Reddit reviews The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter, Updated and Expanded

Don't burn out. The world fell down around you, but you aren't responsible to bear it on your shoulders.

If you think you have a serious shot at the directorship, read The First 90 Days. Has some great information about promotions, gathering information on the situation, and building relationships up, down, and laterally.

Congrats! If you feel like you're up for a challenge then I'd say go for it as long as you feel like you've got a good support structure in and out of the company. To answer your question, my transition was somewhat mentored by my old boss followed by an abrupt changeout of new-boss-for-newer boss. If I could do anything differently from that time period, it would've been to force the issue of getting performance metrics on my own terms rather than waiting for someone to tell me what my team's metrics would be.

In case any of these might help I'll offer a couple quick considerations/suggestions:

1. Find out who you're accountable to (which keep in mind, that probably won't be just your boss) and what they define as success. When that definition is vague or unrealistic, help them come to a definition that's specific and attainable. But either way, reach out to them. Meet with them on a regular basis. If they say they don't want to do a standing meeting then set a weekly or monthly or quarterly reminder (depending on how things are going) to reach out to them.
   
2. Depending on the structure and the size of the team, it's important to identify if you're managing individual contributors or if you're managing managers. The two are very different animals; I'd normally expect a director position to be mostly the latter but companies vary.
   
3. I can't recommend reading The First 90 Days enough. It was written for people like us.
   
4. Chances are, you have in your head a handful of experiences that have struck you as good technology leadership and a handful that are not-so-good. Succinctly capture your takeaways from those; those help to define your core principles and it's important not to lose sight of them.
   
5. Don't be bashful about asking what your predecessor did well and what (s)he could have done better. Ask that of your superiors, your peers, and the people on your team.
   
6. Very early on, find out not only what procedures are documented (and how up-to-date they are) but especially find out what kind of emergency response procedures exist. If they don't, get a basic one together asap and do a test activation of it. An emergency will definitely happen during your first year; you have no control over that. What you can control is the degree to which you and your team are prepared to respond to it. Few statements are more reassuring coming from someone in your position than "Okay guys, bad thing X happened and it's going to be a rough day at the office. But we have a plan for responding to it and it's time for us to execute that plan. Let's go to work."
   
7. Most importantly: chances are you're a dependable engineer and the people you've worked for have come to trust you as their go-to guy or gal. You need one of those. Several if possible, for different facets of the team's operations.
   
   Best of luck!

When I transitioned to my last job -- from higher education to corporate finance, I used The First 90 Days. I thought there were some good points, and was able to apply a lot.

https://www.amazon.com/First-90-Days-Strategies-Expanded/dp/1422188612

Read [The First 90 Days] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1422188612/) by Watkins.

When I got my first branch manager job, I did sit and chat with every staff member (about 20 people) to get to know them.

I also asked if there was one thing they would change about the branch. I got a few good ideas that made sense and weren't hard to implement. I bought a $15 lamp for a staff area and it was if I had changed the world -- sometimes it doesn't take much to make a difference to the everyday.

Congrats! As someone who made a similar transition about 8yrs ago... Being a successful manager is about understanding your upper management's goals, effectively delegating to your directs, guiding them using appropriate situational leadership principles, and earning the trust of your peers, directs, and management through consistency, communication, and delivering results. Advocate for your people, empower them to do their jobs, and give honest feedback. It's all easier said than done :)

Go read some books!

The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter

The Great Workplace: How to Build It, How to Keep It, and Why It Matters

Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Leadership II

A few recommendations for you.

Ray Dalio - Principles for success. https://youtu.be/B9XGUpQZY38
I think you’ll see how his advice and mindset can apply to your situation.

Michael Watkins - First 90 Days. https://www.amazon.com/First-90-Days-Strategies-Expanded/dp/1422188612

I think when people get start new roles there’s this expectation of ‘plug n play’ and immediate acceleration for the business, and it’s tempting to skip steps. I think this book does a great job of outlining what you should do. I’ve had to take over leadership roles in turnaround company, which basically is saying the odds of failing is much, much greater than success. I found using the recommendations from book as a good way to manage expectations and covering all areas and nobody could accuse me of not thinking things through when something bad happens. I would look at your next 90 days as the first 90 day do-over. Follow the steps, and see if there’s improvement,

20-30% time, I would look into exploring what ‘problem’ in your industry or field that is worth solving. Maybe it can help your company, maybe it doesn’t. Maybe you have do it secretively. MayBe it leads you into entrepreneurship (but you should passionate in solving problem, than enamored with building a company). Maybe it leads you funding somebody else to execute on your idea. Or if your time at current company ends, then you can pursue this problem/solution with another company. If you don’t know you can carve out the 20% time. I would bucket all tasks considering urgent and important. Only give priority to tasks that are both urgent and important. Don’t stress on urgent/unimportant and not-urgent/unimportant tasks.

My vote is you should stay, make some effort to get good at job including ID-ing current issues, but at same time be proactive in figuring out what you want to do, and making a plan for it, and taking action. This way you have clear idea what your options really are. Quit because there is something you really wish to pursue that’s worth more than that high compensation package that you’re getting now.

Thank you for the information. I'm going to look through all of it. Also, please remember this is just an interview, not a job offer. I'll know in a week. For those who care, here's a great TED talk about prepping yourself for a nervous situation (like an interview)..

Also, here are the books I am currently waiting to have delivered from Amazon:

• How to Hire A-Players: Finding the Top People for Your Team- Even If You Don't Have a Recruiting Department
  
• Successful Onboarding: Strategies to Unlock Hidden Value Within Your Organization
  
• The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter, Updated and Expanded (I'm intending to reverse engineer this book, to develop a strategy for onboarding)
  
• Onboarding: How to Get Your New Employees Up to Speed in Half the Time
  
• Hiring for Attitude: A Revolutionary Approach to Recruiting and Selecting People with Both Tremendous Skills and Superb Attitude

If you're starting a new job, check this out: http://www.amazon.com/The-First-90-Days-Strategies/dp/1422188612
100% worth the read.

When I started a new management role, I was gifted with The First 90 Days by Michael Watson. Very informative and helpful. One of the first things he asks his readers is to do a self-evaluation, and builds lessons from there. Good stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/First-90-Days-Strategies-Expanded/dp/1422188612

I'm assuming this is for a company that you haven't worked for before? If so, then The First 90 Days is a good read.

https://www.amazon.ca/First-Days-Updated-Expanded-Strategies/dp/1422188612/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541623708&sr=8-1&keywords=first+90+days+book

Read this: First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1422188612/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_XqeFDbVRQHA8B

Then read this: The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0670921602/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_nreFDbZQPJHRM

Biggest failure is lack of humility. Remember you are a Servant Leader (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servant_leadership) and are responsible for everything while owning nothing.

My go to recommendation to any leader in a new role.

As a HR business partner you will have a significant input into University strategy after all what is a university without its lecturers, your strategy will help define the future culture of the university. What an opportunity!

First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1422188612/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_V3PADbKFMBHQT

Never lie. That said I have been "unqualified/underqualified" for every position I have held if you look at measures like years of experience. This isn't a deal breaker. Put yourself in the hiring managers shoes. If you want to have a team that is working on bleeding edge technology and projects you have to make some compromises on experience. Particularly if you don't have a enormous budget to throw around. The critical things I look for are below.

Smart - I deal with complex problems everyday. A requirement for working with my team is that you can keep up.
Passion - Am I hiring someone who is passionate about the work and role. Do you work with this stuff in the spare time or just for a paycheck.
Ambition - If their is a gap in skills is the applicant going to work hard to fill the gap as quickly as possible. Would you read books and do research to learn the concepts.
Attitude - Are they a good fit for the team. Can I explain what needs to be done and count on you to solve problems and proactively tell if you are struggling.

Look for smaller companies where you will have the opportunity to wear as many hats as possible. The pay will be lower but your playing a long game with your career :) get the experience and find out which hat you like best.

Here is are two great books on the topic.

https://www.amazon.com/Smart-Gets-Things-Done-Technical/dp/1590598385

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1119087252/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1484396909&sr=8-6&pi=SL75_QL70&keywords=stretch+book

Good luck!

Oh and when you land that next position. This book will help get you off on the right foot.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1422188612/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484397012&sr=8-1&pi=SL75_QL70&keywords=first+ninety+days