Michael Watkins

The president of the United States gets 100 days to prove himself; you get 90. The actions you take during your first few months in a new role will largely determine whether you succeed or fail.

transitions are also periods of acute vulnerability, because you lack established working relationships and a detailed understanding of your new role.

every successful career is a series of successful assignments

hidden transitions. These transitions occur when there are substantial changes in leaders’ roles and responsibilities without corresponding changes in titles.

The most dangerous transition can be the one you don’t recognize is happening.

even if you aren’t personally in transition, you likely are having the transitions of others inflicted on you.

Your goal in every transition is to get as rapidly as possible to the break-even point. This is the point at which you have contributed as much value to your new organization as you have consumed from it.

success in the new role requires you to stop doing some things and to embrace new competencies.

You spend too much time focused on learning about the technical part of the business and not enough about the cultural and political dimensions of your new role.

You are, after all, only one person. To be successful, you need to mobilize the energy of many others in your organization.