The New Tech Leader's First 90 Days

The first ninety days of a new technology leader decide whether people trust the next three years.

There are two common ways to get it wrong, and they're opposites. Change everything in the first month, and people stop telling you the truth. Change nothing for six months, and the CEO starts wondering why they hired you.

This plan sits between them, and it's written for both sides: the new leader, and the CEO who hired them.

What's in it

• The shape of it: three stages, learn, understand and plan, with what each one ends with. Then what the CEO owes the new leader before day one, what the new leader owes the CEO, and the three outcomes the role is for.
• Days 1 to 30, learn: who to meet, what to gather, five questions to ask everyone, and the six urgent checks worth fixing straight away, from backups to admin access.
• Days 31 to 60, understand: where things stand in eight areas, how to choose two or three quick wins, and what to leave alone until after day 90.
• The check-ins: what the CEO should ask at days 30, 60 and 90.
• Days 61 to 90, plan: the 90-day report in seven parts, what else should be done by then, the signs it's going well (and the ones worth a conversation), and a page for your own plan.

Who it's for

New CTOs, CIOs, IT directors and heads of technology in their first months, and the CEOs and owners who hired them and want to know what good looks like.

It follows on from Hiring Your First Tech Leader, which gets you to the hire.

It's a 4-page PDF, made to print and write on.

Want them all? The Complete Collection has every guide in the store in one download, for less than a third of the price.