You Got the Job. Now How Do You Keep It?

Why Your First 90 Days May Define Your Leadership Success

Getting hired for a leadership position is a significant accomplishment. Keeping that position, earning the confidence of your new organization, and delivering on the expectations that brought you there can prove considerably more challenging.

After multiple interviews, assessments, and negotiations, the company has chosen you. Your experience and accomplishments convinced them you were the right person for the role. However, the qualities that helped you win the position are not necessarily the same ones that will help you succeed in it.

Over more than three decades in executive search across the United States, Mexico, and Latin America, I have observed how differently leadership transitions unfold. Some executives establish credibility quickly, while others, despite impressive track records, struggle to gain traction. Often, the difference comes down to how effectively they navigate their first few months.

Your Reputation Starts Over on Day One

Your professional reputation may have secured the position, but it does not automatically transfer to your new organization. Colleagues are observing how you communicate, make decisions, and interact with employees, while your direct reports are trying to understand what kind of leader you will be.

As Harvard Business School has explored, early interactions can shape expectations throughout a leadership transition. One mistake I have seen executives make is announcing major changes before understanding why existing practices were established. What they intend as confidence can be perceived as arrogance, particularly by employees who have spent years building the operation they inherited.

Your initial priority should be understanding the business and earning credibility, rather than demonstrating how quickly you can exercise authority.

Learn the Business Beyond the Interview Process

The organization you encountered during recruitment is not necessarily the complete picture you will experience as its new leader. Once inside, you begin discovering the operational constraints, competing priorities, historical decisions, and informal relationships that influence how things actually work.

Spend time with your supervisor, peers, direct reports, and key stakeholders. Understand which problems have resisted previous solutions, where decisions get delayed, and what the organization cannot afford to disrupt. Pay particular attention to individuals whose influence extends beyond their formal titles, as their support may prove essential to executing your priorities.

This is especially important in cross-border leadership assignments. Having recruited executives throughout North America and Latin America, I have seen how differences in communication, authority, and decision-making can complicate otherwise promising transitions. An executive accustomed to a decentralized U.S. operation may encounter a Mexico-based organization where decisions require greater consultation or headquarters approval, while someone moving in the opposite direction may face different expectations around autonomy and accountability.

Neither approach is inherently better, and practices vary between companies. The challenge is recognizing which elements of your previous experience apply and which assumptions need to change.

Define Success Before Someone Else Defines It

One of the most important conversations you can have with your supervisor should take place during your first week. I encourage executives to ask: “What would make you say, 90 days from now, that hiring me was absolutely the right decision?”

The answer may differ from what was discussed during recruitment. Perhaps you were hired to accelerate growth, but the immediate priority is stabilizing a management team. Perhaps the board expects operational improvements sooner than anticipated. I have seen capable executives encounter difficulties simply because their objectives were not fully aligned with their leadership’s expectations.

Clarify priorities, decision-making authority, available resources, and how progress will be evaluated. As we discussed in Your Next Executive Search Should Not Start With the Old Job Description, companies must define the outcomes they expect from new leaders rather than relying exclusively on inherited job descriptions. That clarity must continue after the hiring decision.

Deliver Early Wins Without Creating Unnecessary Disruption

New executives naturally feel pressure to produce results, but meaningful progress is not always measured by the magnitude of the changes introduced. Resolving a longstanding customer issue, improving coordination between departments, or removing an operational bottleneck may establish more credibility than announcing an ambitious transformation.

Leadership transition expert Michael Watkins emphasizes the importance of securing early wins to build momentum. However, major reorganizations or strategic shifts introduced without sufficient understanding can damage relationships and disrupt capabilities that took years to develop.

I have seen executives undermine promising transitions by overpromising results or assuming that success at a previous company guarantees success in the next. Effective leaders recognize when immediate action is necessary and when careful evaluation will produce better outcomes.

Your First 90 Days: A Practical Roadmap

Although every transition is different, I recommend organizing your first three months around these priorities:

Days 1–30: Listen and Understand

• Meet key stakeholders and assess organizational culture.
• Review business performance and team capabilities.
• Clarify expectations and identify urgent risks.

Days 31–60: Align and Build Credibility

• Establish priorities with your leadership team.
• Strengthen relationships across functions.
• Identify meaningful opportunities for early improvements.

Days 61–90: Execute and Establish Momentum

• Implement agreed-upon priorities and measure progress.
• Communicate results and obstacles transparently.
• Establish a longer-term roadmap with clear accountability.

These phases are flexible, particularly in turnaround or crisis situations where immediate decisions may be necessary. The objective is to balance decisive action with informed judgment.

Companies Have a Responsibility, Too

Executive success is not solely the responsibility of the individual hired. Organizations often invest considerable resources in identifying senior leadership talent, only to approach onboarding as an administrative exercise rather than a strategic transition.

SHRM’s research on onboarding emphasizes the importance of clear expectations, meaningful connections, and structured integration. Companies should provide executives with the authority, information, feedback, and organizational support necessary to succeed.

At Barbachano International, we have long believed that successful executive search goes beyond identifying someone with the right qualifications. It requires aligning leadership capabilities with an organization’s culture, challenges, and long-term objectives. That alignment must continue beyond the signed offer letter because the true measure of a successful placement is whether the executive creates lasting value.

Getting Hired Is Only the Beginning

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned throughout my career is that executives who build lasting careers are not necessarily those with the most impressive resumes or best credentials. They are those who earn trust, adapt to new environments, exercise sound judgment, and deliver results through others.

Your first 90 days will not determine everything about your future, but they can establish the credibility and relationships that shape your success for years to come. Getting the job is an achievement; keeping it and ultimately thriving in it requires a different set of skills.

The real question is not whether you were the right person to hire, but whether, 90 days later, the organization is even more convinced it made the right decision.