So, I picked up the New Leader's 100-Day Action Plan (3rd ed.) to guide me through the transition into a new leadership position at the end of June. Having never been in a position of formal leadership, I figured it would be smart to try starting off on the right foot.
My first day with the book was spent reading the Introduction, which was great. The Intro was concisely written and summarized the content in the book, and most importantly it clued me to the chapters that I should skip to maximize my benefit from the book. As it exists, the book actually contains 4 chapters through the first two parts that deal with getting a new job, which was not apparent in the book's synopsis. But, I guess that means less for me to read over the coming weeks, which doesn't hurt.
The gist of the Intro from what I recall is that a new leader must hit the ground running by knowing in general terms what needs to be done in the first 100 days. The preparatory work begins now, before the new job starts, so I'm glad I found the book thanks to LDRLB's book review.
The other key message I got was that a leader's main responsibilities are to communicate the vision and empower his staff to achieve the larger goals of the organization through their individual efforts. And to do this, the new leader must set milestones and execute in order to meet those milestones.
Thankfully, there's nothing too unexpected in the book so far. But the proof will be in the execution, not in how well I conceptually understand the book's message.
