Leadership Approach

Find a current business event from The Wall Street Journal that represents a leadership challenge. Now, imagine you have been asked to step into the leadership role to manage the challenge.

Discuss the steps you would take in the first 90 days of your leadership. Explain your approach by applying learning from the lectures, videos, and readings this week, as well as any relevant concepts from earlier in the course.

NOTE: Be sure to include a link to the article you are discussing in your post.

Post your initial response by Wednesday, midnight of your time zone, and reply to at least 2 of your classmates’ initial posts by Sunday, midnight of your time zone.​

Click here to view a video about The First 90 Days(R) Online – our new LMS-based performance support tool.

My research shows leaders who derail or under-perform in their new roles often fall into common traps in their First 90 Days. Have you fallen into any of these traps? Have you seen others do so?

Trap #1: Not adapting to the new culture

Leaders who move between companies (or even units of the same company) risk stumbling into cultural minefields. When new leaders act in ways that are inconsistent with the culture, they risk triggering an organizational immune system attack. The result is that they become increasingly disconnected and isolated from the flow of critical information about what is really going on in the organization. This further increases their vulnerability to making bad calls, and contributes to a vicious cycle that ends in failure.

Trap #2: Not engaging in social learning

New leaders can become isolated because they spend too much time reading and thinking and not enough time meeting and talking. Sometimes this happens because the new leader wants to “know” the organization, by reading everything available, before venturing out into it. But the resulting isolation inhibits the development of important relationships and cultivation of sources of information about what is really going on. If this goes on for too long, the new leader may rapidly be labeled as remote and unapproachable. Impressions, ideas, and strong feelings about how to deal with issues are often more important than financial analyses in making crucial early decisions. New leaders must get out and into their organizations quickly.

Trap #3: Coming in with “the answer”

Another common trap is to come into the organization with “the answer,” a well-defined fix for the organizational problems. New leaders fall into this trap through arrogance or insecurity or because they believe they must appear decisive and establish a directive tone. But employees who perceive leaders to be dealing superficially with deep problems are inclined to become cynical, making it difficult to rally support for change. When employees believe their leaders’ minds to be made up, they may become reticent to share information, thereby effectively impeding the latters’ learning about broader, more complex dimensions of the situation.

Trap #4: Staying too long with the existing team

New leaders, especially those with a collegial style, often believe that the subordinates they inherit deserve as much opportunity as possible to prove themselves. Some perceive this to be an issue of fairness; in others, it springs from arrogance (“I can make these people change better than my predecessor did”) or hubris (“All it takes is hard work, listening, giving them support, and just plain leadership”). Whatever the source of the impulse, retaining team members with a record of mediocre performance is seldom advisable. This is not to say that new leaders should be unfair, expect miracles, or fire people summarily. What they should do is impose a time limit—3-6 months is a good rule of thumb, depending on the severity of the problem—for deciding who should be on the playing field.

Trap #5: Attempting too much

Some new leaders try to do too many things at once, believing that “If I get enough things going, something is bound to click.” Such leaders are effectively trying to send a message that winners are active and quick and able to handle diverse challenges simultaneously. What this approach usually accomplishes, however, is to confuse and overwhelm people rather than spur them to action. New leaders have to experiment and try different approaches to discover what works and what doesn’t. But excessive experimentation can deprive promising change initiatives of the requisite critical mass of resources and attention.

Trap #6: Getting captured by the wrong people

The arrival of a new leader in an organization inevitably precipitates jockeying by those who have exerted influence in the old regime. Among the many people vying for a new leader’s attention will be those who (1) cannot help because they are not capable, (2) are well-meaning but out of touch, (3) actually wish to mislead, or (4) are simply seeking power for its own sake. New leaders must exercise care in deciding to whom to listen and to what degree. If selected internal advisors do not represent a broad enough constituency, have skewed or limited information, or use their proximity to the leader to advance partisan agendas, others might inadvertently be alienated and valuable input lost. Just as one is known by the company one keeps, so judgments about new leaders are based on perceptions of who influences them.

Trap #7: Setting unrealistic expectations

Finally, new leaders get into trouble when they assume that the mandate they negotiated before they entered the organization (or in the early days on the job) is the complete story, that it will remain unchanged or that it represents a blank check. New leaders should never presume that an initial mandate will or should remain unchanged. Rather, they must devote considerable effort during the transition to negotiating with their superiors to clarify their mandate and set expectations. Often, this means understanding the nature of key constituencies’ expectations and then carefully deflating those that are dangerously high, while taking advantage of those that can be useful.

Click here to view a video about The First 90 Days(R) Online – our new LMS-based performance support tool.

Why don’t companies support leaders making challenging internal moves? Check out my

new HBR piece

to find out.

JWI 510: Leadership in the 21st Century

Lecture Notes

© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be
copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University.

JWI 510 – Lecture Notes (1194) Page 1 of 3

Week 9: Becoming the Leader

The challenges of the first three months in a new leadership position can be significant, whether you are
becoming the leader of a team, a department, or an entire organization. A lot is at stake regarding
organizational effectiveness and career success – both yours and those of the people being led by you.
Leveraging a proven model will help ensure that you make a successful transition into the new leadership
role. This week, we will explore practical steps you can take to make your move into a new role successful
and to embrace the challenges the new opportunity presents.

Leading in the First 90 Days

Four common types of business situations must be understood for you to select the most effective
leadership strategy: startup, turnaround, realignment, and sustaining. These business situations can be
particular to a team or department, or they could apply to the entire organization.

Startups and turnarounds give new leaders the opportunity to start fresh. For these situations, courage is
essential because difficult decisions are often required early on. Realignments and sustaining conditions
present a different challenge. A new leader must quickly assess what to preserve because it is successful,
and what to change to move the organization forward. Once the type of business situation is identified, two
fundamental choices must be made:

1. A decision whether to focus on learning about the organization or taking action
In turnarounds and startups, the emphasis is typically on immediate action. Often, early
decisions will be required even without complete information. The new leader does not have
the luxury of a protracted analytical phase, and must focus on quickly identifying what is
needed to manage the tactical elements as quickly as possible.

2. A decision whether to proactively pursue new initiatives or to defend the current
position of the company

While the best strategy may integrate elements of both, a new leader must decide which to
emphasize initially. Of course, for a startup, the emphasis is on active pursuit of new initiatives.
In a turnaround, the strategy is to find the core strengths and work to protect them. For a
realignment situation, identifying new initiatives is important, as is defending the current
position. For sustaining an organization, the best approach is typically to support the current
company position.

JWI 510: Leadership in the 21st Century
Lecture Notes

© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be
copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University.

JWI 510 – Lecture Notes (1194) Page 2 of 3

Early Wins

What comprises an early win is different for each business situation. Devising a clear strategy and forming
the right team are essential wins early in a startup situation. In a turnaround, it is also important to get the
right team on board, as well as to determine which core components of the business to focus on. In
realignments, because employees often do not see the need for change, an early win is building urgency
and buy-in regarding the need for change. For sustaining situations, the important early win is when others
in the organization know that you understand what makes that organization successful.

The 10 Key Transition Opportunities

1. Promote yourself – let go of the old, take charge of the new

2. Accelerate learning – focus on what you need to learn first, given the situation

3. Diagnose and match strategy to the situation

4. Secure early wins

5. Build a good relationship with your new boss – refer to Week 7 for ideas about how to do this

6. Focus on strategic alignment to ensure the business’s strategy, structure, systems, and capabilities
are aligned

7. Build your team – apply candor, differentiation, and transparency

8. Build alliances – review Week 7 material for useful approaches

9. Build your network – find others to help you keep your perspective and provide counsel

10. Support everyone’s transition to your leadership

JWI 510: Leadership in the 21st Century
Lecture Notes

© Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University confidential and proprietary information and may not be
copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed, in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University.

JWI 510 – Lecture Notes (1194) Page 3 of 3

Your Leadership Journey

• If you are new to leadership, think about how to establish some early wins in your new role.

• If you are already a team leader, consider the transition traps that you may face when you are
moving from a past leadership role into a new position.

• If you are a senior/veteran leader, consider how you – and your direct reports leading their teams –
can embrace crucibles as poignant leading experiences.