Your first 90 days as an executive set the tone for your reputation, relationships, and results. During this period, the board, C-suite, and peers are silently asking themselves, Did we make the right choice?
Harvard Business School research on “the first 90 hours” shows that the earliest actions you take (or fail to take) quickly shape the narrative others tell about your leadership. McKinsey calls leadership transitions “one of the most important, and under-supported, events in business”—yet nearly half are viewed as disappointments or outright failures within two years. And the pressure is mounting: Korn Ferry finds the average C-suite tenure (excluding that of the CEO) has declined to just 3.5 to 4.7 years, leaving leaders with little margin for error. From day one, you’re expected to prove you belong and deliver impact.
When Tyler became chief growth officer at a global adtech company, he walked into a high-stakes environment. He faced slowing client renewals, new privacy regulations, and friction between product, sales, and data science teams. The pressure to deliver was immediate. McKinsey research shows that nearly 70% of CEOs replace members of their top team within two years, a reminder that leaders are often judged quickly on their ability to deliver. Tyler knew the clock was ticking.
Through our work advising dozens of companies facing similar situations, we’ve seen what works. Kathryn Landis, as an executive coach and keynote speaker, and Jenny Fernandez, as an executive advisor and learning & development expert, have supported senior leaders with their onboarding process using five key strategies to maximize their first 90 days.
1. Prepare Before You Start
The strongest executives don’t wait for day one; they use the pre-start period as a strategic runway. Companies that support this transition are nine times more likely to achieve their performance goals.
Tyler spent his pre-start phase building a foundation. He met with regional sales leads, the head of product, and key clients to understand strengths and friction points. He reviewed campaign performance dashboards with the data science team and came armed with pointed questions about churn, market share, and competitive positioning. By the time he stepped into the role, he wasn’t starting cold. He had already mapped key relationships, identified three high-impact priorities, and knew exactly how he wanted to introduce himself to the organization.
Pro tip: Smart prep before day one can save you months later. Prioritize conversations that give you both insight and allies.
2. Set the Strategic Tone With Your First Moves
Your first public moments as an executive leader aren’t introductions—they’re signals. Unlike other leadership levels, your opening moves are amplified across multiple audiences at once: The board scrutinizes your strategic judgment, employees look for clarity and confidence, and analysts and clients assess whether you can inspire trust in the company’s direction. These moments set the narrative for your tenure.
At his first town hall, Tyler didn’t sidestep the hard realities. He addressed the impact of new privacy regulations on revenue head-on, signaling transparency and urgency. He also previewed his first 90 days using a 30-60-90 framework: the first month for accelerated learning and relationship building, the second for delivering early wins and building alignment, and the third for locking in systems and scaling results. Framing his approach this way showed discipline in pacing and sequencing while making his priorities visible to both employees and the board.
Pro tip: Own the room early. Acknowledge the tough truths, share your priorities, and invite people into the solution.
3. Decode Power Dynamics and Close Capabilities Gaps
At the C-suite level, it’s not enough to read the org chart; you need to know where influence and execution risk truly reside. Unlike mid-level leaders who can focus narrowly on their own teams, executives must see across silos, uncover hidden influencers, and quickly spot the gaps that could stall strategy.
In his first month, Tyler identified a mid-level account strategist whose quiet influence made her the go-to fixer for client reporting issues and brought her into planning discussions. He also uncovered a critical capability gap: Sales lacked confidence in pitching AI-based targeting tools. Within weeks, he launched targeted training sessions to close it. At the enterprise level, he partnered with the COO to address misalignment between product and sales, formalizing decision rights to accelerate release timelines.
Pro Tip: Don’t just look at titles. Find the people who can move mountains and align them with your agenda.
4. Turn Early Wins into Enterprise Momentum
Early wins at this level aren’t about checking a box. They are proof you can turn strategy into results at scale. This allows you to earn the political capital needed for bolder moves.
Tyler understood this dynamic. He wanted to show visible progress on the most frustrating roadblock to both the board and the front line: the broken client renewal process. Partnering with a cross-functional task force, he streamlined approvals, standardized templates, and introduced a dashboard to track processes. Within 90 days, he cut renewal turnaround time by 15%. The win was easy to measure, easy to explain, and directly tied to revenue.
Checklist: Identifying wins that matter
- Stakeholder priority: Will the CEO, board, or frontline leaders see it as a top concern?
- Business derailer: Is it blocking growth, execution, or customer outcomes?
- Strategic impact: Will it deliver visible financial results or strategic results and energize teams?
- Enterprise scale: Does it cut across multiple teams/functions and create repeatable value?
- Measurable visibility: Can progress be tracked, communicated, and celebrated easily?
Pro tip: Target wins that are visible, scalable, and strategically relevant. If it checks at least one box, it’s worth pursuing.
5. Establish Your Operating Rhythm
Your operating rhythm is a visible signal of how you lead. It sets the tempo for the entire enterprise and cascades into decision-making, collaboration, and accountability. The way you structure updates, resolve issues, and enforce consistency becomes the culture.
Tyler was intentional about how decisions, updates, and problem-solving would happen. He replaced sprawling weekly status meetings with 15-minute daily stand-ups for his leadership team. In addition, he launched a quarterly anonymous pulse survey to spot issues early, introduced a live dashboard to track campaign performance, and clarified cross-functional ownership with a responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed (RACI) chart. Most importantly, Tyler modeled consistency, showing up to every Monday sync on time, prepared, and focused. That reliability sent a clear message that discipline wasn’t a preference; it was a leadership expectation.
Pro tip: Your rhythm is your reputation. Protect it and make it contagious.
Tyler’s success wasn’t about a single bold move. It was about stacking deliberate actions that built trust, delivered results, and established a culture of focus and follow-through.
In today’s volatile C-suite environment, where tenure is shrinking and expectations are immediate, your first 90 days are more than an onboarding period. They are your launchpad. Lead with intention from day one, and you won’t just survive those first three months; you will define the trajectory of your tenure.
