The First 90 Days (3 page)

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Back Cover

You’ve just been promoted to a new leadership position. You’re not yet sure of the challenges ahead or how you will meet them. All you know is that you have three months to get on top of the job and move forward—or fail.

This book is your road map for taking charge quickly and effectively during critical career transition periods, whether you’re a first-time manager or a new CEO. Written by noted leadership transition expert Michael Watkins,
The First 90 Days
outlines proven strategies that will dramatically shorten the time it takes to reach what Watkins calls the “breakeven point”: the point at which your organization needs you as much as you need the job.

Based on three years of research into leadership transitions at all levels and hands-on work designing transition programs for top companies, Watkins provides illustrative examples and actionable tools that will show you how to: Assess your strengths and weaknesses and identify personal vulnerabilities Diagnose your situation and understand its challenges and opportunities Negotiate a productive working relationship with your boss

Secure early wins that establish credibility and create momentum

Build your team and connect with influential support coalitions

Align strategy, structure, systems, and skills to enable success

Balance personal and professional demands during the transition

About the Author

Michael Watkins is an Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he does research on leadership and negotiation. He is the author of several books, including
Breakthrough Business Negotiation: A Toolbox
for Managers
(2002); the coauthor of
Right from the Start: Taking Charge in a New Leadership Role
(HBS Press, 1999); and the author of
Leadership Transitions
, an HBSP eLearning Program.

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The First 90 Days —Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at

All Levels

Michael Watkins

Harvard Business School Press

Boston, Massachusetts

copyright 2003 Michael Watkins

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

07 06 05 04 10 9 8 7 6

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of

the publisher. Requests for permission should be directed to [email protected]
, or mailed to Permissions, Harvard Business School Publishing, 60 Harvard Way, Boston, Massachusetts 02163.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Watkins, Michael, 1956–

The first 90 days : critical success strategies for new leaders at all levels / Michael Watkins. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-59139-110-5 (alk. paper) 1. Leadership. 2. Executive ability. 3. Strategic planning. 4. Management. I. Title: First ninety day. II. Title. HD57.7.W38 2003 658.4—dc21

2003010766

The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Publications and Documents in Libraries and Archives Z39.48-1992.

About the Author

Michael Watkins
is an Associate Professor at Harvard Business School, where he studies leadership and negotiation.

He teaches a popular second-year course on corporate diplomacy, which explores how executives negotiate with other business leaders, government officials, the media, and other stakeholders to shape the external environments of their organizations.

Prior to joining the HBS faculty in 1996, Watkins was an Associate Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. While at the Kennedy School, he studied complex international diplomacy negotiations in the Middle East, Korea, and the Balkans and coauthored
Breakthrough International Negotiation: How Great Negotiators
Transformed the World’s Toughest Post–Cold War Conflicts
.

Watkins is also the author of
Breakthrough Business Negotiation: A Toolbox for Managers,
which won the CPR

Institute’s prize for best book in the field of negotiation in 2002, and coauthor of
Winning the Influence Game: What
Every Business Leader Should Know About Government
and
Right from the Start: Taking Charge in a New
Leadership Role.

To Dan

With gratitude for your insight and friendship.

M. W.