First 90 Days of Change: 4 Priorities for Successful Change Leadership
Organizational change is rarely optional for long. To survive and thrive, companies must continually adapt their:
But deciding what needs to change is only part of the challenge. As you consider organizational change, remember that the early moves matter disproportionately. Our change management consulting experience has taught us that what leaders do — or fail to do — during the first 90 days of change can determine whether a transformation gains momentum or stalls.
First 90 Days of Change: 4 Priorities for Successful Change Leadership
Here are four priorities that participants in our change management simulation learn to address during those critical first three months.
- Make the Change an Unmistakable Priority
People pay attention to what leaders consistently prioritize, communicate, resource, and measure. If a transformation truly matters, employees should never have to guess where it ranks.
Start by creating a compelling case for why the organization needs to change. Go beyond broad aspirations such as increasing revenue, improving efficiency, or becoming more competitive. Give people a reason to care by answering four fundamental questions:
— What is the current state that we are changing from?
— Why is the status quo no longer acceptable?
— How urgent is the need for change?
— Where is the vision going for the desired future state?
The strongest case for change connects organizational objectives to what matters personally to employees, customers, and other key stakeholders.
- Build Ownership — Not Just Buy-In
Senior leaders must visibly align around and advocate for the transformation. But leaders cannot implement organizational change alone. The people most affected by the change ultimately determine whether new strategies, behaviors, and ways of working take hold.
Instead of simply communicating the change and asking employees to support it, actively involve those most affected by the change as early as possible. Invite them to challenge assumptions, identify risks, shape implementation plans, and solve problems.
This can initially feel slower than simply announcing the answer. In practice, this “go slow to go fast” approach can create greater commitment, surface obstacles earlier, and reduce the change resistance that contributes to failed change initiatives.
- Create a Powerful Change Leadership Team
Major transformations have too many interconnected decisions, stakeholders, dependencies, and risks to manage informally. Establish a dedicated change leadership team with clear accountability for keeping the transformation aligned and moving forward.
The team should be led by a credible change leader with visible C-suite sponsorship and enough authority to resolve conflicts and remove barriers. It should also include influential change catalysts who can build commitment across critical stakeholder groups.
Most importantly, give the team the decision authority, resources, information, and access required to turn intentions into action.
- Communicate, Develop, and Engage Continuously
Initial change communication cannot be treated as a launch event. As employees move from familiar ways of working to new expectations, uncertainty, resistance, questions, and setbacks are inevitable.
Create frequent opportunities for genuine two-way dialogue. Employees should be able to ask difficult questions, raise concerns, identify obstacles, and recommend improvements without fear of being labeled resistant to change.
Then act on what you hear. Leaders who seek but ignore employee feedback quickly undermine trust.
At the same time, ensure employees have the change management skills, tools, resources, coaching, and reinforcement required to succeed. Commitment without capability rarely produces sustainable change.
The Bottom Line
The first 90 days of change establish the foundation for everything that follows. Make the transformation an unmistakable priority, build genuine stakeholder ownership, establish a powerful change leadership team, and continuously communicate, develop, and engage. Above all, ensure that those affected by the change have the confidence, competence, and resources to succeed in the new environment — and then consistently and fairly hold people accountable for adopting the new ways of working.
Want your change effort to succeed when so many fall short? Download Why Change Efforts Fail — and 5 Science-Backed Ways Leaders Can Get Change Right to learn what successful change leaders do differently.
Tristam Brown is an executive business consultant and organizational development expert with more than three decades of experience helping organizations accelerate performance, build high-impact teams, and turn strategy into execution. As CEO of LSA Global, he works with leaders to get and stay aligned™ through research-backed strategy, culture, and talent solutions that produce measurable, business-critical results. See full bio.
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