditional methods to connect with your employees. Make it an objective way to connect with them. Steinberg suggests treating employees with GrubHub gift cards or scheduling interactive activities like cooking lessons or live comedy shows on Zoom. “Just do things to signal, ‘I understand, I care, I sympathize, and maybe this will cheer you up today,’” she says. “Little things like that mean an awful lot, especially when we can’t pat people on the back anymore or shake their hands in the hallway.”

12. Resolve Conflicts Swiftly

Leadership accountability is key when it comes to optimizing your company’s performance. You need to resolve two types of conflict right away: those caused by unfilled expectations and those caused by withheld communications. “Oftentimes, those go together,” says Bernard. Uncovering these conflicts will require asking thoughtful questions during one-to-one meetings as well as team meetings. “Don’t say, ‘Do you have any conflicts?’ Because people are going to say, ‘No, I’m all good – no conflicts.’” Be open to hearing whatever issues come your way, he says, as it will help you build trust with your teams and lead a stronger organization.

13. Engage Customers Effectively

Don’t wait until there’s a problem to talk with your customers. Powell recommends reaching out proactively to ask three simple questions:

• What should we start doing?
• What should we stop doing?
• What should we continue doing?

“Customers are going to be your best source,” says Powell, “because they can tell you about the quality of your product, your delivery time, and ideas they may have that can provide you with a strategic advantage.” Having this conversation will help you build better relationships with your customers and can even reveal new opportunities for strategic partnerships, he adds. If you’re unsure about your role in interacting with customers, don’t be shy. Your role as a CEO is to guide the company to success. Customer satisfaction is a core element of business growth, meaning your role as a CEO should involve promoting positive customer interactions.

14. Create a Sales Playbook

Within the first 100 days as CEO, figure out if the company has a sales playbook and how it can be improved. If your company’s sales activities all funnel through your vice president of sales, you have to develop a cross-functional sales strategy through a playbook, says Bernard. This playbook should provide everything from email templates to value propositions to success stories. Get everyone to collaborate on it: Your finance team, for example, should weigh in on pricing, profitability, compensation, incentive plans, management by objectives, and bonuses, and your HR team should weigh in on processes for onboarding, skills development, and ramping up new hires. “Today, with COVID-19, there are a lot of fragmented components to the organization,” says Bernard. “As a CEO, you need to establish common agreements, common expectations, and common processes.” 

15. Encourage Open Dialogue

Executive transitions can be difficult for all employees in an organization. To pave the way for a CEO transition, Powell recommends scheduling a special type of interactive meeting with all employees: The meeting starts with the new CEO briefly introducing themselves to everyone in the organization. Next, the CEO leaves the room so that employees can come up with a list of questions they’d like the CEO to answer. A facilitator records the questions but keeps the employees’ identities anonymous. Then, the CEO returns to the room and answers the questions as honestly as possible. “Inevitably, what happens through this process is a dialogue begins to form between the individuals in the room and the new leader,” Powell explains. “It melts the ice because employees are allowed to ask the questions they’re wondering, and it opens up lines of communication.”

What should a CEO do on the first day?

First impressions matter. On your first day as a new CEO:

• Contact board members 
• Interact with as many staff–across levels and departments– as you can
• Set aside time to introduce yourself to key stakeholders
• Ask questions 
• Demonstrate interest in understanding roles and challenges

By actively engaging with your new team, you demonstrate the type of leader you want to be. Avoid coming off as distant or uninterested by seeking opportunities to listen to staff and observe business in action. Introducing yourself as a hands-on CEO will set the tone for your entire tenure with the company.

What should be included in your first 100 days action plan?

Now that you’re in charge, you’ll need a plan that can be communicated with senior leaders and employees at all levels. As you draft your plan, consider including:

• Your company’s strengths and opportunities, as well as the current state of the marketplace
• Your main speaking points for each stakeholder
• Your action and communication plans
• Your metrics for measuring success

A well-planned action plan provides structure and purpose to your first 100 days as a CEO. Create a new CEO 100 day plan to guide your decisions and priorities. This will ensure you make use of all your time and actively participate in the business from the get-go.

What are mistakes new CEOs make?

When it comes to the question “What should a new CEO do first?” new CEOs encounter several challenges. Some of the most common mistakes CEOs make in the first 100 days include failing to listen, overestimating their abilities, neglecting culture and team dynamics, and not setting clear priorities. 

New CEO 100 day plans often include strong visions and ideas but can make it difficult to listen to and understand employee insights and concerns. Similarly, new CEOs may underestimate the complexity of the role and overestimate their ability to quickly make significant changes. 

Ignoring existing corporate culture can lead to resistance and a lack of support from employees. Avoid making these mistakes by setting clear priorities, focusing on alignment, and striving for a smooth transition. Other common mistakes new CEOs make in the first 100 days include: 

• Moving too quickly or too slowly
• Ignoring the importance of communication
• Not managing their time effectively
• Avoiding tough decisions
• Being overly insular 
• Failing to remain agile and adaptable
• Not delegating effectively

It’s important to keep in mind that to be your best, you have to feel your best. Don’t neglect self-care, especially in those tricky first 100 days as a new CEO. While the first months can be taxing and stressful, it’s important to practice self care, such as getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, proper nutrition, and fostering relationships. This will help you be the best leader possible. 

How can you prepare for your first 100 days as a CEO?

Preparing for your first 100 days as a new CEO is crucial to your success in the role. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to prepare effectively:

• Join a peer advisory group: Look for peer advisory groups like Vistage or other local CEO networks to unlock valuable insights and support. The main benefits of peer advisory groups include networking, mentorship, and learning from shared experiences. In your early days as a new CEO, mentorship is invaluable to your success. 
• Familiarize yourself with the company: Study the industry your company operates in by analyzing market trends, competitors, and potential disruptions. The more you know about your industry and your specific company, the better equipped you’ll be to handle an array of challenges. Dive deep into the company’s financials and performance reports to identify areas of strength and weaknesses. 
• Strengthen your communication skills: To communicate effectively, you’ll need to craft a clear and cohesive vision for the company. Make it concise, inspiring, and easy to understand. Develop a structured communication plan so you’re prepared to disseminate your vision to stakeholders, employees, investors, and the board. You can also practice public speaking to improve your ability to convey messages persuasively. 

How can you measure success during your first 100 days?

There are several questions leaders should ask themselves during their first 100 days to effectively measure success. One of the most important questions is how you will measure success during your first 100 days as a CEO. Measuring success is essential to understand how well you’ve transitioned into the role and whether you’re on the right track. Here’s how to measure success effectively:

• Set clear, measurable goals
• Define key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with your strategic priorities
• Ensure that your goals are quantifiable
• Regularly review progress towards your goals (weekly or monthly basis)
• If you notice you’re not on track to meet your goals, adjust as needed
• Seek feedback through employee surveys, one-on-one meetings, or focus groups
• Engage with key stakeholders and senior leadership to get input on the direction of the company

Compare the results to your initial expectations when you set objectives at the beginning of your first 100 days as a CEO. This will give you a better indication of the progress you’ve made and guide how you adjust and plan the next phase. Measuring success is an ongoing process that helps you adapt your leadership approach for sustained success. 

The first 100 days in your role as a new CEO are critical to your long-term success in the position. Spend this time preparing, researching and listening to differing perspectives on the business you lead to develop trust with key stakeholders and maximize the impact of your role.

By paying attention to the needs of your employees, stakeholders, and customers, you’ll become better equipped to navigate the dynamic role of a new CEO. Keep in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to taking over as CEO. Remain flexible and adapt to changes in the company and market as they come.

Category: Leadership

Tags:   CEO leadership , Effective Leadership

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The Ultimate To-Do List For Your First 100 Days in a New Sales Job

Updated: August 29, 2017

Published: October 06, 2015

So you’ve landed a sales job. Congratulations! Your first 100 days at any new company are jam-packed with new information and processes, but the learning curve is especially high in a sales role. Not only do you have to suss out your new company’s culture and dynamics, you also have to learn a new sales process, a new product, and potentially a new industry.

The first 100 days you spend on the phones will set the tone for the rest of your career at your company. And there’s no better time to learn than when you’re ramping up -- once you have a full quota on your head, you simply won’t have as much time.

It can feel overwhelming. But we’re here to help. Experts agree that splitting up a gargantuan task into a few (okay, a lot) of smaller steps makes it far easier to accomplish your goals.

Are you ready? Let’s do it.

If this isn’t your first sales job, you already have a handle on the fundamentals of selling. But if you’ve come up through a sales development representative position or have never sold before, browse this blog. We’ve covered sales topics from the beginner to the advanced, and everything in between. (And if you want to subscribe, that wouldn ’ t hurt.) 

Set up email tracking.

Not every prospect you reach out to will respond to every email you send, and that’s normal. But what does their silence mean? Are they not interested? Or did your email get blocked somewhere between your outbox and the buyer ’ s inbox?

You can take the guesswork out of the equation entirely by using email tracking tool  HubSpot Sales . The free app alerts you as soon as your buyer opens your email, or clicks a link within. A prospect who’s looked at your email seven times without responding (trust me, it happens) should receive a different follow-up than a prospect who never saw your message.

Find industry publications.

To sell effectively, you need to understand your audience. That means putting yourself in your buyer’s shoes. What’s happening in their industry? What do they care about? What are their biggest challenges?

Identify major trade publications, thought leaders, and other relevant news sources. Then, organize your sources. Feedly , a free news aggregator app, is a great way to quickly scan multiple publications. Just plug in the URLs of your chosen news sources and block off 20 minutes a day to scan headlines and choose content to share.

Optimize your LinkedIn and Twitter profiles.

Your social media profiles are your online reputation, and they will be the first things your prospects see when they Google you. Make sure you’re presenting yourself professionally and clearly conveying the value you can provide prospects by rewriting your profiles to attract buyers instead of recruiters.

(Hint: If you don’t already have a LinkedIn or Twitter account, get them! They’re essential tools for social selling and connecting with prospects.)

Share five to 10 pieces of content on social media.

Especially if you’re new to the industry, it’s important to establish yourself as a subject matter expert. After you’ve selected and organized relevant industry publications (see above), get sharing!

Some guidelines for posting content:

• Don’t just copy and paste a link and leave it at that. Provide some insight or commentary that will appeal to your ideal buyer.
• Always keep the buyer in mind when posting content. What’s relevant to them? What trends or industry news would they be interested in hearing about? What insight can help solve a particularly difficult problem?
• Post on both LinkedIn and Twitter (as well as any industry-specific forums) so you’re engaging the widest possible network.
• Don’t hesitate to use mentions to notify specific prospects you think would find a link particularly helpful, especially if you haven’t previously connected via phone or email.

Set SMART goals with your manager.

As a salesperson, your most important (and easily measured) performance metric is your quota. But a quota is something you either hit or you don’t. In other words, simply referring to that metric won’t tell you much about your overall sales performance. You’ll have to dive deeper and examine each step of your sales process (more on that later) to determine where you’re excelling and where you need to improve.

Sit down with your manager and ask what they’d like to see out of you each month. Maybe they ’d like you to boost  your activity level, or refine your ability to disqualify. Whatever it is, ensure the goal is SMART for the best results.

SMART goals must be:

• Measurable.
• Attainable.

Pinpoint one or two areas to work on per month, then track your performance diligently.

Learn your company’s sales tools.

If you don’t understand how to log activity, convert opportunities, navigate your CRM, process a sale, or qualify prospects using your company’s sales software, you will fall behind. Spend the first few weeks of your job immersed your company ’s  sales tools so they become second nature. Find power users and solicit one-on-one help.

Learn your product.

Before you can tell whether a prospect is a good fit, before you can handle objections, and before you can close a deal, you have to understand what you’re selling. So learn everything there is to know about your product. What is it? What problem is it intended to solve? How is it used?

Actively use your product as much as you can if the option is available to you. Dive into common use cases. Know your positioning documents and other marketing collateral by heart. You can’t sell something you don’t understand or believe in, so live and breathe your product until you know it inside and out.

Shadow calls.

Sit in on experienced reps’ calls once or twice a week. Get briefed on the deal beforehand (or read relevant notes in the CRM) so you have context. Then, practice active listening. Write down objections, effective sound bites that resonate with the prospect, and indicators that prospects are good or bad fits. Afterwards, compare notes with the person you’re shadowing afterwards and ask them any questions you have.

Make sure to shadow a variety of calls -- connect calls, discovery calls, demos, negotiations, and closing calls. Each conversation requires a different skillset and is designed to accomplish a different goal. Furthermore, different reps will approach the same calls differently, so vary the people you shadow to expose yourself to the widest possible range of styles and strategies.

Make calls and send emails.

This one sounds obvious -- after all, isn’t this your job?

Yes, but in your first few months your approach will be and should be a bit different. As you gain experience, you’ll develop a sense of what types of prospects are worth reaching out to. But during your ramp-up period, you’ll need to reach a certain volume of calls and emails so you can start honing that sense.

With your manager, determine an appropriate activity level per day or week, and hit it. The more comfortable you are on the phones and the more prospects you speak with, the better you’ll be able to distinguish good fit opportunities from bad.

Run calls with your manager.

Once a week, sit down in a conference room with your manager and have her act as a silent partner on your calls. Ask her to provide real-time feedback as you speak with prospects -- tips for handling objections, suggestions of phrases to use, and so on. In this way, you can incorporate coaching into your calls on the spot for more successful outcomes.

Write down every objection you hear.

Whether they’re from your own calls or the ones you’re listening in on, keeping track of all the objections you hear is crucial to your professional development.

Trends will start to emerge. Maybe your product is expensive and price objections are common, so you need to get good at selling value. Maybe your product isn’t highly differentiated, so your colleagues know competing vendors’ products inside and out. Pay special attention to objections that come up again and again -- those are the ones you need to drill yourself on.

Take other reps on your team out to lunch.

There’s no better place to seek advice than from reps in the trenches. Ask your manager to identify top performers, and take them out to lunch. Find out how they set themselves up for success, and adapt the practices you think will work best for you.

Record calls and review them with your manager.

During your first month, you ran calls with your manager. You should now be more comfortable doing calls by yourself, but you’ll still want to collect feedback.

Each week, pick your best and worst calls, and review them with your manager. What went well? Why did you get tripped up on your less-than-excellent calls? By diving deep into good and bad calls, you’ll come away with actionable feedback for future conversations.

Participate in a group call review.

A spin on the manager call review, sitting down with your peers to review your (or their) calls as a group will also provide you valuable insight. Your manager probably hasn’t been on the frontline of sales in a while, so getting feedback from colleagues who do the same thing you do every day can give you a fresh perspective. You never know -- maybe one of them faced the same issue you ’re currently struggling with just yesterday.

Learn to handle common objections.

During your first month, you wrote down every objection you encountered. By the second month, you should be well on your way to handling them effectively. Crowdsource responses to the most frequently heard objections, and soon you’ll have an arsenal to reference during calls.

You shouldn’t expect to be able to overcome every single objection you hear by the end of the month, but you should start to familiarize yourself with the most common and understand the best way to counter them. Make sure to consistently refine your approach as you gain experience.

Learn your company’s value proposition and how to customize it.

This is something you probably covered in new hire training, but it won’t truly hit home until you start speaking with real prospects. Your company’s value proposition goes beyond what your product is and how it works. Thoroughly understanding how and why your product helps buyers is as good as gold. Stop saying, “We make/build/sell X,” and replace it with, “We help X do Y better/easier/faster.” The second statement will be more persuasive, every time.

Learn your company’s sales process.

As you make more calls and send more emails, your outreach approach will become increasingly targeted because you ’ll  get better at recognizing good fit prospects. And if you had a solid first month on the phones, you might have a crop of prospects you’ll need to advance in the sales process.

To focus your prospecting, learn how your company defines a qualified lead. Understand the difference between a discovery call and creating a sales plan, and learn how to implement a plan. Tune into the signs that indicate a prospect needs help selling your offering internally, is ready for a demo, or will sign today if pitched the right way.

Study up on your competitors.

Learn everything there is to know about competing products. Whether it’s how other companies price their offerings or the features that differentiate your service from theirs, you will eventually be called on to stack your product up against a competitor’s.

Eventually, you ’ll find yourself in a competitive situation. By u nderstanding your rival companies’ products inside and out, you’ll be able to position your product in a unique way from the beginning, automatically setting it apart in your prospects’ minds.

Study your ideal buyer.

You should already be familiar with your buyer’s industry, but that doesn ’t mean every single prospect in the space will be a good fit opportunity . Dig into what a perfect fit customer for your company looks like. Read up on your company’s buyer personas, study your most successful customers, and learn why closed-won customers bought your product, either by asking the rep who sold them, or by reading notes in the CRM.

Review organizational sales benchmarks.

Once you’re familiar with the sales process, sit down with your manager and identify top-level metrics you can use to benchmark your own performance. What’s the typical conversion rate from opportunities created to qualified prospects? How many prospects who go through a product demo end up buying?

Here are some benchmarks to get started:

• Daily activity level (calls made, emails sent, voicemails left)
• Average deal velocity (how long it takes a deal to close)
• Average deal size
• Conversion rate from discovery calls to product demonstrations
• Average number of touchpoints before a successful connection with a prospect
• Lead to close ratio
• Percentage of opportunities won by lead source
• Percentage of opportunities lost to a competitor

Eventually, you’ll have worked enough deals that you can use your own benchmarks instead of your company’s, but until then, don’t sell in the dark.

Get comfortable disqualifying prospects.

Your most valuable asset as a salesperson is your time. As you book more meetings and connect with more prospects, you’ll have to be more discerning about who you spend your time with.

It’s difficult to get in the mindset that spending a lot of time with a small handful of prospects is better than courting two or three times as many. After all, more prospects would seem to suggest more potential sales. But some prospects will never buy from you, and it’s better to weed those out as soon as possible. This way, you can focus on the prospects likely to become your best customers.

Share 15 to 20 pieces of content on social media.

Continue posting to your social networks. Pay special attention to the types of content that have been performing well, and then double down on similar posts.

This month, aim to post more targeted content. At this stage of your development, you’ll be able to better define what type of content appeals to specific types of buyers. Post content that will resonate with the buyers you ’re most interested in selling to .

Strive to achieve a higher connect rate.

In your first month, making calls and writing emails is largely intended to build up your “muscle memory;” that is, you ’re  repeating the process until it becomes second nature. In your second month, keep up the pace set by your manager, but start being a bit more deliberate about who you reach out to.

Check your gut instincts against results. Are the prospects you deem likely to agree to a discovery call actually agreeing? Follow them through the sales process and track how many convert at each step and eventually close.

Days 68-100

Learn to conduct a demo..

Sales demonstrations are a crucial part of the sales process. If your product is complex enough to warrant a walkthrough, demos won’t be easy to master. Start by shadowing sales engineers, technical experts, or tenured reps on their demos to see how they position the product for a prospect’s specific needs.

Then, learn how to set up a successful demo or presentation. Find out what your prospect wants to see, and practice playing up how specific features address specific needs.

Finally, present to a real prospect. Some companies employ sales engineers for extremely technical calls, but for the most part you’ll be tasked with running your own demos. Practice presentations with your manager or mentors and ask for feedback. Then do it again and again.

Develop a trusty arsenal of outreach templates.

Don’t waste time writing variations on the same email over, and over, and over again. Of course, you should be personalizing cold emails and follow-ups depending on your prospect, but there’s no need to reinvent the wheel every single time.

Take advantage of canned email templates from your colleagues or sales blogs. The latter option enables you to track open and clickthrough rates for all of your templates, and easily personalize fields depending on the recipient.

Share 25 to 30 pieces of content.

If you’ve been posting consistently, you should have now developed a good sense of what kind of content drives engagement. Going forward, exclusively post this type of content.

In addition, start sharing industry news and announcements. While this type of content won’t necessarily drive discussion of the problems your product addresses, it establishes you (and your company) as having your finger on the pulse of your target buyer ’s  industry.

Engage with five to 10 new people on social media.

Social selling isn’t just about sharing content -- it’s also about starting conversations that establish you as a trusted advisor well before you ask for a meeting.

At this point, you should be familiar enough with your target industry that you can thoughtfully engage with others in the same space. Look for prospects on social media who have either interacted with your content or have a lot to say on relevant topics. Respond to their posts or share content specifically with them through a mention or private message.

Review your 90-day pipeline with your manager.

By your third month, you should ideally have opportunities at every stage of the sales process. Review all deals in progress with your manager to determine whether you have enough pipeline to meet your quota, and adjust your activity if necessary.

Put together a business case.

A business case won’t be necessary for every prospect or even every product, but on occasion you may be called upon to provide numbers demonstrating ROI. You can either prepare a custom business case using your prospect’s data, or put together a case based on a current customer’s results (with their permission).

Keep the cases as short as possible -- your prospect isn’t going to want to read an eight-page book report. Instead, stick to the essentials: What quantifiable improvements did your customer see? What goals did they achieve thanks to your product?

Include a few short testimonial sentences where appropriate. Statements like “Customer service rep X made setup incredibly easy,” or “We’re so happy we chose Vendor Y,” are great for boosting credibility.

Run closing calls yourself.

You’ll likely have closed a few deals by the time you hit your third month, although your manager or a peer may have been running these calls with you. This month, start closing deals yourself -- first with your manager in the room as a silent partner if you’re feeling shaky, then without any outside help at all.

Review your performance with your manager.

Now that you’ve been selling for three months, you’ll have a fairly large body of activity to reference. Look over your average deal velocity, call/email/voicemail/meeting activity, and any other relevant metrics with your manager to determine whether you’re at the place you need to be.

Dig deeper to determine your weak areas. For example, if you run a lot of discovery calls but see many of your prospects go quiet afterwards, it’s possible you’re struggling to instill a sense of urgency. Your manager will be adept at spotting qualitative areas for improvement by looking at your metrics, so go through the data together with a fine-toothed comb.

You made it! Your first three months are officially over. Now what?

By this time, you’ll be equipped with an arsenal of sales tactics and strategies. You should have a better sense of your sales style, what techniques work best for you, and where you need to improve. Keep honing your skills and working on your weak areas , and in no time at all you’ll be crushing it on your sales team.

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• CEOs should create an integrated narrative that lays out their ambition as well as their plans for transformation, stakeholder management, talent assessment, and communications.
• In addition to laying out their ambition and plans, they also have an opportunity to step outside their comfort zones or leadership styles.
• Importantly, CEOs should establish a regular time for reflection. The value of getting off the treadmill and engaging in deep thought—examining underlying assumptions, core beliefs, and knowledge—can be exponential.

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Business Transformation

/ article, a ceo’s first 1,000 days begins with the first 100.

By  Christine Barton ,  Jim Hemerling ,  Tuukka Seppä , and  Mrin Nayak

Key Takeaways

When CEOs embark on their first 100 days, their calendars fill with a frenetic set of familiar activities—employee listening tours, factory visits, meetings with key customers and suppliers, and so on. These whistle-stop activities are necessary. People want to meet the new boss, in person or virtually. And the CEO wants to create a positive first impression. But emphasizing the outward-facing parts of the job risks crowding out other crucial tasks that are best undertaken early in a CEO’s tenure.

The first 100 days is a time for boldness and clarity—a time when CEOs can express the purest form of their vision for the company. They can have the least tolerance for “the way we do things around here” and the best chance to set the pace, tone, direction, and expectations. For CEOs who are hired away from another company, this is also the best chance to capitalize on their outsider’s perspective.

In their first 100 days, CEOs should create a multifaceted and integrated narrative that lays out their strategic ambition as well as their transformation, stakeholder management, communications, and talent assessment plans. Most new CEOs talk about these topics. But when it comes to where they spend their time or resources in the first 100 days, many lean into their comfort zones or leadership styles. For example, CEOs who have risen through the ranks in sales or marketing may over invest in listening tours and spend too much time on the frontline. CEOs who have come up in finance and operations often lean into financial teardowns, investor feedback, and risk assessments. Fewer balance and integrate feedback from multiple stakeholders and emerge from their first 100 days with a 360° plan to be both a great company and a great stock.

The first 100 days is always high stakes, but especially now. Economic, social, and political uncertainties are high, and expectations about the role of the CEO are changing. What happens during this period sets the stage for the next three to five years. Empirical studies show that transformations implemented early in a CEO’s tenure benefit from compounding effects.

The first 100 days concept can be useful at any inflection point for the business. A sharp decline in the share price, a sudden vulnerability to activist investors, or a recapitalization (such as a private-equity deal) are all opportunities for the CEO to step back and reset. The exercise applies equally well when business units or functions are in need of fresh thinking.

Paradoxically, the first 100 days is also the best time for CEOs to establish a regular time for reflection —to step off the treadmill and engage in deep thought, examining underlying assumptions, core beliefs, and knowledge. The act of reflection is the least visible part of a CEO’s job. But its value can be exponential, leading to breakthrough insights, conviction, and alignment.

The Right Stuff for the First 100 Days

With so many demands on their time and attention, it’s no wonder that CEOs can become distracted early in their tenure. By focusing on six facets, CEOs can kick off a performance-oriented launch. (See Exhibit 1.)

An Unbiased and Multidimensional Fact-Based Analysis. Leaders need an objective, data-driven assessment of business fundamentals: operational efficiency, market trends, opportunities, and the ability to fund longer-term transformation or innovation bets. The analysis of a company should provide financial breakdowns and returns by business unit, channel, product or service, and customer type. It should also assess market position, product portfolios, and the financial heft of competitors. At the end of this exercise, CEOs and CFOs should understand what drives stock price multiples in their sector and have a plan to generate value through focused actions and contingencies.

This review will also provide CEOs with a fresh, unbiased, analytic view of how their brands and businesses are viewed by investors, analysts, customers, partners, and influencers. CEOs should be clear-eyed on assets as well as points of genuine differentiation. They should know what needs their vision fulfills in the market and the world, and they should identify rivals—those that they must compete against with a vigorous defense and those that they can take share from with an astute offense.

A Strategic Narrative and Ambition. CEOs need a clear narrative to tell investors, employees, and other stakeholders about where the company is headed, how it intends to get there, and what a great company and great stock look like. (See Exhibit 2.) Their vision is tied to specific priorities, initiatives, and operational changes that will bring it to life. Equally important, CEOs need to be clear and get agreement on the paths that the company will not take. Their vision is perhaps their most visible stamp on the organization, at least in the first half of their tenure.

New CEOs who anticipate the need for a transformation should incorporate it into their strategic narrative and ambition. CEOs who recognize and initiate transformational change early tend to be more successful in delivering results. New CEOs can capitalize on their clean slate and momentum to fuel transformational change.

A Financial and Transformation Roadmap. The roadmap lays out revenue and cost projections, required investments, and anticipated improvements in operational and financial metrics over two to four years. In other words, it declares how much change investors and other stakeholders should expect and how quickly it will occur. The roadmap should be developed in parallel with the company’s financial and investor strategies to maximize value creation. To provide transparency, the roadmap has both upside and Armageddon scenarios so that stakeholders can assess likely capital allocations and cash positions and the speed and shape of value creation.

A Stakeholder Alignment and Management Plan. CEOs need an intentional plan to align internal and external stakeholders—including nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), activist shareholders, and other nontraditional stakeholders—so that each group understands the goals they share and is committed to achieving them. CEOs should also focus on how they engage with the board of directors and their management team to drive alignment and accountability throughout the organization. This work should include a rhythm of topics for the board and a set of norms, or ways of working together, for the management team. The stakeholder management plan should also address how the CEO will engage the frontline as well as receive candid feedback from deep in the organization.

A Communications Plan. Beyond the stakeholder alignment and management plan, CEOs should have an intentional approach to communicating with all critical stakeholders: large shareholders, their inner circle, senior leaders, employees, governments, analysts, the media, and NGOs. The CEO’s success often depends on productive engagement with these groups. Increasingly, customers and employees also expect CEOs to be public figures with more visibility, authentic sharing, and more caring and vulnerability than ever before.

The plan should articulate a content strategy for each group, including cadence, channels, and objectives. Intentional CEOs further view these interactions as an opportunity both to reinforce the company’s purpose and priorities and demonstrate elements of their leadership and cultural imprint.

New CEOs will not accomplish much of the foundational work that’s required or execute much of their plans in 100 or even 200 or 300 days. Strategies that address climate change and sustainability , diversity , the future of work , geopolitical uncertainty , and digital transformation will take a year or more to execute. A comprehensive communications plan will outline milestones demonstrating progress against and engagement with these initiatives.

Talent and Organizational Alignment and Readiness Assessment. CEOs need to quickly identify the strengths and weaknesses of the company’s structure, people, overall culture, and learning agenda. This review should examine the return from the company’s investment in people and their level of engagement, the company’s employee value proposition, and the alignment of the company’s top talent to deliver the vision and create value. The findings of the assessment should provide an overall understanding of the organization’s health and culture, including how it develops leaders and their level of alignment and autonomy, its success with executive teaming, how it manages performance, and its practices for helping leaders become more generative .

Within the first 100 days, CEOs should establish a management or accountability system that sets forth the cadence of weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual decision making that they lead. They should be aligning the resources they directly control—their senior leadership teams, their calendars, and their leadership and communications platforms—with the strategic vision and value-creation priorities. During this time, CEOs should be prepared to establish new senior management roles and shuffle the management team.

Setting a Pace for the First 100 Days

The most valuable resources that CEOs have are their time and energy. CEOs cannot be constantly “on”—not even for the first 100 days. Support teams —chiefs of staff and executive assistants—can be invaluable in helping CEOs set their pace, protecting their time and managing their energy , so that they can recharge, see family and friends, and engage in activities outside of work as well as reflect and imagine at work.

Reflective thinking—or what psychologist Daniel Kahneman calls slow thinking—is deliberate. In contrast, most CEOs are forced to engage in fast and instinctual, or reactive, thinking, particularly at the beginning of their tenure. Effective CEOs engage in both types. They use reactive thinking to solve immediate challenges and reflective thinking to clarify the big picture, achieve agreement, and imagine untapped opportunities.

New CEOs can benefit from facilitated reflection with somebody they trust who understands the demands of a CEO, the company, and the industry. While a thought partner is not essential to reflecting, such a person can help codify, constructively challenge, and synthesize thoughts and actions that emerge from focused reflection.

The Art of Structured Reflection

In our work with CEOs, several exercises have helped them with reflective thought. Here are four that are suitable for new CEOs in the first 100 days.

Develop a personal strategic narrative for the business. CEOs should construct a narrative to prioritize and sequence foundational actions that will deliver their vision and strategy over three to five years. It is a living document that many CEOs use extensively in meetings with their teams and during the strategic planning process. Ideally, this narrative is grounded in the data-driven assessment that was developed during the leader’s first 100 days. Successful CEOs also use the strategic narrative externally with shareholders and analysts.

Create a leadership imprint. This exercise asks CEOs to be mindful about how others perceive them and to be deliberate about the impression they want to convey. The effort can spark CEOs to revisit their company’s values or the executive team’s behavioral norms. CEOs can also link this exercise to their review of communications with broader internal and external audiences, such as employees, the news media, and investors.

Evaluate the top 25 to 50 leaders. This exercise complements the talent and organizational readiness assessment described earlier. A CEO assesses each senior leader on two dimensions—current performance and leadership effectiveness—using a nine-box grid. This exercise forces executives into one of the nine boxes and generates a rating for each of them. (See Exhibit 3.) The CEO also assesses how many more promotions are likely over the course of each employee’s career. The exercise helps new CEOs identify their stars—and blockers. The upper reaches of many organizations have solid executives who have reached their potential. These blockers often occupy positions that otherwise could be filled by rising stars. It also helps CEOs identify which executives to help grow by giving them high-profile assignments or by suggesting that they work with a coach, mentor, or sponsor.

Prepare a personal action plan. This plan links the priorities identified in the 100-day plan to those that the CEO wants to focus on over the first 12 months. (See Exhibit 4.) For each strategy and priority, CEOs reflect on the amount of time to allocate as well as the unique role to play: own, delegate, or track. They can then think through the best way to use their authority.

As part of this exercise, CEOs reflect on how to allocate their time by stakeholder, including the board, direct reports, the broader organization, customers, and other outside stakeholders such as shareholders and governmental and NGO officials. Their support team can then put the plan into operation by reserving time on their calendar for various audiences and activities, including reflection.

Rigorous 100-day planning requires trusted partners who will stimulate and challenge the CEO. At many companies, the chief HR officer, chief transformation officer, chief of staff, or CFO can play this role. Some CEOs, however, may find it difficult to be open with people already embedded in an organization that they are only starting to understand. They may prefer to work also with an outsider. Whatever their preference, it is critical for CEOs to develop the objective fact-driven assessment of the company, industry, and market. So long as CEOs and their team are committed to putting in the time, the work during the first 100 days will prepare the company for the next 1,000 and beyond.

BCG’s CEO Advisory supports the success of current and prospective CEOs through individual guided self-reflection and counsel as well as the convening of peer forums.

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Managing Director & Senior Partner; Global Leader, BCG Transform Practice

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Your first 100 days as CPO

There’s nothing like a crisis to expose weaknesses in an organization’s value chain. The global pandemic may have been the biggest crisis to strike the global economy for decades, but it comes hot on the heels of a host of other disruptive events, from Brexit to trade tensions and a general rise in economic uncertainty.

These events have affected organizations in multiple ways. The fall in air travel early in the pandemic, for example, hit many supply chains: more than half of all air-freight shipments travel as belly cargo in passenger aircraft. Research by the OECD suggests that the economic fallout from the crisis could push one in ten small and medium-size companies into bankruptcy, with knock-on disruption for thousands of supply chains. The desire to control risks is driving some companies to pivot from “just-in-time” to “just-in-case” supply-chain models, with higher inventories and supply bases located closer to the point of manufacture or final consumption.

The procurement organization works at the front line of the battle to mitigate these risks and disruptions. Decisions about what to source externally, and where and how to buy those inputs, can have a decisive impact on the balance of a company’s costs, risks, and sources of competitive advantage. The procurement organization’s agility and flexibility in response to supply shocks and demand shifts can make the difference between commercial success and failure in volatile environments.

As the leader of the function, it is the CPO who defines the strategy and culture of the procurement organization. And if today’s CPOs have more to do than their predecessors, they also have less time in which to do it. The average tenure of C-level executives has been falling for decades, and a CPO appointed today might anticipate spending only four to six years in the job. The first few weeks in a new role can determine its trajectory.

Where should incoming CPOs focus their attention? This year, we conducted in-depth interviews with 20 CPOs from a wide range of industries and geographies. We asked them about the strategic objectives of their businesses, the heath and effectiveness of the procurement functions they inherited, and the actions they took to set the organization on a path to improvement. We also quizzed our interviewees about what they learned during the first weeks and months in their role, and about what they would do differently with the benefit of hindsight.

In this article, we distill the shared wisdom of our interviewees to outline the critical considerations and decisions every CPO can make during their first 100 days to build a resilient function and deliver long-lasting impact to the organization.

Know your starting point

Every business is unique, but two dimensions largely determine a new CPO’s approach. The first is the procurement organization’s strategic focus, which needs to be aligned with the company’s overall business goals. Is cost reduction the primary aim, or does procurement address other potential sources of value, such as risk reduction, improved sustainability, or access to scarce resources and innovative new technologies?

The second dimension is the maturity of the function. Some CPOs will take the helm of a sophisticated organization that already operates efficiently and effectively. Others may need to reboot a struggling function, or even build an entirely new one from scratch. The interaction between these two dimensions produces four archetypes that determine the broad challenges facing the incoming CPO and inform their priorities in the first 100 days and beyond (Exhibit 1).

Successful CPOs have three priorities for their first weeks in their role:

• Develop a baseline understanding of the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, and value-creation opportunities
• Proactively engage with internal business stakeholders, external stakeholders, and partners to understand their needs and priorities
• Above all, focus on impact, making their mark on the organization and demonstrating its potential to add more value to the business as a whole

While these three priority areas are universal, the specific actions required within each will depend on the procurement function’s organizational archetype. Although the workload involved in building and steering the procurement function will likely be high, successful CPOs also ensure they keep some time and energy available to address their personal-growth objectives.

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Understand the environment.

Every new CPO can take specific actions to understand the basic value drivers and overall maturity of their organization. Time spent building a detailed picture of the procurement environment in the early days can pay off handsomely over the long term. This information-gathering exercise should ideally focus on both quantitative and qualitative data, and look both inside and outside the organization.

For organizations with a cost focus, it is especially critical to develop a complete and credible spend cube. In less-mature procurement functions, this can take a considerable amount of time and effort that can easily be underestimated. Among the top data-gathering priorities is to collect information on key product and service categories, including the organization’s spend per category and historical price movements. Mature organizations with a cost focus can invest in digital disruptors, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, to automate the classification of transactional data and quickly identify opportunities to create immediate impact.

In procurement functions that focus on types of value beyond cost, the CPO’s task is to find openings to support future value creation. Insight into the strategic priorities of the business and information on upcoming projects is essential, as is a comprehensive risk assessment of the supplier base. A good CPO will also think beyond the limits of the organization’s current projects and its existing supply structures. That will require a perspective on the megatrends that are likely to shape the company’s sector in the coming years, along with the implications for rethinking make-versus-buy decisions (particularly in outsourcing or offshoring), and for altering value chains by engaging with new partners.

By talking to their own people, new CPOs can develop a better understanding of the way the function has operated in the past, assess the strengths and limitations of their team, and identify organizational and cultural barriers to higher performance. The CPO of a luxury brand told us that the need to fill capability gaps quickly was a major lesson learned. “I realized that people, mind-sets, and capabilities are more important than codifying clear processes. I will use this learning by focusing on capability assessment, the learning journey, and change management.”

People, mind-sets, and capabilities are more important than codifying clear processes. CPO, luxury brand

Engage stakeholders

Perhaps more than any other function, the success of procurement depends on effective collaboration with other stakeholders, both inside the organization and beyond it. For a new CPO, relationship building begins on day one, and forms the second plank of the 100-day plan.

This translates to spending as much time as possible in face-to-face conversation (in-person or virtual), both with internal customers across the business, and with the most important suppliers and external partners. The objectives of these stakeholder conversations are threefold: to understand how people perceive the procurement organization today, to identify opportunities for procurement to add additional value in the relationship, and to start building toward a more effective collaboration model in the future.

Those objectives remain the same regardless of the maturity of the procurement function, but the content of conversations will differ. In a less-mature organization, the CPO will likely seek to demonstrate the art of the possible—identifying a small number of high-value opportunities with willing business units, then using those cases as “lighthouse” examples of effective collaboration. In a mature organization, by contrast, a new CPO can focus on the white spots and pain points in the procurement–business relationship, looking for ways to further streamline processes and create additional value.

The CPO of a financial-services company told us that conversations with stakeholders were the highest-impact action possible in taking on the role: “I learned a lot about the engagement model, how we work, the culture of the company, and how different functions work together. And these kinds of conversations were new for the stakeholders. They weren’t used to procurement saying, ‘tell me what I can do for you, tell me what you think’.”

That sentiment is echoed by others. “You need to understand how procurement is perceived by other functions,” says a consumer-products CPO. “Spend a significant amount of time understanding the expectations of your internal customers,” says the CPO of a bank. “Politics and soft power are of paramount importance for a function such as procurement that has to serve internal stakeholders.”

[Stakeholders] weren’t used to procurement saying, ‘tell me what I can do for you, tell me what you think.’ CPO, financial-services company

Conversations with key suppliers are just as important as those with internal stakeholders. Plan to make contact with the most strategically important suppliers as soon as possible after taking up the role. For cost-focused organizations, these are likely to be the suppliers accounting for the largest portion of the company’s spend. For procurement functions looking for value beyond cost, an incoming CPO may also want to include smaller suppliers offering critical technologies or with high innovation potential. Regardless of context, however, the objectives of the initial communication between CPO and supplier will be the same: to take the pulse of the current procurement-supplier relationship, to reinforce the importance of a strong partnership between the organizations, and to communicate the company’s new priorities.

Once they understand the needs of their stakeholders, CPOs can use those insights to develop an effective governance model for the procurement function. That can include mechanisms for procurement to establish joint priorities, strategies, and support processes. Procurement can make sure it is involved at an early stage in any product or service the business plans to develop. It can also clarify responsibilities and decision rights through the source-to-pay process by establishing which stakeholders are the natural owners of each step. And it can define the priorities and capabilities needed within the procurement organization.

Indirect procurement: Insource? Outsource? Or both?

Create impact.

The overarching imperative for every CPO is to create value for their organization. Contrary to the common belief that the start of a new role is all about learning and strategy setting, CPOs have the ability—and, often, the expectation from the top team—to deliver significant impact during their first 100 days.

We believe that within this critical window, every new CPO can: create a minimum viable product (MVP) or proof of concept for the strategy they plan to adopt over the longer term, apply that strategy rapidly in real projects, and use it to capture real value for the organization.

Starting fast like this has multiple benefits. It allows CPOs to refine and battle-test their approach before rolling it out across the organization. It creates results that can demonstrate their ideas’ potential, making it easier to achieve buy-in from the CEO and other senior stakeholders. It also helps to galvanize the procurement organization, building momentum and enthusiasm for further improvement. Finally, it provides an opportunity for CPOs to demonstrate their leadership skills and can-do mentality.

The opportunities for rapid value creation are highly dependent on the organization’s starting point. In the case of a new or immature procurement organization, the application of basic procurement tools can capture a lot of value. The incoming CPO at one company introduced a tender process for several major categories, something the organization had never done before. Even in the pilot phase, the effort delivered significant savings.

Cost-focused procurement functions with a higher level of maturity can often achieve rapid results through the application of smart digital tools, such as modern spend-analytics systems . These methodologies help squeeze more value from the organization’s existing data, and can often deliver results in just a few weeks. Some organizations have found it useful to establish a cross-functional “ spend control tower ” tasked with achieving rapid cost reductions in critical categories.

One chemicals company, for example, introduced advanced digital sourcing tools to optimize approximately $100 million in annual logistics spend. The company built cleansheet models to establish target logistics costs at the lane level, then conducted multiple rounds of request for proposals (RFPs) with potential suppliers, using a sourcing-optimizer tool to dynamically adjust the way lanes and shipments were bundled and allocated to potential suppliers. The initiative delivered savings of between 13 and 20 percent across the category.

Where the primary goal is value beyond cost, quick wins can be more elusive. The first priority in this situation is typically to engage the procurement function in a more strategic way with the wider business, such as by establishing cross-functional teams to pursue already-identified sources of value and spot new opportunities.

Several CPOs we interviewed emphasized the importance of sharing early successes: “overcommunicate on first achievements,” was how one consumer-goods CPO put it. Advertising the impact achieved helps validate new procurement approaches in the eyes of internal and external stakeholders, and can shift mind-sets while building enthusiasm for further change.

As CPOs turn their attention to longer-term value creation, talent and capabilities will naturally be at the top of the agenda. Our analysis of procurement practices and outcomes at more than 1,500 companies has shown that the capabilities and culture of procurement personnel are 1.5 to 2.2 times more strongly correlated with superior financial performance than any other factor (Exhibit 2).

Effective CPOs start work on their talent strategy quickly: hiring to fill critical skills gaps, adjusting roles, and investing in capability-building programs. Asked what he would do differently if given the chance, one consumer-goods CPO was clear about the importance of talent. “We were too slow to identify where we had skills gaps and needed to hire from the outside,” he told us.

We were too slow to identify where we had skills gaps and needed to hire from the outside. CPO, consumer-goods manufacturer

Alongside their talent strategies, new CPOs will likely want to introduce new tools, technologies, and approaches. For a low-maturity organization, that might include the development of a formal category-management approach, while more-sophisticated functions may want to reap the benefits of digital procurement technologies. Applied at scale across a procurement organization, a digital transformation can use automation to accelerate the source-to-pay process by up to 30 percent, and boost value creation by one-fifth, thanks to better decision-support tools and improved connectivity between stakeholders.

For the most mature procurement organizations, the pursuit of new value-creation opportunities may require innovative thinking. Some companies with advanced procurement capabilities have developed procurement-as-a-service offerings, for example, packaging their capabilities in a form that can be sold to suppliers, external customers, and even third-party organizations.

Drive personal growth

Today’s CPOs have a lot on their plates. With pressure to move fast and deliver value quickly, it can be easy to sacrifice ambitions for personal growth. That would be a mistake. The most successful CPOs understand that the long-term development of their organization depends upon their own ability to bring new insights, ideas, and energy to the role.

That’s why we recommend CPOs to approach their personal development with the same systematic rigor they would apply to helping develop other members of their team. As with any capability-building effort, the right mix of actions depends on the individual’s starting point and strategic goals. Is this your first CPO role? Do you have a deep procurement background, or is most of your professional experience from other functions? What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses? What does your organization need from you that you don’t feel ready to provide?

Based on this assessment, a new CPO can begin to build an individual capability-building plan. That is likely to involve efforts to develop technical capabilities, such as deeper knowledge of key categories or of cutting-edge digital tools. It is also likely to involve softer skills, such as leadership, coaching, and mentoring.

In a fast-changing, volatile world, perhaps the most important skill for every CPO is an open mind. Exposure to new ideas and willingness to learn from others can help CPOs advance their thinking, inspire their teams, and identify previously hidden sources of value for their organizations. One of the best ways to do it is meeting and talking with other CPOs. Conferences, round tables, and industry events can be a great way for procurement leaders to grow their networks and share ideas. For some CPOs, relationships forged at these kinds of meetings have grown into more formal collaborations—inspiring joint capability-building programs, resource-sharing initiatives, and similar projects that benefit multiple parties.

Build your 100-day plan

Based on the three priorities outlined in the article—understanding the organization, engaging stakeholders, and delivering impact—an incoming CPO can build a plan for the first 100 days. While recognizing the need for knowledge gathering, such a plan is action-oriented, with an emphasis on tangible steps that mobilize the procurement organization and generate value for the wider business.

The first month focuses on rapid information gathering and network building. The aim is to develop a strong grasp of the procurement organization’s people, processes, and capabilities, along with a good understanding of challenges and opportunities in the wider business (Exhibit 3).

In the second month, the emphasis should be on action: embarking on projects to deliver value in categories that are strategically important and show the highest impact potential. This work tackles short-term quick-win opportunities while laying the groundwork for initiatives that are expected to create significant value over the longer term. This middle part of the first 100 days is also the time to think in detail about procurement enablers: the capabilities, tools, and processes that will help the function improve its performance in the coming months and years (Exhibit 4).

The third month is about impact at scale. This is the moment for CPOs to win sign-off on their plans from the top executive team, supporting their arguments with the early results from ongoing initiatives. With the green light from the top, the procurement organization can move forward on all fronts, introducing new processes and working with internal and external stakeholders to create sustainable long-term value (Exhibit 5).

The to-do list for a new CPO is daunting: from identifying potential new sources of value across their organization to understanding the capabilities of their people and winning the trust of multiple internal and external stakeholders. By focusing on the most important sources of value and following an agile approach, an incoming CPO can achieve those objectives while simultaneously delivering rapid cost reductions and value improvements for their organization.

Adovi Adote is an expert in McKinsey’s Paris office; Riccardo Drentin is a partner in the London office, Samir Khushalani is a partner in the Houston office, and Fabio Russo is an associate partner in the Milan office.

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Zimbabwe introduces new gold-backed currency to tackle inflation

Zimbabweans have 21 days to convert their old cash into new money, according to the central bank.

Zimbabwe’s central bank has launched a new “structured currency” backed by gold, as it seeks to tackle sky-high inflation and stabilise the country’s long-floundering economy.

The new currency – called Zim Gold (ZiG) – will be backed by foreign currencies, gold and precious minerals, John Mushayavanhu, the governor of Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank, told reporters in the capital Harare on Friday.

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Mushayavanhu said the ZiG would circulate alongside a basket of other currencies.

He said the central bank would also introduce a market-determined exchange rate.

“With effect from today … banks shall convert the current Zimbabwe dollar balances into the new currency,” he said.

The move is aimed at fostering “simplicity, certainty, [and] predictability” in Zimbabwe’s financial affairs, he added, presenting the new banknotes that come in eight denominations ranging from one to 200 ZiG.

The new notes feature a drawing of gold ingots being minted, as well as Zimbabwe’s famous Balancing Rocks, which already appeared on the old ones.

Zimbabweans have 21 days to convert their old cash into new money, Mushayavanhu said.

Sufficient reserves to back new currency?

The Zimbabwean dollar has lost almost 100 percent of its value against the US greenback over the past year.

On Friday, it was officially trading at about 30,000 against its more coveted US counterpart – and at 40,000 on the black market, according to tracker Zim Price Check.

Its poor performance has contributed to the Southern African country’s high inflation rate, which after climbing well into the triple digits last year, was at 55 percent in March, according to official data.

The current inflation rate has piled pressure on the country’s 16 million people who are already contending with widespread poverty, high unemployment and a severe drought induced by the El Nino weather pattern.

Soaring prices have also brought back memories of 2008, when hyperinflation was so out of control that the central bank even issued a 100-trillion-dollar note, which is now a collectors’ item.

Amid these economic challenges, analysts have questioned whether Harare has enough reserves to adequately back the new currency, and if the latter could suffer from volatility in gold prices.

On Thursday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa inspected the central bank’s vaults that Mushayavanhu – who was appointed earlier this year – said hold 1.1 tonnes of solid gold.

The bank also has almost 1.5 tonnes more abroad, as well as $100m in cash and precious minerals – such as diamonds, that if converted into gold would account for another 0.4 tonnes, Mushayavanhu said.

Altogether, the reserves’ value totals $285m, which Mushayavanhu highlighted was “more than three times cover for the ZiG currency being issued”.

Meanwhile, the central bank added that it would also adopt a tight monetary policy, linking money supply growth to growth in gold and foreign exchange reserves.