The First 90 Days

The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins is a comprehensive guide for leaders transitioning into new roles, emphasizing the critical importance of the initial three months. Watkins, a renowned expert in leadership and organizational change, provides actionable strategies to help new leaders build trust, foster relationships, and achieve operational excellence. The book draws on real-life examples and practical tips to illustrate how leaders can effectively navigate their new environments, make impactful decisions, and drive team success. Reading this book equips leaders with the tools to establish a strong foundation, ensuring long-term success and growth in their new positions.

Key Ideas:

1. The Power of Community and Connection: Bill Campbell's life and career underscored the importance of building a strong, supportive community. His ability to connect with people from all walks of life created a vast network of mutual respect and love, illustrating that successful leadership often transcends professional boundaries. For instance, his memorial featured friends from his sports days, business associates, and even a caddie from his golf course. 'This great business leader... had earned the honorific 'Ballsy' through his aggressive play on the Columbia football field.' This shows that leadership is not just about professional achievements but also about the personal relationships one cultivates.

2. Leadership through Relational Transparency: Great leadership requires honesty, integrity, and clear communication. Bill Campbell's method of 'relational transparency' involved being forthright with both positive and negative feedback while maintaining a supportive environment. 'Bill would tell a story and let Jonathan go off and think about it until their next session to see if Jonathan could process and understand the lesson.' This method not only fosters trust but also allows team members to learn and grow through introspection and personal initiative.

3. Embrace Eccentricity for High Performance: Bill Campbell appreciated team members who were outspoken and not afraid to challenge the status quo. These 'difficult' individuals often possess the courage and drive needed to propel a team forward. Bill’s tolerance and even encouragement of such characters illustrate the value of embracing unique, and sometimes abrasive, personalities to form a high-functioning team. 'It’s not what you used to do, it’s not what you think, it’s what you do every day.' This approach encourages a culture of consistent performance and accountability.

4. Commitment and Integrity in Success: Bill Campbell's approach emphasized that success isn't just about winning but 'winning right' with integrity, commitment, and teamwork. He believed in prioritizing ethical behavior and dedicating full attention to whatever task was at hand. 'There was nothing cooler than knowing that for that hour at practice, we were the most important thing to him.' This notion extends to his business coaching, where he dealt with high-ranking executives and middle school children alike with the same level of dedication and honesty.

5. The Importance of Genuine Connection: True leadership involves caring about the whole person, not just their professional contributions. 'He treated everyone with respect, he learned their names, he gave them a warm greeting.' By remembering details about his coworkers' families and lives, Bill created a supportive and loyal environment. This approach wasn't about surface-level interactions but genuine, heartfelt engagement with people's personal lives.

6. Building Trust through Compassion: Trust is cultivated through genuine compassion. 'Trust is the foundation of any high-performing team, built not just on competence but on compassion and understanding.' Watkins emphasizes that understanding and addressing the emotional states of team members boosts organizational effectiveness. Leaders who show empathy create a more cohesive and cooperative work environment.

7. The Role of Visionary Founders: Bill Campbell believed in the critical role that founders play in maintaining a company's vision and soul. 'When we reduce company leadership to its operational essence, we negate another very important component: vision.' His experience at companies like Apple, Intuit, and Google underscored his belief that founders, despite their limitations, offer unique value through their passion and vision for the company.

Practical Tips:

1. Embrace Diversity in Connections: Build and foster relationships with people from various stages of your life and different walks of life. Engage in communities not just for professional networking but for genuine, mutual support.

2. Focus on Team Coaching: Instead of seeing management as a task of directing or controlling, adopt a coaching mindset. Engage with your team members regularly, help them resolve conflicts, and facilitate their professional growth.

3. Create Safe Spaces for Discussion: Encourage open dialogue by establishing regular check-ins and forums where team members can express their ideas and concerns without fear of negative repercussions.

4. Engage Founders Meaningfully: Ensure founders stay engaged in a meaningful way regardless of their operating role. Founders offer invaluable passion and vision, which are essential for a company's long-term success.

5. Practice Active Listening: Focus on the speaker, avoid interrupting, and provide feedback that shows understanding. This can be done by summarizing back what you’ve heard and asking clarifying questions to deepen comprehension.

Key Quotes:

• To be a good manager, you have to think about how you’re going to run a meeting, how you’re going to run an operations review... Management excellence leads to leadership.

• Trust means you keep your word... and it means ability, the trust that you actually had the talent, skills, power, and diligence to accomplish what you promised.

• If you have the right conversation, Bill counseled, then eight out of ten times people will reach the best conclusion on their own.

• Compensation isn’t just about the economic value of the money; it’s about the emotional value.

• Bill made it okay to bring love to the workplace. He created a culture...of ‘companionate’ love: feelings of affection, compassion, caring, and tenderness for others.

• When we reduce company leadership to its operational essence, we negate another very important component: vision.

• Mentorship and coaching are intensely personal.

• People are the foundation of any company’s success. The primary job of each manager is to help people be more effective in their job and to grow and develop.

• Managers create this environment through support, respect, and trust.

• Smart alecks are not coachable.

• Leaders lead, you can’t afford to doubt. You need to commit. You can make mistakes, but you can’t have one foot in and one foot out, because if you aren’t fully committed then the people around you won’t be, either.

• Listening is not just hearing. It’s about fully engaging with what your team members are saying, both verbally and non-verbally, to foster trust and effective collaboration.

• Trust is the foundation of any high-performing team, built not just on competence but on compassion and understanding.

• Conflict, if addressed correctly, can be a catalyst for team growth and innovation rather than a source of division.

• Bill was always 100 percent honest (he told the truth) and candid (he wasn’t afraid to offer a harsh opinion).