The First 90 days: Hacks for the corner office
Regardless of whether the hire is from outside or within the organisation, a keen sense of the complexities of running the enterprise will have the new CEO asking for more hours in a day.

- Jan 28, 2016,
- Updated Jan 28, 2016 9:49 AM IST

This article is about the crucial "first 90 days" for a new CEO. Regardless of whether the hire is from outside or within the organisation, hitting the ground running with a keen sense of the complexities of running the enterprise will have the new CEO asking for more hours in a day. Apart from being an agile learner, the newly minted CEO also has to have a good ability to work with people, win their trust, understand the networks that abound and influence….all this in 90 days!
Why 90 days? Well, to begin with, it is a quarter and businesses are used to a series of metrics that measure quarterly performance and it is acceptable as a good time frame to ensure engaged transition. Your colleagues and your boss form opinions about you based on limited information, and those opinions are sticky - it's hard to change their minds. So, shaping their impressions right from the beginning is essential.
There is nothing more nerve wracking for the new CEO than to find his executive team being passive aggressive or just not "buying in" to his thoughts. He has to "earn his stripes" through a set of strategic, well-thought-out actions to inspire credibility. The sooner he manages to do this, the easier it is for him to navigate and course-correct his executive team and, subsequently, the organisation.
This article is about the crucial "first 90 days" for a new CEO. Regardless of whether the hire is from outside or within the organisation, hitting the ground running with a keen sense of the complexities of running the enterprise will have the new CEO asking for more hours in a day. Apart from being an agile learner, the newly minted CEO also has to have a good ability to work with people, win their trust, understand the networks that abound and influence….all this in 90 days!
Why 90 days? Well, to begin with, it is a quarter and businesses are used to a series of metrics that measure quarterly performance and it is acceptable as a good time frame to ensure engaged transition. Your colleagues and your boss form opinions about you based on limited information, and those opinions are sticky - it's hard to change their minds. So, shaping their impressions right from the beginning is essential.
There is nothing more nerve wracking for the new CEO than to find his executive team being passive aggressive or just not "buying in" to his thoughts. He has to "earn his stripes" through a set of strategic, well-thought-out actions to inspire credibility. The sooner he manages to do this, the easier it is for him to navigate and course-correct his executive team and, subsequently, the organisation.