I am reading The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders At All Levels by Michael Watkins. Watkins was a professor at the Harvard School of Business when he wrote the book. Now he is a professor at IMD, a business school in Switzerland. The premise of the book is to speed up the time to adjust to a new position and begin to contribute to the organization.
(business jargon- transition acceleration to the breakeven point)
The book was written with business managers in mind, but there are many things I can apply to a non-profit organization and the principalship of an international school. International schools have a high transient rate and principals are in positions for 3-4 years on average. I will probably be making several more transitions in my career so this book will be useful. I read parts of this book during a seminar in 2004 I took with AISH with former CEO Clark Kirkpatrick. I am revisiting the book and reading it more in depth because this is truly a new school I am going to, not like in 2004 when I was promoted from within. Although in retrospect, I should have followed the book more closely. I won’t make that mistake this time. While reading the book, I am writing my own 90 day entry plan for the International School of Belgrade. Below are my notes from my reading:
Introduction
The Five Fundamental Propositions of the Book
1) Failure or success at a new school is caused by a combination of the school’s opportunities and pitfalls AND the flaws or strengths of a new leader.
2) There are systematic methods a leader can use to lessen the chance of failure and speed up the process.
3) The major goal of a new leader is to establish early credibility.
4) Transitions are a challenge for anyone - they will test one’s personal stamina, demand growth, and strengthen diagnostic skills.
5) Schools can use these methods to accelerate new people coming into the organization.
Road Map of the Book
- Mentally break from my old position into the new position
- Soak up systematically as much learning about the new organization
- Match the strategy to the situation
- Build your credibility early
- Have critical conversations about the organization (New Entry Plan Interviews)
- Figure out if the school’s mission and organization are sound
- Evaluate inherited team, make tough personnel calls early, get right people into the right position
- Find supporters who will be on my side
- Find the right advice-and-counsel network
- Help teachers make the transition quickly too
Chapter 1 “Promote Myself”
Everyone has the urge to work where they were, not where they are during a transition. People have a tendency to micromanage in areas they know best. It is important to find people who will give me good political counsel and personal advice.
Reflection: At EA I do it all and I will have to let go of that and focus on the principalship. One of my strengths is my relationships with parents, teachers, and students. I will need to continue this. Some of my new duties will be an increased focus on student discipline and teacher evaluation. I will also need to learn the IB curriculum and the programs in use at the school
Chapter 2 “Accelerate My Learning”
This chapter is about organizing the critical conversations I need to have with the key people in the school. Advice when setting up the interviews are as follows
- Ask essentially the same 5 questions to everyone; challenges, why these challenges, opportunities to grow, what should I focus on
- Careful listening and reflective follow-up will gain insight
- Who answers directly and who evades; who takes responsibility or puts blame;
- The goal is to quickly define key issues the school is facing
Another aspect is to read all of the documents of the organization. I also need to get IB scores because this will give me an outside view of the organization. The next section of the chapter goes into learning the culture, which is really important at a school. On the surface level there is the style of dress, classroom decor and arrangement, etc. - casual or formal? -aggressive or laid back? Below the surface are the norms shared by the group, such as what behaviors get rewarded and what get punished. Most importantly are the assumptions underneath, the unspoken truths everyone takes for granted. Another aspect is how the Serbian culture affects school culture. This I feel, especially with a high percentage of locals on staff and on the student body is the strongest force in a school.
Chapter 3 “Match Strategy to Situation”
This chapter instructs a new leader to study the school and diagnose which of the 4 situations the organization is in. This includes the school as a whole and individual programs.
Start Up – Assemble the team and materials together to start something new
Turn Around – A group recognized to be in trouble and work to get it back on track
Realignment – Revitalize a good group that is drifting into trouble
Sustaining Success – preserve vitality of good group and take it to the next level
Each situation requires different actions from the leader. The first two, one needs to be offensive and make tough calls early. This would include assembling a good team and setting benchmarks without restrictions. The other two are more of a learning about the history of the program and convincing the group that change is necessary. Schools are slightly different than businesses, because many times the personnel is already determined as the nature of schools is to remain static, like a family. It is important that I secure early wins and establish credibility (next chapter) and I can do this by reading the situation early. With a school I need to learn the culture/people/politics aspect which I feel is more important as well as the technical side (IB, Admin Software, Schedule, etc.)
Chapter 4 “Secure Early Wins”
My first few weeks and months at the school will be crucial to how I am perceived. I need to “secure early wins” that is establish my credibility and confidence of the community.
Watkins mentions several traps to avoid.
• Failing to focus, as it is impossible to achieve results in more than a couple of areas.
• Related to that is failing to get wins in things that matter to my boss.
• The last is failure to take into account the culture. I need to include that Serbian culture/school question into my interviews.
I need to define quickly my “A-Item Priorities”. I will do this by speaking with Eric and seeing patterns in my interviews. These priorities need to be neither too general or specific and the goals may need adjustment as I learn more about the situation. If I want to achieve my A-item priorities by the end of my era, I will have to address dysfunctional patterns of behavior of the people in my organization. I need to be very clear on how I expect people to behave. I should do the EARCOS “hot buttons” and the dealing with difficult people workshop learning early in the school year with the staff. Below are some problematic behavior patterns I need to correct:
Problematic Behavior Problems:
Lack of Focus – resources spread too thin, putting out fires instead of endearing solutions.
Lack of Discipline – There are great variations in levels of performance of the team. Teachers and others don’t understand the negative consequences of inconsistency (children learn and grow less) and people make excuses when they fail to meet commitments.
Lack of Innovation – Group does not compare itself with other schools, and employees rewarded for stable but not trying new things.
Lack of Teamwork – People compete and create fiefdoms rather than work together to achieve common goals.
Lack of Sense of Urgency – Teachers ignore the needs of students and parents and are complacent.
I need to really think about what message I want to give to the staff. They will be asking themselves about me…
• Does he have the insight and steadiness to make tough decisions? (tough but humane – decisive but not judicious)
• Does he have values I admire? (focuses but flexible)
• Does he have the right energy?
• Does he demand high levels of performance from himself and others? (demanding but able to be satisfied)
Action Items-→ 1) Get my A-level priorities
2) Clear expectations of teacher behavior
Chapter 5 “Negociate Success”
Too many leaders just play the game and take the situation as a given and failing because of this. This chapter shows how to avoid this by negotiating success. A leader must negotiate success by
- establishing realistic expectations
- reaching consensus on the situation
- securing enough resources
I need to do this with my boss and these are the fundamental Don’ts
- Don’t trash the past - understand it and don’t tolerate mediocrity
- Don’t stay away from the boss; communicate often
- Don’t surprise the boss; give him a heads up on a developing problem
- Don’t approach the boss with only problems - have a solution by taking a few minutes to think about your role and the help you need
- Don’t run down your checklist
- Don’t try to change the boss (adjust to his style)
There are also some good do’s
- Clarify mutual expectations early and often
- Negotiate timelines for diagnosis and planning
- Get wins in areas important to him early
- Pursue good marks from those whose opinion he respects
There are five conversations I need to have with the admin team:
- Diagnosis of the situation (start-up, turnaround, realignment, sustained success)
- Expectations - What will constitute success long term/short term? Measurement of my performance? (Better to under promise achievements and over deliver results.)
- Style- What form of communication is preferred? How often? How do our styles differ and the implications?
- Resources - What do I need to be successful? from him?
- Personal Development - Where do I need to improve? What can I do to improve them?
Other items addressed in the chapter that I need to consider
- Try to deduce what my boss is sensitive about
- Ask the same question in different ways to gain more insight
- Ambiguity about goals and expectations is dangerous
- Decisions - Which can I make and not tell him? Make and tell him? Make a recommendation and send for approval? Defer to him?
- Better to address difficult issue directly and early
I am now at the point in my book to begin writing my 90 day entry plan. I will be able to devise and finalize this after a couple of weeks on the job. Break up the plan into 30 day blocks.
Chapter 6 “Achieve Alignment”
The higher one climbs in an organization, the more one can take the role of organizational architect. One can provide the context for the personnel to reach excellence.
Chapter 7 “Build Your Team”
The most important decisions I will make in the first 90 days will be about the people on my team. “Hire in haste, repent at leisure.” With poor team members, I have to do more myself. In the first 90 days I should be able to decide who will go and who will stay on. There will be likely some good, average, and bad performers that are at any new school I go to. I need to establish criteria on how to judge personnel. The book suggests the following criteria:
- competence -do they no the subject matter, pedagogy, and how to engage students
- judgment - do they make good decisions
- energy
- focus - can they set priorities and stick to them
- relationships - can they get along well with others
- trust- can they keep their word and follow through
Which of these are threshold issues- issues that if a person cannot meet the standard, then none of the rest matters. Most leaders will put trust as the threshold issue. All areas are important, some more than others. I need to ponder this a bit more. I need to keep these in mind when I interview and observe them. The book gives suggestions on how to assess their judgment by pressing them on an outside interest to give an opinion. Also look at how each person acts within the group. Pay attention to eye-rolling, deference, etc.
The business world is a bit more harsh in these areas than schools. I also will not be making the final call on any personnel, but I think I will be asked to make recommendations. The book suggests to place people in the following categories:
- keep in place
- keep and develop
- move to another position
- observe for awhile
- replace (low priority)
- replace (high priority)
The book also reminds leaders to do these assessments respectfully.
The chapter goes on to discuss decision making processes. There is a decision making continuum and most leaders stick to only one way to make decisions, but different situations warrant different processes. The continuum is as follows:
MORE CONTROL - unilateral - consult & decide - build consensus - unanimous LESS CONTROL
The best are the two in the middle (Aristotle’s golden mean). If it is a painful decision, the consult & decide is best, but when a project needs most of people on board, then the build consensus is better.
Chapter Eight “Create Coalitions”
This chapter is about convincing or motivating a staff to go along with a project or system. The advice is to first map the “influence landscape.” That is figuring out who the key players are, and this can be formal or informal. The head of department would be a formal one, and an example of an informal would be a long-time teacher at the school.
A lot of this chapter is about managing resistance to change, which I have done workshops before. Watkins breaks ups the staff in three categories supporters (new to school, people quietly working for change, people who share your vision) and opponents. People are usually opposed to an initiative because of the following:
- comfortable with status quo
- fear of looking incompetent
- threat to their values
- threat to their power
- negative consequences for people they care about
When there is resistance, leaders need to try to grasp the reasons behind it, before labeling the person as an implacable opponent. The third category are the convincibles (swing voters). Once again the advice is to put yourself in their shoes.
The tools of persuasion a leader has are as follows:
- bribery & threats (bribes make the change more attractive than the status quo and threats make the status quo not an option
- compelling arguments - (It is good for student learning. It is the right thing to do. Respect their profession. Do the best you can. Create a better school/country.)
- set up action-forcing events - lock people into timetables, set goals, careful not to close to soon until the balance of people are on your side
If none of the above work, then one needs to resort to entanglement strategies. This means to have them do a small step first (attend the first presentation), because each step brings them closer, and when possible, try to make the step irreversible. Get them to see the problem and work on solutions. Another good strategy is to approach influential people first before the group to get them on your side.
Chapter 9 “Keep My Balance”
This is a valuable chapter for me as this is one of my weaknesses. I try to do too much. Leaders of schools are pulled in all directions. There are many roles we have to play, from counselor, to businessman, to disciplinarian, to curriculum specialist, to marketing, etc. There are some traps to avoid to stay out of the vicious cycles of time traps.
- Riding off on all directions - The job has infinite # of tasks you could do during your transition, but few are vital.
- Undefended boundaries- Not being clear with boss, parents, & teachers what you will and will not do. People will keep taking if you always say yes and you must establish boundaries.
- Brittleness - An overcommitment to a failing course of action.
- Isolation - Relying on a few people for information.
- Biased judgment - Allowing ego, prior beliefs, over confidence, or personal stake clouds judgment
- Work Avoidance - Choose to delay tough decisions by burying yourself in work.
Watkins gives me 3 “Pillars of Self-Efficacy” or habits that will get me out of the behaviors above:
Pillar #1 Adopting Successful Strategies -Use the ideas in the previous chapters.
Pillar #2 Enforcing Personal Disciplines - To avoid the little pitfalls of doing things that are not important, one must plan every day. Set goals and then take 10 minutes at the end of each day to see my progress towards those. When someone comes up and asks, judiciously defer commitment. This means to say, “Sounds interesting. Let me think about it and get back to you.” Never say yes on the spot. If pressed (perhaps by someone who knows your vulnerability to such pressure) say “Well, if you need an answer now, I’ll have to say no. But if you can wait, I will give it more thought.” It is always easier to say no first and then yes later, than vice versa I also need to set aside time for hard work, that is shut off email, phone, and focus. When emotionally wrapped up in a decision, “go to the balcony”, that is distance myself to take a fresh look at the problem. Also remember to structure reflection often to gauge my feelings and how things are going. I need to ask myself the following:
- What do you feel so far?
- What has bothered me so far?
- What has gone well or poorly?
Pillar #3 Build My Support Systems
It is hard to focus on pressing issues when the infrastructure is not in place. So take the time to set up my office, develop routines, clarify expectations with my secretary. I also need to stabilize the home front. We will arrive a couple of weeks early to sort through the transition. We have already begun to learn Serbian and talk about life in Belgrade with the kids (cultural familiarization) and they seem to be on board. We need to find a good nanny/maid, doctor, and dentist. We also need to preserve the familiar routines. Finally I need to build my advice-and-counsel network. I need to think hard about this to find people inside and outside that know what is going on and I can truly trust. These people will be invaluable.
Technical Advisers: These people will provide expert analysis on the IB, teaching strategies, etc.
Cultural Advisers: They will provide me with insight into the cultural norms, both with the families (most important) and within the school.
Political Counselors: Help you deal with the politics of the school. Sounding board for option, ask what if questions.
Chapter 10 Expedite Everyone
There will be lots of newcomers in the school next year. The single most important thing I can do is to introduce the language of my entry plan to them. This will give us all clear expectations, A-item priorities, counsel networks, etc. A common language makes discussions of these issues dramatically more efficient. Most importantly, it will mean conversations wil happen that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. To get everyone with 90 days plans will be good.
I am now done with the book. Thank you Michael Watkins for writing it, and Clark Kirkpatrick for introducing it to me. I will now begin to write my 90-day entry plan to ISB.
