One of the clearest symptoms of modern MBA brain poisoning is that everyone knows that it takes leaders a lot of time to get up to speed on a new organization, and even longer to demonstrate results. Yet the average tenure of an executive is a bit over two years. Companies are constantly shuffling around more or less identical haircuts in the hopes of something different happening.


Stock photo of a Real Business Situation. Can you help this man draw a plot that goes up and to the right?

In the desolate wasteland of business books, The First 90 Days is pretty good. Watkins makes several key observations: First, your success as a leader will depend on establishing credibility early. What counts as credibility is local to each organization. As such it is important to objectively figure out what kind of situation you're in, and act appropriately.

Start-Ups have limited resources and need to scale quickly, requiring agility and inspirational leadership. Turnarounds require decisive action to cut out dead wood and restore morale in broken organizations. Aggressive growth has to take a successful project or culture and make it big, without sacrificing what made it valuable in the first place. And finally, reframing and business as usual require slower and more sensitive skills.

Watkins also recommends a clear timeline, with 30 days to get your bearings and another 60 to deliver results. Work with your superiors and subordinates so they understand the need for deliberate speed, and things will go better. And as always, the politics are foremost.