Hello, folks, and welcome to another episode of the Leadership Growth Podcast. I'm your host, Daniel Stewart, along with my brother, Peter Stewart. And we're going to be chatting about a very important topic today, and it's essentially what to do, or rather, what not to do, during your first 90 days. Because this period for any new leader is so critical because you begin to establish yourself as to who you are, expectations, integration with the team. Focusing on strategy, getting quick wins. And unfortunately, there are things that can really mess you up during that time. So we want to talk about what you want to avoid and what you want to dive into to be successful in your transition period. But before we go there, Peter, you have a little interesting, insightful activity for us to play. How should we go about doing that as we start? Yeah, I figured, hey, we're going to be talking about leader transitions. So let's talk a little bit about organizational transitions. Specifically, what were some of the original products or services that well-known companies started off with. I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to origin stories of businesses. So let's just play a little game.-Great.-I'll say the company. And Daniel, you try and come up with what was the original product.-Okay. Okay.-Okay.

7-Eleven. Oh, original product. Other than like a convenience store. Right?-Correct, because they existed before a convenience store. So all I know is that they were a gas station, and then they added this C store concept idea. So was it like some sort of serving or expansion of beverages or snacks? What was it?-No, it was actually ice.-Ice.-They started off.-Really?-It was just ice. They started off as the Southland Company in Texas back in the days of ice boxes in which they delivered ice blocks to people to put in there before refrigeration their ice box. And they found that people couldn't come during their hours of work. So they started opening up earlier, at seven o'clock and staying open later till eleven. And they were the only people open late at night, and people said, “Well, we're coming here to get our ice. Why can't we get milk and bread and eggs from you, too?” So they started stocking those. And the rest is history.-I did not know that. That's fantastic.-Yeah. 7-Eleven. So open early, till late at night, and why not start selling various other items?-It took advantage of an opportunity.-Wow, I was way off. That was great. Thank you. Good. Next one.-Tiffany & Co.-Oh, Tiffany, the fantastic jeweler.-Yes.-What did they... what did they start with? You know, I'm not sure.-They're known for those little blue boxes of...-Yes. Yes, exactly.-Expensive products.-And you can go on Fifth Avenue in New York and see it. And yes, it's all of this. What was the original product, Peter?-Stationery.-Stationary. As in nice handwritten...-Yeah.-Stationary.-The stuff that really we don't use as much anymore because we don't write handwritten letters. Yeah, it was they started off as a stationery and fine goods. So they it was primarily paper with a few little leather knickknacks and things. But obviously, the knickknacks and things sold a lot better. So they pivoted into the jewelry behemoth.-This pivoting, we're not going to necessarily talk about it today, but maybe we can talk about it again. I'm always amazed successful organizations, they pivot. They can pivot, and sometimes it means jettisoning their whole existence, what they were founded on. What made them even successful so that they can then adapt to the marketplace. That pivoting is critical. I love it because the transition, there's a connection. Okay, do you have another one here?-Yeah, let's do... We'll do one more. Pixar. The animation studio that we know of. Toy Story, Monsters Inc.-Well, was it a special effect kind of thing? What, what problem were they originally solving before they got into animation? Because Steve Jobs helped create that years ago. So what was it?-He helped finance it after it kind of got up and rolling. It started off as... their original product was called the Pixar Image Computer. They sold hardware. And they made a computer that was specifically designed for medical imaging. So it had really high-end graphics. So they developed an animated short to be able to highlight how amazing their computer was. So the commercials, in essence, their marketing campaign is actually what now has made them billions and billions of dollars. Started off selling a computer.-This is great. This is great.-Yeah.-I love it. I love these gigantic pivots. And what they were known for then is not what they're known for now. And we don't look upon these companies as like they're, what, cowardly or they where they made bad choices along no, they've sustained growth and adapted to the market and really optimized what they do best.-Yeah, it is. And they're old examples. So like Tiffany & Co., that was late 1800s when we're talking about that origin. 7-Eleven or the Southland Company as it started, that was early 1900s. But Pixar, we're talking 1980s, early 1980s. So these pivots continue to happen. It's not just these legacy organizations that have been around for so long. Then we can even find newer examples of it. But it's just kind of interesting. Are we so stuck in our ways that we are missing out on a tremendous opportunity for growth?-That's great. You know, I'm working with the leadership team next week on an annual... they're doing a lot of transformation, and I'm leading their annual leadership team, and I may want to incorporate some of those ideas, because it just illustrates... so, while they're in the middle of a massive pivot as they're adapting and adjust I mean, this is just what so many organizations are doing. And it's important to recognize that these pivots, they're not abnormal. It doesn't mean that you failed. No, it's really actually how you successfully embrace the pivot and define what it is. That's powerful.-Because there's always going to be factors that are different and change, and you have to adapt to and adjust to, whether it's a product change. Maybe there's a supply issue. Maybe it's a personnel issue. Maybe it's a market that's become saturated. Now you need to move somewhere else. I mean, it's being flexible. And during COVID, we talked a lot about leveraging crises and how, you know, crises make the status quo malleable. In essence, how you can change it. So you leverage that. So I think as we now kind of talk more about the transition into a new organization in a new role, and how leaders can do that, in many ways, it's trying to leverage that pivot. What is that opportunity to have things be a little bit more malleable, to change, to adapt, without coming in guns blazing from day one?(laughing)-And okay, so let's, let's do that pivot for ourselves. From this fun game to now talking about first 90 days, what to do and what not to do. And just to set the stage, it's really a matter of why the heck you were brought in. Why were you promoted? Why were you brought in from an external role? What is your mission to accomplish? Are you to transform? Are you trying to stay a long time? Are you trying to eke out 3% growth? Are you trying to accelerate with 15%, 20% plus percent growth? Are you needing to then reconfigure teams? So much of this depends on the context and how long are you interested in being in the role? How many bridges are you willing to burn? How many relationships are you not interested in sustaining? All of these are trade-offs, and there's not necessarily a right or wrong here. It's being able to make important choices along the way, to be able to accomplish what needs to be accomplished. And even there, are you accomplishing what you think you need to? Or are you accomplishing what's aligned with your boss and the organization? And is it aligned with what their words are, or what their actions are? There is a lot of nuance here, and it's not nearly as easy as is sometimes thought.(laughing)-Oh, it's not. And it's not a standard checklist for everybody. And not everybody's going to come in and do it the exact same way. You're still going to be you. And there's not just the one way to do it. But I think what we've observed and noticed as we've coached so many people through these roles, and listened and interviewed folks who the good, the bad, and the ugly, as we start to hear these tales and stories, there are some principles that I think can be tremendously helpful to keep in mind as you're charting your own course-Yeah.-through that.-Yeah. So, one principle is focusing on the others more than you. And that is such a hard one because typically you're going you're having gone through the recruiting process, which is all about selling yourself You got to make yourself look good. You got to sell yourself. And then, day one, you need to stop selling yourself as much. And you need to start listening and influencing through others and building the rapport and building the relationships. And that transition for some is really, really challenging.-Yeah. And it's and it's a a shift from you're the one doing more of the talking to you're doing more of the listening. And I think that's just a powerful tip for individuals in this phase is you're trying to learn so much about what's going on in the organization. You're trying to assess things. You're trying to think about the culture. You're trying to think about the relationships. And in many ways, the back of your mind, you're comparing what you were told before day one,(laughing) during the interviews and other things, with the reality of what the existence is, and how that might change, depending on whether you're talking to your peers on your team, whether you're talking to your direct reports, or others throughout the organization. So it's doing a lot of listening and not just coming out and saying,“Well, this is the way it should be done.’ Especially if you add in, because this is the way I did it at fill in the blank legacy company that you just came from. So throwing that, this is the way we've always done it, or this is the way I used... is a just it's a faux pas to avoid at all costs.-And so something to not do is to go in guns blazing in some way and say, “This is, I'm right, and you're wrong.” And even go so far as to say, “You know what, you're all idiots,” or “You've been doing it the wrong way,” or even well-intentioned, “This is all wrong.”“I have the right way of doing it, I'm the enlightened one.” Any aspect of that, unless it is a complete turnaround and you're planning on firing everybody, it is not going to build a relationship-focused effort. And even a short term, it's going to be challenging when you are the guy or the girl who has this idea, “I'm right and you're wrong.” It is not a helpful way of entering into an organization.-Yeah. Cause you're coming in, regardless of what your objective is long term. You need relationships. You need buy-in, you need support, and you need people who are going to follow and execute whatever vision you're going to put in place. Because even if you fire an entire team, an entire department, there's still going to be time before you get all those seats filled. And who's going to be doing it? I mean, how often do you hear about somebody coming in and just laying off,“All right, all 40 of you gone.” I mean, that just doesn't happen as often. So you need people to believe in what you're doing. And they're not going to believe in somebody who's not even giving them the opportunity to know what's going on. To voice an opinion.-Oh, ok.-So, Peter, there are listeners right now hearing this. And I'm sure some are thinking, “But what if I am the one who's right?”(laughing) And these people are wrong!-I was hired here!-Right. I'm the one with 20 years of experience in larger organizations or best practices, and I know, and I actually do have the answers.-Mm hmm.-How do we approach that?-Yeah. This is where a quote I remember hearing, Daniel, I think you and I heard the same presentation by General Colin Powell back many, many years ago. And I remember him saying a quote that he had on his desk. He said, “Of all manifestations of power, it is restraint that impresses men most.” And I think here is a time, particularly in those first couple of weeks, to demonstrate restraint. Even if you are 100% certain that your answer is the right one, give it at least a couple days.(laughing) Give it at least time to talk to people, to hear, and to hold your idea as a theory, a hypothesis to be tested. And then let the data from your interactions support or be humble enough to say maybe it needs to change.-Yeah. The restraint, such a great idea. And it reminds me of the change equation. And so there's two variables and trying to create change you have the accuracy of the solution, and then you also have the buy-in. And oftentimes, we can be accurate or we can have a great idea, especially if somebody's been around for a while, they've seen good practices in other places. And yet, the best idea put into a new situation without buy-in, it ain't going anywhere. It's not going to get roots. It's not going to, whatever metaphor you want to do, doesn't get legs. It's not going to move. And so to your point, showing restraint, understanding, and whether you have confidence that the solution you have is a good idea. You're going to need to understand the context and the situation, the buy-in, the implications, the unintended consequences. What's the skill? What are the skills that you have to work with? What are the resources? What's the actual timing? All of these things are very different than perhaps what you've done in the past, in terms of implementing. And yet we can dismiss and discount this buy-in part of the change equation so much. And so, what not to do is to come in and believe that your ideas will be so, not only are they going to be amazingly wonderful, but it's going to be easy or straightforward to implement in some way. No.-Yeah. Oh, it's such a good point. So I think we've established that fact that come in, spend that first little bit of time learning more about the organization, using some professional humility about what you think should be going on. And then you're able to prioritize really what those next steps are as you're getting some buy-in. I think a next step we can talk about, which isn't necessarily you have to accomplish the first before you get to this one. This is really more of a simultaneous thing to keep in mind. It's spending that time identifying where who are the key decision makers? Who are these relationships that I need to build? Where might have there been some challenges for people who had previously been in my shoes, where there may have been some strained relationships across an organization. Looking at my own team, you know, and other things. So it's really a focus on the relationship side of it.-And that relationship side takes time. It takes a lot of not just conversation one time, but multiple times. And oftentimes, we recommend doing that relationship mapping activity where, on a piece of paper or whiteboard, you put yourself in the middle. You identify all of the various key people you need to work with, those on your team, your peers, your boss, kind of like satellites off of you. And then you can strategically focus on each of these people, building a relationship around what is important to them. And one of the things not to do is to treat everybody the same in terms of what they value, what they think is important. Because that is what gets people into trouble when they view their team as thinking and needing the same things as their peers or their boss. And each of those relationships are going to be very different. And you want to understand. And then you go one more step, understanding the strengths that each person does bring. And figuring out how that meshes up against the skill sets that you believe are important, and what can be done to accomplish this together. And usually around this time, people start saying,“Yep, I don't think she's going to be a keeper or he's going to be a keeper.” But you want to then work toward what can you leverage. How can you then bring out the best in each person? And whether it's in that same role or a different role. So as you're diving in, it's evaluating the people, the resources, and getting to know them as they get to know you.-Yeah. And there's so much that comes as a benefit to this new leader as you do that. The institutional knowledge and history and context and other things that you're going to gather as you have these conversations. But just to pull on that thread you highlighted, because it's absolutely critical, you cannot treat everybody the exact same way. And it doesn't mean you think less of people. It's actually you think more of them because you are actually trying to interact with them at the level that is most helpful to them. And is most... but you're seeking what are their needs and how do I help fulfill that? And in that process, you're also identifying what are your needs from them. So that conversations can occur.-What about this expectation management idea? Because everybody is going to have... You have your own idea of what needs to happen, what's going on. Everybody else on the team has their own idea. And we'll do, and many of our listeners probably are familiar with the new leader transition process of you have three stages. You have, and it's often facilitated by an external person or a head of HR or something like this, where you have seven or eight key questions, you ask the team these questions without the leader present. You record their answers. What best advice you would have for this person? What should this person need to know to be successful? What have we tried in the past? Etcetera. And then the facilitator goes and shares this information with the leader. And then the third step is the leader comes back and says,“Hey, thank you. I've been able to digest all of this. Here are some thoughts.” And “Let's figure out ways we can partner and then work together to accomplish a lot of these things.” It's a great way of accelerating that transition period. But the point is to clarify these expectations as quickly as possible.-Oh, it's so true. And as I've facilitated many of these, there is a question that seems to almost always come up from the team about their new leader.

What have you been told about us?-That's good.-What directions?(laughing) What's the goal? Like, what are the marching orders you've been given from whoever the leader was that hired this person, whether it's the CEO or whatever it might be? Of what needs to change is, you know, what changes need to come? And what is actually at the essence of that question is you being here as our new leader, what's it going to do to me? What's the impact it's going to have on me?-Yeah.-And that... you can't forget the... so many change principles come down to that individual personal change. That's what people care about. So it's being aware of that.-Yeah. That's a great point. And so the other aspect here is what not to do is only listen. Because sometimes leaders can be so empathetic or so understanding or so just kind of in intake mode for so long that they also are not like focused on acting and doing stuff. But yet, how do you balance some of this? So what not to do is spend all 90 days just listening. And that's the tricky thing to be able to balance. So, Peter, what do you do to balance that? Because I mean, you don't want to do too many changes, or do you? Well, and this goes back to something we were saying in the beginning. There's not the one solution for everybody. And it takes that skill. It takes being able to listen. But let's say you're going through and you've been there a week or two or three, and you're seeing the same problem come up. You're seeing that there's a challenge. There's no rule that you can't do anything until you've been there 90 days to make a drastic decision. No, in fact, that would be an erroneous thought, I'd say, wipe from your mind. If there seems to be a very clear action that needs to be taken, regardless of how long you've been there, take the initiative to do it You have to look because also during these first 90 days, you are making an impression, an impression that needs to be based on some action as well. So it's looking at what are some of the low hanging fruit? What are some of the again, we're not trying to fire or restructure the entire department in the first 10 days. But are there some smaller, more lower hanging, more impactful type decisions that can be made? And don't be afraid to do it. And in that process, what a great way to build a relationship, especially with your new leader, saying, “Hey, here's something I'm noticing. This seems to be pretty clear over the first couple of weeks. Is this what you've noticed as well? And here's the solution that I'm proposing. Here's what I'm thinking about doing.” What a great way to build that relationship.-Yeah, it's important to be able to clarify what are those quick wins, those short-term wins. And some of those wins they are needed to be able to showcase your expertise, to build a sense of confidence. And some of those wins might be developing plans. They might be developing scenarios. So you're reminding me of a chief digital officer I was coaching just as he joined. By month two, he had been asked for his thoughts, and he was able to put together a four or five page deck to be able to showcase a couple different options of reorganizing the marketing group. And that's what was requested. That was eventually what was needed six to nine months later when they implemented it. But he was able to showcase early on that he didn't just have one answer. He had several different possible scenarios, and he was open to discussing and talking about it with the CEO early on, which helped showcase he was able to see that vision and then build that quick win with the CEO that they were able to partner together on it. And then ultimately, they were able to bring in the chief HR officer and get it implemented in the coming months. But that's just one example versus coming in and saying,“Yeah, all of these problems are in marketing. And by day sixty or day ninety, we're making changes. These people are gone. This is—” And it just didn't make sense for that occasion.-Mm hmm.-And that would have been way too strong for that. And he needed to be able to get alignment and partners first.-Yeah. It's a great point, highlighting that some of the actions needed are actually the identification of plans to consider. It doesn't mean the plan has to be executed by day 45 or day 50 or whatever it might be. So let's let's as we're talking about this transition, there's, I think, a natural thing that can happen to many leaders as you're trying to build comfort with the new organization, build confidence. And it's the favorite or the hobby interest in your role.-Ooh, nice.-Recognizing that there are so... Well, I'd say most roles have a broad array of activities. But we might be drawn to one particular area because maybe that's our wheelhouse. Maybe that's what we came up through the ranks doing. Or it's just more interesting to us. How do we fight that, you know, tendency to just focus on a portion of our job as opposed to the entire role?-Yeah, you reminded me a COO I was working with. His background had been in sales. And we all know sales is critical for organizations. As he joined a new organization, he naturally focused on sales. And he visited all of the different sales reps throughout the country extensively, going out with them. Great, he got to know them. However, he was also over operations. And the operations side needed a lot more of his attention. He was also over all the call centers. And he needed to spend a lot more time and attention. And so he had to adapt and get out and noticing how easily he kept gravitating to sales issues. Because those are the problems he liked to solve, versus focusing on operations or call center or customer service, of which was fully in his purview, but he needed to keep building up his interest, and his attention, to all of these issues in front of him, and not just the ones that he liked.-Oh, it's so needed. And that example we've seen time and time again in various roles and individuals that we've worked with. It's hard to fight that. So it takes that intentionality. Intentional focus on checking our interests, checking where our focus areas are. And it's making sure you're, in many ways, you're keeping that job description, that entire role, portfolio open in front of you. So you're checking your actions against that,-Yep.-as you're going through. You know, the other thing not to do is to then assume your boss, they process information the same way you do.(laughing) Because one of the most important relationships is developing that rapport with your boss. And if it's remote,

is your boss a person who likes a pre-read? Or does your boss the kind of person who likes to brainstorm in the moment? Or is your boss the kind of person who expects you to come with solutions and to then just inform her of them? There's so many different ways of going about it. And for you to make sure that you're open to the different styles of processing information and talking through things. And do they like text? Do they like Teams? Do they like email? What's their go-to? Are they the kind of person who likes to process and think at 10 o'clock or 11 o'clock at night and then they'll send out lots of messages?

05 from you? Or can seven o'clock or eight o'clock or nine o'clock the next morning be totally sufficient? And what does this mean? Is it simply thank you and I'll get back to it? Or I need... There's lots of different patterns of communication and information processing that also needs to be clear. Yes, with your boss, and then, of course, with your people. Oh, it's so important to do that, and making sure you are not treating them the same way that you had been used to treating your prior boss. And that it takes that stop, that pause, to say, wait a minute, I've fallen back into a pattern of interaction, but is this pattern actually what's effective for this new relationship? And that's generalizable to so many different relationships, but there's that intentionality. And I think as we think about intentionality, as you are new, odds are your calendar is not completely filled every second on day one of your role. And in fact, you may find yourself with a little bit more space in your calendar over those first few weeks as you're onboarding, as you're getting all those things. And I'd say take advantage of that open time to document your thoughts, your goals, your observations. I think that's also a way to help keep it from just spilling out of your mouth,(laughing) is if you're recording it somewhere, even some things of like, wow, I'm noticing this, I'm noticing— What a powerful thing to be able to reflect on after you've been there six, twelve, eighteen months, two, three years of what were some of your first observations?-Mmm.-What were some of the things you hoped you didn't forget? So take a little bit of that time to also just track and document your own process, your own journey, those hypotheses and theories and observations you're developing. It's so helpful.-Yeah.-The two other things I was going to mention, then we can wrap up, is the shadow boss idea, and you referenced this, and it's making sure that you are not treating your new boss as if it was your previous boss, or your previous, previous boss, or your previous, previous, previous boss. Because too often we can have this shadow boss still. And we expect that this person is going to respond like our previous boss did. And they're an entirely new person. So it's helping shift that mindset, that reactions that you're expecting. You want to challenge yourself to say, wait a minute, maybe there's a different reaction, and let me understand what that looks like. And the other thing I'll point out is transitioning to a new job is a fantastic opportunity to rewrite some of your work rhythms, some of your work patterns. What you don't want to do necessarily is just go in and continue the same patterns that you were frustrated with that you did before, such as your morning routines. Or how you finished the day, or how you were on email 24 hours a day, or how you worked nonstop, or how you responded so quickly, or you didn't respond quickly. All of these are working styles and patterns that a new job enables you to have a fresh slate, a fresh way of rewriting so that you can show up as your best self. You can adopt practices that maybe you've been wanting to, but for whatever reason haven't been able to, so that you can be more productive and leverage more of your strengths and be more of an empathetic, understanding leader for your team as well as the rest of your life and aligning your life more with the values that you have. You do‚ It's a fresh start for you, especially if you're coming into a new organization. Nobody has a history with you. They don't know what you used to do outside of what your resume or a few people may have shared in a reference. You're able to be a new leader if you'd like. So it's taking advantage of that opportunity. And then I'll add one thing as well from just the human side and how physiologically we respond to change. As you are orienting yourself to a new organization, you're meeting these new relationships, you're learning the new processes and systems and all these other things, it takes a lot more cognitive horsepower. Like it takes a lot of extra mental thought and effort. You will most likely find yourself more tired,(laughing) even though you're like, what have I really accomplished? It's because you are taking in so much more information and you're trying to synthesize that into the schemas, those thought processes, the patterns, the routines that you've been used to going through. So give yourself a little bit of a break if you do find yourself a little bit more tired, even though you might look at the calendar and not feel like you accomplished as much as you may have in your prior role. You're doing a lot. It's taking a lot more thought work.-That's well said. Well said. Peter, thanks. It's been a great conversation as we're thinking through what not to do and what to do during your first 90 days. And listeners, thank you very much for spending the time with us today. Please like and subscribe and spend some time with us in future episodes as well as we think about and work on tips and practices to help you be successful as a leader. Thanks so much, everybody. Take care. If you like this episode, please share it with a friend or colleague. Or, better yet, leave a review to help other listeners find our show. And remember to subscribe so you never miss an episode. For more great content or to learn more about how Stewart Leadership can help you grow your ability to lead effectively, please visit stewartleadership.com.