Why Your First 100 Days Is Pivotal
Posted by Robert Hargrove
I am often asked by leaders in government business, and other areas: “Why the first 100 days?” Good question! Is the first 100 days pivotal to a new leader’s success, or is it just a journalistic convention and follow to pay it too much heed?
Let’s take a few examples. FDR used the first 100 days not just to hold forth on ending the Great Depression with a “chicken in every pot” but to pass a torrent of stop-gap legislation designed to build the American people’s confidence and demonstrate that someone was taking action. FDR’s rapid succession of quick wins built his personal credibility and political clout, resulting in positive momentum.
John F. Kennedy made an inspiring inaugural address that elevated his stature as a world leader but his actual accomplishments thereafter where not significant. Ronald Regan accomplished a lot in his first 100 days, but most people cannot remember what they were.
My conclusion is that it is not that a new President’s or CEO’s first 100 days will either guarantee their success or failure; it’s that the first 100 days transition is a time when “virtuous cycles” of increasing credibility and momentum or “vicious circles” of diminishing credibility, and inertia get established.
It is definitely a time when the leader builds momentum toward their vision…or doesn’t. It is a time when the leader is seen as taking charge of the crisis at hand or not, and most importantly, when opinions about the leader crystalize. Things spoken or misspoken, like Bill Clinton's comments about gays in the military, feed downward spirals that can be hard to arrest.
The key for leaders to think of, especially if they don’t have a proper mandate, is to build personal credibility, political capital, and momentum through a rapid succession of quick wins, rather than dig a hole by trying to take on too much and then trying to crawl out.