Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of performance through strong human relations, team building, and goala giving. This is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellavaledo.
Hello everyone, and welcome to this seven minute leadership podcast. It's episode seven oh eight. Let's talk about the moment that quietly decides whether you win or struggle as a leader. Your first ninety days, not your first year, not your long term strategy, not your vision board, your first ninety days, because in those first three months, people are not listening to your speeches, they are studying your behavior. They're asking one question, over and over again, is this leader for real?
And here's where most leaders get this wrong. They walk in trying to prove something, trying to impress, trying to fix everything, trying to leave their mark, and that instinct that urge to immediately take control is exactly what sets them back. So today I want to walk you through what actually matters in your first ninety days, Not theory, not corporate buzzwords, real leadership moves that change your trajectory. So let's start with this. Your first job is not
to talk. Your first job is to listen. And I don't mean surface level listening where you gnad your head and wait for your turn to speak. I mean real listening. You are diagnosing, not fixing. You are asking questions like what's working here, what's broken? What gets in your way every day? Because if you walk in and start changing things without understanding the system, you're not leading, You're just guessing, and guessing creates resistance. Now, while you are listening, something
else needs to be happening. At the same time. You are building relationships, not group relationships, individual ones. Leadership is not built in team meetings. It's built in one on one conversations. Trust does not show up in a staff meeting. It shows up in a quiet conversation where someone realizes this leader actually gets me. If you skip this step, nothing else you do will stick. You can have the best plan in the world, but if people don't trust you,
they will not follow you. And now here's where momentum comes into play. In your first ninety days. You need a quick win, one visible problem that you can solve early, not ten problems, not a full system overhaul, just one, because momentum is everything. When your team sees something improve quickly, they start to believe change is possible, they start to
believe in you without that early when everything feels like talk. Now, while you're building momentum, you're also doing something most leaders ignore. You are studying the culture, not the written culture, the real one, the unwritten rules. Who actually has influence, what
behaviors are rewarded, what behaviors are quietly tolerated. Because if you try to rewrite the culture before you understand it, you will get blindsided, you will fix the wrong things, you will challenge the wrong people, and you will lose credibility fast. And let me give you another critical move. You need to get aligned with your boss. Arly, what does success actually look like in thirty sixty ninety days? Not what you think success is, not what the team thinks.
Success is what your boss defines as a win. Because if you are operating on different definitions, you are setting yourself up for frustration. Clarity here saves you from months of misalignment. Now let's talk about one of the biggest mistakes new leaders make. They walk in and start redecorating new rules, new systems, new expectations, new everything. And here's the problem. Change without context creates resistance. People do not
generally resist change they resist confusion. If you cannot explain why something needs to change, your team will create their own explanation, and it will not be a good one. So slow down, earn the right to change things. Now, here's something that will separate you immediately. Over communicate your intent. If you're not explaining the why behind your actions, your team will fill in the blanks, and people are very good at filling in blanks with worst case scenarios. So
say it clearly. Here is what I'm doing, Here's why it matters, and here's how it affects you. Clarity builds confidence. Silence creates stories. And we can even add another layer. Find someone who understands the internal dynamics better than you, a peer mentor someone who knows the politics, the history, the land minds, because no matter how experienced you are, you are new to this environment and having someone who can quietly guide you will save you months of trial
and error. Now, let's talk about a simple framework that will keep you grounded. Stop, start, continue, What needs to stop because it's dragging the team down. What needs to start because it is missing. What needs to continue because it's working. If you can clearly answer those three questions within your first ninety days, you are ahead of most leaders and finally, something that gets ignored more than anything else,
your own well being. You cannot lead clearly if you're running on empty You can't make good decisions, if you're burned out. You cannot show up strong if you are constantly depleted. So protect your energy because your leadership performance depends on it. Now, let's bring this all together. Your
first ninety days are not about proving yourself. They are about positioning yourself, listening before speaking, building trust before demanding results, creating momentum before making massive changes, understanding before rewriting, clarifying before executing. Because if you get these first ninety days right, everything after that becomes easier. Your team will trust you faster, your decisions carry more weight, your changes stick, and your
leadership actually works. If you get it wrong, you spend the next nine hundred days trying to recover. So here is your talent challenge. Take the next seven minutes and ask yourself this, am I trying to prove something? Or am I trying to understand something? Because the answer to that question will determine the kind of leader you become. So your first ninety days are your foundation. Build it right and everything stands stronger. Rush it and everything cracks
under pressure. Slow down, listen deeper, and lead with intention. And if you want more free leadership resources, head over to paulfalovalito dot com and click on free Stuff. I have over twenty five free leadership documents you can download and start using today. This has been the seven minute Leadership podcast and I thank you for listening.
For more Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com