Congrats, You’re Hired!
Now what?
By Matthew Laffer
March 14, 2024
You landed a new job on the executive team. Congrats! Now what?
Do you have a system for doing your work?
Do you have a system or a framework for your first 100 days? Does this framework resonate with you? Does it help you to succeed at the onset? Is it clear? Does it remove the guess work? Is it actionable?
This is not a plug for any particular framework. It is about elevating the importance of having a framework that resonates and works for you. Too frequently I see executives start their new leadership role without a structure in place to ensure a great start.
If your plan is to simply “do your best”, ummm…good luck with that!
Here’s a simple yet effective, three-part framework for thinking about your first 100 days. The framework is based on (1) framing the role, (2) playing on the executive team, and (3) leading your team. The framework is not linear but rather for categorizing the work to be performed simultaneously.
Variables including company size, stage of company lifecycle, and company culture have been intentionally excluded from this piece. Culture, especially, is an important and big concept that should be addressed separately. These variables and others will impact your balance of speed and patience. Your “honeymoon” phase is also dependent on these variables which is why you’ll want to understand them in a deep and substantial way early on.
1. Framing the role.
Framing includes defining success for the role in a clear, quantifiable way. What is expected of you? What is good short-term and long-term performance? Goal specificity has a main effect on performance level.
How will you create feedback loops to amplify perceptions, uncover needs, and create opportunities for collaboration and cooperation across the company? You’ll want to develop mechanisms for real-time feedback rather than wait for your review cycle. This will support faster growth and make for a superior review experience.
Real-time feedback *is* performance management. Study this well.
Framing also includes creating a compelling vision and direction for the role and function. Here’s a prompt you might consider using with others to help unlock ideas and big picture thinking. “Imagine that everything has gone as well as it possibly could. Tell me what you imagine.”
Make them yearn for the sea. “If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men (and women) to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
2. Playing on the executive team.
How will you make an impact on the executive team and the business? Knowing the right questions to ask is essential to understanding the full range of opportunities and challenges.
A few questions for assessing the executive team:
When the team is at its best, what are we doing?
What do you think the team needs right now?
What are a handful of things that matter at this time?
How are decisions made?
What might be potential blind spots for the team?
How do we want to be leaderful together?
Get to know the key players well to gain a deep understanding of how the company really works.
A few questions for assessing the business:
Why do investors want to invest in this business? Insight into why others invest can be a great lens.
Is the business that was started the same business that we’re in? What business are we in today?
Is more better or is better more? The answer to this question is revealing and could be helpful with strategy and planning in the short-term and in the long-term.
What percent of revenue comes from new markets, products, and services that didn’t exist three years ago? How is the company prioritizing creativity and risk taking?
Is there an easy-to-understand dashboard that aligns with the company strategy and long-term plans? Does it display more than just outcomes so that there’s real visibility into direction and momentum? Meaningful dashboards are far too undervalued in my opinion.
What is the current degree of variation between budget versus actual? Can we stretch the budget and achieve it? Predictably and repeatedly?
A well-constructed SWOT analysis can be extremely valuable for building on strengths, converting weaknesses into strengths, and threats into opportunities.
3. Leading your team.
What do you, as the new leader, need to do?
Do you have a strategy or a framework for teamwork and effectively leading your team?
Here’s one framework for your consideration, courtesy of Richard Hackman. May he rest in peace and dance with joy knowing that his work lives on through others.
Richard is an OG in leading teams and developed his 60-30-10 framework working with teams for more than 50 years. It’s an extremely thoughtful way of allocating your energy to where it will have the most impact.
The 60% is for intentional team design, the 30% involves breathing life into the team’s design by collectively engaging and formulating how team members will work together, and the final 10% is hands-on expert coaching.
A short story: A guy went to buy himself a suit. During his fitting he learns that one of the sleeves on his jacket is too long. The tailor suggests that he bend his arm slightly to make it fit better. But by doing this he will also need to adjust the other shoulder so that will fit too. He leaves wearing the suit with one arm bent and the other shoulder hunched over. Two women see this and turn to each other. One says to the other, “Look at this poor guy.” The other woman responds, “Yeah, but the suit fits him.”
This is a story of how *not* to design your team. If changes are required, make them wisely. Don’t compound the problem.
Not sure where to start? Here are a few questions to get you started.
Does the team have the right people? People with the skills, including teamwork skills, as well as a range of work styles and perspectives to execute the strategy creatively and well. Hiring is almost always necessary. Hire for what you want to accomplish in the next 12 to 18 months and hire for hunger. Hunger doesn’t get complacent. Hunger is always learning. Hunger is always hungry.
Does the team operate in a sound structure? How are tasks designed, what is the best team size, and how has the team agreed to work together, especially during times of opportunity and challenge?
Unpopular opinion: A large headcount is an inverse indicator. Small, focused, high-performing teams win.
Does the team operate in a supportive context? How is teamwork recognized and rewarded, how and when is coaching available, and how is the team learning to manage themselves?
Pro-tip:
A great first impression matters a lot and makes everything easier. Under-indexing on one’s inner life during this critical time is a big miss for many. This will also be true for your first 10,000 days.
Matthew Laffer is a 3x entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO at Goalspriing.
