How do you build a high-performing team?

Bring forward a clear vision. A team with a strong vision and commonality of purpose is far more likely to exceed expectations. But it is not enough to formulate this vision, you need to communicate this vision to your team in a clear and confident manner. Your direct reports will look to you, particularly in the vital early stages, and their performance will reflect how they react to you. So, in the pivotal first 100 days, the leader needs to pay close attention to their direct report team, and ensure that a clear action plan is in place to accelerate their performance. A team that is firing on all cylinders is doing so because it has been enabled by effective leadership.

Consider how investment in team building, skills training and recruitment can boost team performance. It is also worth stepping back and observing if there are individuals within your team of direct reports who are not aligned to your vision. It may well be that now is the time to harness your skills as a motivator, and communicate your vision directly to any under performers. If this does not work, it is time to consider whether you need to move certain individuals on. There is a strong possibility that one of your direct reports applied for your role unsuccessfully, and this may be a cause of resentment. Extra effort may be needed to build a relationship with this individual.

While it is vital to give the team you inherit a chance, moving too slowly on putting the right people in the right roles can have a very negative effect on your own performance, and that of your company as a whole.

The importance of building a strong team in the first 100 days of a new leadership position cannot be overstated. To ensure performance acceleration from the get-go, a new leader will need a healthy and robust team. First100 has designed a Leader-Team Assist Program specifically geared towards assisting leaders and their teams in the first 100 days.

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As a brand Yahoo! has had trouble finding itself, and hiring Thompson as CEO is the latest in a series of identity tryouts the company has undertaken. In a recent conference call with analysts, Thompson addressed the issue of Yahoo!’s indefinite identity when he said that it’s “fundamentally” both a media company and a technology company, and that “we better be darn good at both.”

Thompson told the analysts that Yahoo!’s vast bank of data would be the leverage that would turn the company around. “If you believe data and great technology and great technologists can begin to predict what is in a user’s mind and what they want to do next, having that base of data to start from is a big, big advantage,” he said.

The new CEO spent the first few weeks at Yahoo! meeting with employees, managers and customers. And while he did say he sees user data as the way forward, he’s not going to lay down a detailed program for the future until he has fully assessed the situation at the company.

This is a wise move. There are common challenges that new leaders face during this transitional period. Taking the time now to critically assess the situation will help Thompson to see any issues that are likely to crop up. However, Thompson should remember to keep the balance right between moving too fast and moving too slow. The first 100 days in a new leadership role is a critical time period – and he needs to hit the ground running.

Great leadership is ultimately about setting a clear direction and delivering results. For a company whose identity is unclear setting direction is difficult. Thompson needs to cure Yahoo! of it’s identity crisis – then he can draw up a route map to success guided by key strategic priorities. For a successful first 100 days he must remain focused on these priorities, and deliver results. With enthusiasm we will be watching his progress.

Hilda Goold

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Heins is taking the helm in heavy weather, and nobody, least of all him, can expect the first 100 days to be plain sailing. Though the shakeup was driven by pressure from investors, it has not won back their confidence; the value of the company’s stock dropped by a drastic 12% in the space of three days following the announcement.

RIM’s troubles originally began when it fell out of step with changing trends in the American smartphone market, while competitors cut in and took the lead. The company has been hemorrhaging market share, stock value and investors for the past two years.

Heins’ difficulties are compounded by the fact that Balsillie and Lazaridis have remained on the board of directors. It will be hard for him to effectively implement the radical changes that are needed in order to turn the company around with the two ex-CEOs sitting with him in the boardroom. Any changes he suggests could be perceived as criticism of his embattled but still influential predecessors.

Heins will have to handle this carefully, yet he can’t be perceived to be backing away from the need for change in the midst of a crisis. A preliminary sign of the danger inherent in this dilemma came in a statement Heins made during the week to the effect that no big change was necessary. This caused anxiety among investors and lead to the drop in share price.

Being an internal appointee can often make detaching from the previous role challenging – especially  in this case for Heins – with his former bosses sitting opposite him in the boardroom. But this is the essential first step to becoming an effective leader.

It is absolutely paramount in a situation like this for the new CEO to make a meaningful impact as quickly as possible. To this end he should contract up front with the board that he will be allowed the space and freedom to effect change. Then he needs to draw a line under the previous two years and draw up a detailed first 100 days plan that takes the company in a new direction.

Hilda Goold

After the fever of Christmas has passed away, with its defining symptoms of stress and self-indulgence, a new year’s resolution is like a medicinal dose of self-restraint, with a spoonful of optimism to help it go down. Its a little purification ritual that genuinely helps us to feel better and stronger.

Once we’re back in the old familiar rhythm though, that new gym membership can be allowed to lapse into disuse, and that ambitious project can be furtively abandoned on the shelf. We discard first the practice and then the pretense of making our resolutions permanent; a few of us with pangs of remorse, many more with a sneaky sense of relief. Others still are made of sterner stuff, and have no patience at all for faint-hearted dithering.

Whether you tend to do well or badly with new year’s resolutions, its hard to find fault with the basic idea of starting the year in a conscious effort to better yourself and up your game professionally. For many companies January is the start of a new financial year, so the personal and the organisational are in alignment, and a watershed like that demands to be taken advantage of.

People who are successful in leadership roles tend to have a strong vision for themselves as well as having a strong vision for their organisation – it goes without saying that when the two are close-knit and mutually reinforcing, you get the best results of all.

To help clarify your own vision, use a First 100 Days Plan. It’s not just a make-or-break resolution but a well thought out route-map. It’s a digest of all the most important factors facing you in the new year, and a step-by-step plan that builds to a clear and realistic goal. Break your situation down into its component parts, paying particular attention to problematic areas, and set yourself manageable challenges.

It should be something you can achieve in 100 days and it should be a step on the way to a longer-term goal – remember that the strongest possible start to the year will be one that effectively looks forward to the end of the year.

Whether you’ve made a new year’s resolution or not, and whether you’ve kept it so far or not, there’ll never be a better time than right now to get going on your First 100 Days Plan.

Hilda Goold

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Mr Hodgkinson, who stepped aside when Mr Duffy took the helm, has pledged to stay with AIB’s board as a non-executive officer for the first year of Mr Duffy’s tenure as CEO. In a statement quoted in the Financial Times he praised Mr Duffy’s record as an executive with several top international banks, saying he is “ideally suited to leading AIB’s extensive restructuring and delivering the performance that will best serve customers and return the bank to sustainable viability.”

Nobody would deny that Mr Duffy has a difficult road ahead of him. It’s hard to imagine a situation in which the legacy of a predecessor could exert a more baleful influence on the terms and indeed the whole character of a chief officer’s appointment.

Mr Duffy has this month presumably been familiarising himself with some dauntingly powerful stakeholders, namely the Irish government, which owns a 99.8% interest in his company, and, looming even larger in the background, their benefactors at the IMF. Mr Hodgkinson and the AIB board will also be taking a keen interest in the progress of their newest recruit.

The best way for him to reduce the negative influence wrought by his predecessors is to consciously set the terms of his own tenure as firmly as possible from the start. He needs to have a clear vision of the course that the restructuring of AIB should take. He needs to create friendly relationships with his stakeholders so that he will in future have a chance of communicating his ideas to them in the most effective way possible.

Mr Duffy is on a three-year contract with an option to renew, but in such a high-pressure – and highly complex – situation he is likely to feel he must prove his ability in a shorter span of time. He can certainly expect his performance to be critically evaluated a year from now.

Mr Duffy would do well to start with the end in mind and aim to make a strong impact, in an even shorter span of time than that. He can accomplish a lot in his first 100 days as CEO of AIB.

Hilda Goold

Performance acceleration is about making an impact early – by concentrating on five key factors for success:

1. Having a clear vision
2. Being confident
3. Exercising patience and resilience
4. Being a fast learner
5. Not being afraid of making mistakes

Leaders must bring forward a clear and compelling vision. Confidence is essential, while it can be shaken by new circumstances it is reinforced by the clarity that comes with a detailed first 100 days plan. It is important to foster patience and resilience in the face of new challenges as mistakes often provide the best opportunities for learning – and being a fast learner is essential.

This more holistic approach in business may be part of a growing global trend. Organsiations are beginning to recognise that while focusing on specific areas such as leadership development or change management is one thing, a unified sense of purpose brought about by the holistic approach brings a quicker and clearer return on investment. The smart thing to do is refocus on the essentials – speed and results. If there is anything good about a crisis it is its energising effect – that the genuine desire to cut to the chase and maximize potential comes to the fore.

Hilda Goold

Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell, a great leader? Who knows. But certainly a great inventor. He is credited with inventing the first practical telephone in 1876 – we can thank him for the device that we keep closest to us today, and  depend upon for all our social interactions.

Landing a dream promotion is exhilarating – the eventual pay off for hard work and ambition. It is also a time of great stress and anxiety. In the current, unstable, economic climate organisations expect results from newly appointed leaders, and fast. So, preparation is vital.

Before beginning the role, there are a few things to think about in order to make the transition as fast and efficient as possible, and make sure you accelerate your performance from day one.

Essentially, you must identify the key strategic priorities and remain focused on them. In theory this sounds quite simple, but in reality it can be one of the biggest challenges for the newly promoted.

How do you do this?

Start with the end in mind. If you have a clear route, and know the means necessary to get there, you will be successful.

This can be broken down into 3 specific tasks:

1. Envisage a two-year role horizon
2. Agree your first 12 month business priorities
3. Write your First 100 Days Plan

Imagining a two-year role appointment, even if you are contracted for more than this, is beneficial in maintaining progress, and achieving your aims.

While you will have gathered information about the key priorities of your new position and the general role requirements during the recruitment process, now is the time to lay out the specifics of your priorities. It is likely that when the organisation was “selling” the role to you, difficult challenges of the role may have been somewhat brushed over. Now that you are fully committed, you need to arrange a meeting with relevant stakeholders and agree on your first 12 month priorities.

Finally, write your first 100 days plan. This should be as detailed as possible, clearly outlining what you want to have achieved by the end of the first 100 days, and how exactly you plan to achieve these aims. The optimal first 100 days plan will focus on you, on the role, on the organisation, and on the market. This can be developed by remembering to start with the end in mind.

Hilda Goold

If managed right, the intense short-term time-period right after promotion – the first 100 days – becomes an excellent framework that both provides opportunities and focuses efforts to achieve performance acceleration. 

When two cockerels confront each other and won’t dare to fight, they busily start pecking imaginary grains off to the side. That’s displaced activity. Much of what we do on any level is like that – all the more so in a stressful situation.

When you start a new job you can easily be overwhelmed for months with immediate fire-fighting and task-driven priorities – which is a bit like rolling up your sleeves and looking busy just for the sake of it.

Constant time-pressure and an intense learning curve are facts of daily working life for a newly promoted executive. But it takes time to get up to speed on the content of your new role.

If the promotion was a big step up then you will be in the position of having to learn a great deal from your own mistakes in a short space of time while a large number of people watch you expectantly. And business and the markets don’t slow down to let you catch up.

But if you face up to this unavoidable reality from the start, and create an intelligent plan that anticipates likely difficulties, you can be as prepared for the unexpected as its possible to be, and when difficulties do arise you’ll be more energetic and resourceful than you would otherwise be.

Being promoted – particularly as an external hire – can also leave you relatively isolated, without friends or supporters in an unfamiliar environment. The culture may be dense and slow-moving – people may be resistant to the changes you bring. But on the other hand, the first 100 days you spend in an organisation is the ideal moment to forge links with a wide variety of people.

There is no point in having the right vision and strategy in isolation – bring people with you. Invest early in building new networks and forging new stakeholder relationships. Get to know your bosses, subordinates and peers, both in your own and in other departments.

The first 100 days after promotion to a new leadership role are a window of opportunity when new appointees have a good chance of making positive, perhaps even radical, changes. The First100 approach is aimed at helping executives to make the most of that opportunity.

Hilda Goold

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Many executives are professional managers; they rely on the power and authority of the role to get things done. Like managers they usually act in their role as if it’s limited to organising and marshalling resources in service of a task passed to them by someone else. That’s a manager, a follower, not a leader.

The simplest and clearest definition of the meaning of the word “leader” can be reduced to three essentials. A leader must set a clear direction; must be able to bring people with him or her; and must deliver results.

A First 100 Days Plan is a tool for dynamic and ambitious executives who aspire to this kind of leadership. Many executives write lists. On beginning a new role they either have a set of themes or a list of things to do in their first 100 days, and they confuse this with a plan. But a set of main themes or a to-do list is not a First 100 Days Plan.

Many executives can be tempted to oversimplify their plan by focussing on one key deliverable first, completing this, subsequently focusing on the next big task, and completing this. The one-at-a-time approach makes for a very slow start.

It can seem comforting at first to interpret the role narrowly because doing so seems to reduce stress and uncertainty. But the First 100 Days Plan embodies the opposite approach – make a wide-ranging profile, of the organisation as a whole and the market within which it operates, before you decide the parameters and goals that define your own role.

The emphasis is on a more holistic approach, to accelerate your performance and deliver early success – that’s the reason for focussing on the first 100 days. Even if your role contract is for 3 years or more, it’s best to assume you are leaving in 2 years. This gives you a sense of urgency in which to ‘attack’ the core role challenges. And if you take a view that you can do a 3 year role in 2 years, then you are more likely to be promoted into your next role faster.

Aspire to be a leader, not a manager!

Hilda Goold

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Recently we started working with Martha, the newly promoted director of a financial services company. As an internal appointee her case is interesting – and her challenges unique to those of an external hire.

The Past

Martha had held her previous role within the company for over four years. During this time she had single-handedly transformed a dysfunctional department into a strong, forward-thinking one. As a result, she had established her reputation as an impressive leader. Key to the effectiveness of her department was the team, whose relationship to her was built on mutual trust and respect. Because of this, aside from the usual workplace relationships, Martha had formed emotional ties with her team – a couple of these people were now her friends.

Martha was understandably overjoyed when she was promoted. Her hard work had paid off and she had earned her dream role. However, after the initial high prompted by the news of her promotion, the realisation of the challenges she was likely to face became apparent.

On the foot of these realisations, and at just the right time, Martha contacted First100 – during the final weeks in her previous role. We got to work. At this time, her successor had not yet been found, and it became evident that Martha was expected to straddle both roles until a suitable candidate was chosen. In a new leadership role, it is crucial to accelerate performance from the very start, Martha would have already compromised her ability to do this had she tried to overlap two jobs. We advised Martha to negotiate a clear finishing date for her old role, and to appoint an ‘interim’ – to whom she would handover over the position fully. The first step in accelerating performance in the first 100 days is to detach from the old role as quickly and cleanly as possible. Furthermore, we suggested a minimum of two weeks off between roles, and we encouraged her to be strict with herself and not start the new role until the date agreed upon.

It is understandably tempting to stay involved in the previous role, it was within Martha’s comfort zone, and she had emotional ties to her team and department – with the feeling that nobody else could do the job she had done. However, despite the relationships formed and the reputations established, Martha needed to detach 100% from the old role, and focus 100% on the new role.

This clean break would help Martha gain a clearer perspective on her new position. As an internal appointee she was already a known entity within the company, and was in a way ‘institutionalised’. For herself, and for her new team and old team, it was imperative that the break was distinct in order for her to start afresh. We encouraged Martha to be assertive, and to recreate for herself the same context that an external hire would come into.

The Future

Our work with Martha will continue over the coming months. We will meet her again and review her progress @ 30 days, @ 60 days and @ 90 days to ensure she is on track, and accelerating performance in the first 100 days.

Hilda Goold