In the early 2000s the Harvard Business School did a study on leadership that pointed out how important the first three months are to the new manager. It was clear in that study that when a company hires a new leader, it puts itself at risk—and the new manager’s career at risk as well. If the wrong person is hired, internal strife and the loss of key employees can result—even key customer or vendor relationships can fall apart, just in three months!

For the person who took that role and failed, it is a disaster, one that appears impossible to come back from until enough time has passed, perhaps along with a move to a new employer. That’s why it is critical when changing jobs—or when hiring a new leader—to know the interpersonal and cultural issues that surround the fit. While that’s natural and expected for a new manager coming in from outside the company, this analysis may not be a part of the process for the individual who is promoted internally to a leadership post. For that person, the change to leadership can be quite dramatic.

This month, my focus will be on understanding the elements of success for the first three months in a new manager’s job. It’s natural to want to “show your stuff” over the course of the first days and weeks, but everything you do as a new manager must be considered carefully.

The key to 90-day success is credibility
Each of us must build credibility, whether we’ve been hired for the “Boss/Subordinate” leadership role or the “Lead by influence” role. The former has a traditional reporting structure—one person managing several subordinates—while the other might be a project manager whose people only report to her for that project as they are not direct reports. Even though everyone wants to have the Boss/Subordinate job in a cushy office, it’s the “Lead by influence” position that really teaches a person how to build credibility.

When a client uses us in their hiring process for a new leadership role, we will always gravitate to candidates who have had some kind of “Lead by influence” job in their career. During that role, they learned how important it is to be seen as credible with their colleagues. That’s because when you are managing people without the power of formal authority, your only leverage is the respect you’ve built up with them. And, of course, the backbone of influence is respect.

Elements of credibility
Let’s say that you are a scientist or an engineer. If I asked you what you think makes you credible, you are likely to tell me that it is your technical prowess. Maybe it’s your skills as a chemist or as a packaging engineer that come to mind as credibility builders. While you might have a fair number of publications in your area of expertise, or a very special niche that you’ve become known for, that’s only going to help you when it comes to being respected for technical knowledge. We all know people who are great at what they do in the lab or pilot plant, but who wouldn’t rate a “D” grade for their company credibility. Credibility is composed of much more than one’s core set of skills.

Success in the first 90 days seems to stem from something more esoteric—it is based on traits that are more about human interpersonal relations and less about publication lists and scientific standing.

I was recently discussing this topic with a client of mine. “To me, a new manager, even a very knowledgeable source on a given topic, can still lose points with me on credibility by the way they manage our initial interactions,” she told me. “I like to interact with sincere people who have a great passion for what we do here. Someone who comes across in any way as phony loses all credibility as a new boss, even if they are working with topics in which they may have studied for a decade. The new leader must couple his or her technical authority with words and actions that reinforce a general sense of confidence, a self-knowledge and presence that gives their team the comfort that they are talking to a real person.”

This aspect of “comfort” is critical, because for the first few months of your new role, the team will be very uncomfortable as they wait to see how things shake out with the new boss. Even small matters like the sound of your voice can have an effect. The pitch, volume, and tempo of your voice tells the other, at a subconscious level, how comfortable you are and how much credence they should give you. The more desperation that creeps into your voice, the less interested your team will be in supporting your ideas. Your voice should project confidence instead of anxiety.

My final comment on the topic of credibility is the importance of sincere enthusiasm. This is where many new bosses can get into trouble, because it’s so easy to add a bit of “rah-rah” to a team meeting. But it isn’t rah-rah phoniness that your team members are hoping to hear. It’s a genuine interest in them as people, combined with an eagerness to learn about their strengths as you find a way to get the right person in the right job. Remember, in your first team meeting, your people will be subconsciously rating your credibility on a sliding scale, with “Credibility” on one side and “Pure BS” on the other. Stick to the good side of that measure!

In conclusion, don’t wing it
It’s easy to just sit down in your new desk and start giving orders. Heck, you’re the new boss, why not, right? But the best new managers know that this will only be seen as disruptive, and far more success can be achieved by developing and following a 90-day plan.

As I have already suggested, the best 90-day plan allows the new manager is to spend time visiting with each of his people over the first 90 days, as well as with peers and senior leadership in order to establish credibility. Listen well and start to build those relationships that will get things done based on teamwork and respect.

Sadly, your team will make decisions about your credibility based on relatively little information at first. Later, you’ll find that those opinions are then very hard to change if they aren’t positive. So, going forward into your new job, make sure you are seen as a boss who will listen, who will take the pulse before taking dramatic action and creating consequences that can only be guessed at. 

The Latin root of the word credibility is “credere,” which means “to believe.” Sure, it’s very easy to believe a chemist when she is speaking about a subject on which she’s already published six papers. But how many new leaders do you think survive solely on their technical merits? None that I’ve ever seen! Your new manager role will require you to use every interpersonal skill you’ve developed since childhood, but first you must be seen as a credible boss by people who will be looking to you to provide them with both inspiration and job satisfaction. That’s a hefty new responsibility!