Pendo's CPO argues that the first 90 days are a critical window for a new leader. You were hired to change things, so you must assess and act quickly on team or strategy adjustments. Delaying beyond this window leads to paralysis, as "no decision is also a decision."
Related Insights
PE sponsors can accelerate value creation by telling new CEOs that some new executive hires are expected to fail. This pre-approval removes the CEO's fear of appearing to have failed themselves, encouraging them to make necessary talent changes faster and more decisively.
Reflecting on Walmart's multi-year transformation, CEO Doug McMillan identifies the most common leadership pitfall: delaying actions you instinctively know are right. He advises leaders to trust their gut and move quickly, as organizations are often more capable of handling rapid change than perceived.
The most common failure mode for a founder-CEO isn't a lack of competence, but a crisis of confidence. This leads to hesitation on critical decisions, especially firing an underperforming executive. The excuses for delaying are merely symptoms of this confidence gap.
A new CEO’s first few months are best spent gathering unfiltered information directly from employees and customers across the business. Avoid the trap of sitting in an office listening to prepared presentations. Instead, actively listen in the field, then act decisively based on those firsthand insights.
When starting a new partnerships role, resist the pressure to show immediate results. Spend the first 90 days on a listening tour with internal teams and external partners to identify systemic patterns and root causes, rather than applying superficial 'Band-Aid' solutions.
Agency leaders often delay decisions for fear of being wrong, creating significant opportunity costs and mental distraction. This paralysis is more damaging than the risk of an incorrect choice. Any decision is better than indecision because it provides momentum and learning, a lesson especially critical for small or solo-led agencies.
A founder's retrospective analysis often reveals that delayed decisions were the correct ones, and the only regret is not acting sooner. Recognizing this pattern—that you rarely regret moving too fast—can serve as a powerful heuristic to trust your gut and accelerate decision-making, as inaction is often the biggest risk.
High-performing CEOs don't hesitate on talent decisions. One mentor's advice was to act immediately the first time you consider firing someone, as indecision only prolongs the inevitable and harms value creation. This counteracts the common tendency for CEOs to be overly loyal or fear disruption.
The number one reason founders fail is not a lack of competence but a crisis of confidence that leads to hesitation. They see what needs to be done but delay, bogged down by excuses. In a fast-moving environment, a smart decision made too late is no longer a smart decision.
When strategic direction is unclear due to leadership changes, waiting for clarity leads to stagnation. The better approach is to create a draft plan with the explicit understanding it may be discarded. This provides a starting point for new leadership and maintains team momentum, so long as you are psychologically prepared to pivot.