The 90-Day Playbook: What New Leaders Should Do in Their First 30, 60, and 90 Days

In this episode of Leading in Change, Adrian Owen Jones and Melissa Thompson break down the 90-day playbook for new leaders — the exact framework, tools, and questions that Success Labs uses with clients to help new leaders get off on the right foot. If you're stepping into a new leadership role and don't want to be part of the 40 to 50% of leaders who fail within 18 months, if you're an HR leader trying to set up a new hire for success and tired of watching great people leave because they weren't supported early, or if you're already past your first 90 days and feel like you missed something, this episode will give you a practical roadmap you can start using today. Adrian and Melissa walk through all three phases — days one to 30 for listening and learning, days 30 to 60 for assessing and aligning, and days 60 to 90 for acting and building — along with the specific tools in each phase: the 90-day snapshot, the communication style guide, stakeholder mapping, the listen and learn question bank, SWOT and SLEPT analysis, the quick wins framework, and PIE (Projects, Image, Exposure). If you want to make your first 90 days count, this is a must-watch. 🗺️ Get the 90-Day New Leader Playbook: https://successlabs.com/90-day-playbook 📥 Free Leadership Resources https://successlabs.com/resources 📩 Sign up for our newsletter: https://successlabs.com/newsletter ✅ Follow Success Labs:   / success_labs     / successlabshq     / successlabs   ⏱ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Welcome and icebreakers — cupcake sandwiches and food from home 3:30 Why we're having this conversation — 40 to 50% of new leaders fail within 18 months 5:00 What failure actually looks like — guns blazing vs. slow burn 7:00 The bait and switch problem — and how a playbook prevents it 8:00 Phase 1: Days 1–30 — Listen and Learn 8:30 The 90-day snapshot — what does success actually look like? 9:00 The best first question to ask a new leader 10:00 The story of the peer who became the boss — and how she handled it 11:30 "How does my job help you do your job better?" — Adrian's go-to question 13:00 How to have the 90-day success conversation with your people leader 14:30 Decision rights — what do I own vs. what do you own? 15:30 The communication style guide — setting ground rules early 17:00 Setting boundaries in the first 30 days 19:00 Stakeholder mapping — who do you need relationships with and why 22:00 Power is not always positional — the Tamara story 24:00 The listen and learn question bank — questions to ask on your listening tour 26:00 Phase 2: Days 30–60 — Assess and Align 28:00 Zoom out, don't zoom in — the mindset shift for this phase 29:30 SWOT analysis for your team 31:00 SLEPT environmental scan — sociological, legal, environmental, political, technological 32:30 Common mistakes at this stage — assumptions and getting in the weeds 33:00 Identifying quick wins without upsetting apple carts 35:00 How to use data to back up early suggestions 37:00 When is it time to just do the work? 38:00 Phase 3: Days 60–90 — Act and Build 39:00 The PIE framework — Projects, Image, Exposure 43:00 The board presentation story — a perfect PIE moment 45:00 What people get wrong at this stage — solving the squeaky wheel instead of the strategic problem 46:00 The quick win that actually works — the listening tour and knowing names 48:00 What to do if you're already past 90 days and feel behind 49:00 Set boundaries early — what that looks like in practice 50:00 Final advice — build relationships and don't try to do everything at once