The First 90 Days, Michael D. Watkins
The First 90 Days, Michael D. Watkins
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The First 90 Days
Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter

Author: Michael D. Watkins

Narrator: Grover Gardner

Unabridged: 6 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 04/23/2013


Synopsis

The world’s most trusted guide for leaders in transition

Transitions are a critical time for leaders. In fact, most agree that moving into a new role is the biggest challenge a manager will face. While transitions offer a chance to start fresh and make needed changes in an organization, they also place leaders in a position of acute vulnerability. Missteps made during the crucial first three months in a new role can jeopardize or even derail your success.

In this updated and expanded version of the international bestseller The First 90 Days, Michael D. Watkins offers proven strategies for conquering the challenges of transitions—no matter where you are in your career. Watkins, a noted expert on leadership transitions and adviser to senior leaders in all types of organizations, also addresses today’s increasingly demanding professional landscape, where managers face not only more frequent transitions but also steeper expectations once they step into their new jobs.

By walking you through every aspect of the transition scenario, Watkins identifies the most common pitfalls new leaders encounter and provides the tools and strategies you need to avoid them. You’ll learn how to secure critical early wins, an important first step in establishing yourself in your new role. Each chapter also includes checklists, practical tools, and self-assessments to help you assimilate key lessons and apply them to your own situation.

Whether you’re starting a new job, being promoted from within, embarking on an overseas assignment, or being tapped as CEO, how you manage your transition will determine whether you succeed or fail. Use this book as your trusted guide.

About Michael D. Watkins

Michael D. Watkins is a professor of leadership and organizational change at the IMD Business School and a cofounder of Genesis Advisers. In 2023, he was inducted into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame in recognition of his decades of contributions to management and leadership. Originally from Canada, Michael received his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo, did graduate work in law and business at the University of Western Ontario, and completed his Ph.D. in decision sciences at Harvard University. He subsequently was a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard Business School and an affiliate faculty member at the Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation.Michael is the author of sixteen books, including Right From the Start (with Dan Ciampa), The First 90 Days, Shaping the Game, and Master Your Next Move. The First 90 Days has been called “the onboarding bible” by the Economist and is an Amazon “100 Leadership and Success Books to Read in a Lifetime.” An international bestseller, it has also been translated into 20 languages. He is also the author or co-author of dozens of articles on leadership in the Harvard Business Review and Sloan Management Review. In addition to his research and writing, Michael coaches C-level executives taking new roles, supports leadership team development at senior levels, and consults extensively on organizational transformation.  


Reviews

Goodreads review by Erika on January 03, 2015

I think I must not be the target audience for this book because I found it dull. The book had a number of useful techniques but it was definitely targeted toward leaders in more traditional companies than my workplace. I would like to read a book with fundamentally the same content but written for f......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on April 14, 2010

I'm very skeptical of business books - I see them as slightly more serious versions of Get Rich Quick books and Self Help books. But this was actually helpful. As someone who's worked in less traditional office and business settings, starting a new job in a real organization would be a very differen......more

Goodreads review by Kristine on July 16, 2012

If I was transitioning into a more senior role and I read this book, I think I'd quit before I even got started. There's a lot of organizational development, change management, people management, knowledge management, to scare anyone off - especially if you are trying to get a handle on these things......more

Goodreads review by Scott on January 29, 2018

The First 90 Days is focused on providing proven strategies for effectively getting through transitions from one job to another job or one company to another. The book is marketed at professionals in all levels of an organization, but there is a secondary emphasis on those in a leadership role. Don’......more

Goodreads review by Bob on August 04, 2008

As a keen student of new manager behaviour always on the lookout for new ideas, I picked up “The First 90 Days” with great anticipation. Michael Watkins sets out to provide new managers (he calls them “leaders”) with a 90 day plan for taking over in a new role. There’s lots to recommend this book. T......more