A Practical Roadmap for Leadership Transitions
The New Leader's 100-Day Action Plan: Take Charge, Build Your Team, and Deliver Better Results Faster (5th Edition) by George Bradt, Jayme Check, and John Lawler has earned its reputation as one of the most actionable guides available for executives and managers stepping into new roles. Rather than offering vague motivational advice, the authors deliver a concrete, structured framework built around the critical early days of a leadership transition — a period they rightly identify as among the most consequential in any leader's tenure.
There is substantial evidence that a very high percentage of C-level new hires (as much as 40%) are pushed out, fail or quit within 18 months. As Bradt, et al observe: “If, after 100 days, a key stakeholder is asked, ‘How is that new leader doing?’ and the answer is, ‘the jury is out,’ what that means is, ‘the jury is in, and we don’t like the answer.’”
The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan is deceptively simple: the first 100 days aren't about proving yourself through grand gestures, but about listening, learning, and laying the groundwork for sustainable results. Bradt and his co-authors break this window into distinct phases — from pre-start preparation through early relationship-building to the gradual acceleration of execution — and provide tools, checklists, and real-world examples at each stage.
Particularly valuable is the emphasis on stakeholder alignment. The authors make a compelling case that new leaders fail not because of incompetence, but because they misread the political and cultural landscape of their organizations. The ACES model (Accommodate, Converge, Evolve, Shock) for diagnosing the appropriate pace of change is one of several memorable frameworks readers will return to repeatedly.
For experienced leaders, the approach will sound familiar, but understanding something and doing it are two separate things. Discipline is the key ingredient and is why the authors’ firm, PrimeGenesis, has worked with hundreds of leaders in high-stakes leadership transitions over the past 25 years to faithfully execute this approach. As the authors say at the outset: “We didn’t write this book as much as discover it.”
The core wisdom is sound and battle tested. This is essential reading for anyone walking into a new leadership role.