Preface to the 10th Anniversary Edition

Introduction: Take Control in 90 Days
Build a mobile career
Reaching the break-even point
Avoid moving traps
Gaining momentum
Understanding the core principles
Assessing movement risks
Drawing the first 90 days
To officially launch
Checklist and the "Master It in 90 Days" app

01 Prepare yourself
If you get promoted
If you are assigned to a new company
Prepare yourself
Conclusion
Checklist

02 Understand quickly
Overcoming Learning Disabilities
Learning Management as an Investment Process
Define the learning topic
Identify your best source
Approach systematically
Make a study plan
Seek help
Conclusion
Checklist

03 Use a strategy that suits the situation.
Use the Stars model
Diagnose your Stars portfolio
Lead the change
Take care of yourself
Reward success
Conclusion
Checklist

04 Negotiate your success criteria
Focus on the basics
Five Must-Have Conversations with Your Boss
Planning a Situational Dialogue
Planning an Expected Conversation
Planning a Resource Conversation
Planning a Style Conversation
Planning a Personal Development Conversation
Working with multiple bosses
Working with a remote boss
Putting It All Together: Creating a 90-Day Plan
Plan Your Five Conversations
Checklist

05 Secure an early victory
Create a wave of change
Start with a goal
Decide on the ground rules
Secure an early victory
Lead the change
Prepare for predictable contingencies
Checklist

06 Re-adjust
Avoid common pitfalls
Designing the Organization's Architecture
Diagnosing structural alignment
Start working on aligning the structure
Defining a Strategy
restructuring
Core Process Alignment
Strengthening group work capabilities
Changing the culture by changing the architecture
Sort
Checklist

07 Build your own team
Avoid common pitfalls
Evaluate the team
Evolve your team
Align your team
Leading a team
Team Startup
Checklist

08 Build partnerships
Identifying influential figures
Understanding the Influence Situation
Understanding Key Figures
Refining Your Influence Strategy
To summarize
Checklist

09 Take care of yourself
Assessing the state of balance
Understanding the Three Pillars of Self-Care
Maintaining Orbit
Checklist

10 Accelerate everyone
Confirm the critical move
Check the start-failure dynamics
Diagnose existing mobility support
Adopt a common core model
Request support on time
Use structured procedures
Match support by movement type
Provide the right support for your leaders.
Clearly define roles and align incentives.
Integrate with other business management systems
Summarize
Checklist

A global bestseller in leadership, translated into 27 languages
The latest revised and expanded edition of "Master It in 90 Days" has been published!

A leadership expert from Harvard Business School shares his insights.
A Master Plan for New Leaders to Secure Their Positions!

A roadmap for new leaders to fully adapt to their roles within 90 days of taking office.
The early days of a new term and the transition period are critical times when even minor differences in behavior can lead to outrageous consequences.
Regardless of position, new leaders are inevitably in a very vulnerable position, at least for the first few months.
They do not fully understand the tasks they have to solve, nor do they know in detail what is needed to solve those tasks.
He also hasn't yet secured the human relationships to support himself.
However, if a new leader fails to secure the momentum needed for success within the first few months of taking office, he or she will face an uphill battle throughout his or her tenure.
On the other hand, if you gain trust and achieve certain results early in your tenure, you will lay the foundation for long-term success.


This book is the result of over ten years of research by the author, who has conducted research on dozens of leadership transitions across various levels, developed a new leader acquisition program for large corporations, and developed an online work support tool for new leaders.
We're approaching job transfers by dividing them into several types so that new leaders can develop customized strategies based on their specific circumstances.
For example, it provides guidance on the appropriate approach depending on whether the new position requires leading a new business, laying the foundation for a turnaround, a position with outstanding performance, or whether it is an external recruitment or internal promotion.


Specifically, it provides the strategies and tools necessary to achieve success early on, teaches you how to diagnose your situation, and gives you the eyes to clearly see the challenges and opportunities hidden within it.
In addition, you will receive crucial assistance in diagnosing and reorganizing the organization's strategy, structure, systems, and work capabilities, as well as in building and managing core human relationships that serve as leverage, such as building teamwork, forming cooperative relationships, and securing a support base.


The content has become richer and the explanations have become clearer!
The latest revised and expanded edition is newly supplemented, concise, and specifically organized!

“This book is the culmination of what I learned over two and a half years working with hundreds of leaders around the world.
The core ideas in this book, which are practically helpful to new leaders—such as "Learning Quickly," "Securing Early Wins," and "Building Partnerships"—have been developed, tested, refined, and applied to help new leaders and anyone at any level of a new company fully master the organization and its work.
My thinking has evolved considerably over the past decade, and this revised and expanded edition reflects all of that.
I am currently working with leaders who are transitioning through their roles, conducting research, and structuring my field experience into a theoretical framework.” - Author's Note

The newly published revised and expanded edition is much more specific and concise than the first edition.
Some of the figures and tables in the first edition were modified or removed, and new figures and tables with detailed explanations were added instead.
Most of the checklists at the end of each chapter have been changed, and a new checklist has been added to the introduction that was not in the first edition.
The cases mentioned at the beginning of each chapter have been replaced with new ones.
The revised and expanded edition also includes a preface commemorating the 10th anniversary of its publication.
In the preface, the author states that the book has become a bestseller in the economics and management field, has received significant media attention, and has been helpful to many leaders and CEOs.


In particular, the revised and expanded edition explains the two types of transfer: internal promotion and transfer to a new company.
Chapter 8, “Building Partnerships,” Chapter 9, “Managing Yourself,” and Chapter 10, “Accelerating Everyone,” also changed their titles and their contents accordingly.
This book has been considered a must-read for new leaders experiencing change due to promotions or career changes in the United States and Korea.
The revised and expanded edition, published 10 years after the first edition, has richer content and clearer explanations.
Most of the figures, tables, and checklists have also been updated to keep up with the latest trends.
Considering that the first edition was well-received in Korea and provided practical help to those seeking career advancement, this revised and expanded edition is also expected to be well-received by our readers.


Have you taken a new position in a new organization? Have you been promoted to an executive position from within?
Have you taken on a new position? Have you been transferred to an overseas branch?
So, read this book now, before you go to work!

Published in the United States in 2003, this book was a huge success there because it provided new leaders transitioning from one position to another with concepts, tools, examples, and practical advice that would allow them to truly master the organization's operations.
In the summer of 2004, the book became so popular that it spent 15 weeks on the Business Week bestseller list, and its success convinced author Michael Watkins to leave Harvard University and pursue a career outside of academia.
He co-founded Genesis Advisers, a leadership development firm, and started a program to help everyone transition into a new role.
Thousands of companies across the United States have reportedly adopted and implemented Michael Watkins' "90-Day Plan and Method Leadership Program" for training, development, and human resources.

This book is written on the following three basic premises:


First, a company's success or failure depends on securing and retaining key talent.
Second, the transition period is the most important time in a leader's career.
The success or failure of leaders in new positions depends on whether or not they can effectively control the organization and its work in the early stages of their tenure (within 90 days of taking office).

Third, companies can shorten the adjustment period for leaders by introducing an effective position management model, which greatly benefits the company.


According to the book, about a quarter of the leaders of Fortune 500 companies change positions every year.
This means that leaders at large companies change positions once every 2.5 years.
For key mid-level managers who are promoted quickly, their positions change even faster.
This clearly shows how routine job changes are for leaders.
Meanwhile, the company must bear the costs incurred during the adjustment period whenever leaders move positions.
Because it takes time for a leader to fully adapt to a new position and start generating profits.
There is also a high risk that leaders will fail to adapt to their new roles and fall behind.
In particular, the risk of failure to adapt is greater for personnel scouted by companies from outside.
According to the book, it takes an average of 6.2 months for key talent to begin contributing to a company's performance, and about 40 percent of them leave within 18 months due to failure to adapt to the organization.
It is also said that the cost a company incurs when a key talent leaves the company amounts to 24 times the average monthly salary of a manager.
For large corporations, the average loss due to the failure of one executive-level leader to adapt is estimated at $2 million, which is truly staggering.
As such, a leader's transition period is a very important time not only for the leader's personal career but also for the company.
This book is a master plan for leaders to successfully master their new organization and work during this transition period.
90 days is more than half the average adaptation period for leaders, which is 6.2 months.


This book goes beyond simply describing textbook-like content; it also provides highly practical guidelines.
Let me give you some examples.
As a new leader, you want to learn about the organization through interviews with your direct reports.
What should we do? Usually, we just meet face-to-face in a conference room without much preparation, or we just call them in one by one and talk.
But there is a problem with doing this.
There are problems with confronting people all at once, as some people are reluctant to express their thoughts in front of others.
In the end, we have to meet them one by one, and there is a problem here too.
The people you meet first will relay to others what you said or asked.
Therefore, people you meet later will interpret your message and come to you with a different perspective.
You too can be easily influenced by the first people you meet, the last people you meet, the smooth talkers, the logical people, etc.
How should we do this? The idea is to interview each person individually, using a script prepared in advance with questions to ask.
By collecting and analyzing these questionnaires, you can effectively understand your organization.


Let's take another example.
Now we have some idea about the organization.
Your conclusion is that it is important to reorganize product group A and expedite the development of new products.
However, your immediate supervisor thinks that increasing sales of product group A is more important than developing new products.
What should we do? Professor Watkins says we should first achieve victory in areas that our direct supervisor values.
Only then can we secure the resources necessary for new product development.


This book is a roadmap for new leaders to master their positions within 90 days of taking office.
The author explains why such a roadmap is necessary:

"Why is role transition important? When I surveyed over 13,000 senior HR leaders, nearly 90 percent agreed that transitioning to a new role is the most important time in a leader's professional career."
Additionally, three-quarters of leaders agreed that "the success or failure of the first few months is a strong indicator of the success or failure of the entire business."
Even though you can't necessarily assume that a bad transfer will lead to failure, success is rare.
The good news about a career change is that it offers you a fresh start and can also provide momentum for organizational change.
However, job transfer is a very vulnerable time for you.
Because you haven't built stable working relationships and aren't learning the ins and outs of new things.
Additionally, staff will observe you carefully and closely to understand who you are and what you are expected to do.
Your employees will quickly learn about your effectiveness, and once established, it's difficult to change.
If you build trust and secure early wins, you can build momentum for later in your term.
But if you fall into the trap early on, you will face a serious challenge.” - From the Introduction