In American politics the first 100 days of a presidency are usually used as a barometer of the success or failure of the first part of an incumbent’s tenure.
The anniversary soon to be marked by the latest leader in the White House got me reflecting about my own first 100 days as leader of The White Horse Federation, a trust of 30 schools that I joined as CEO in September last year.
There is no escaping that the first 100 days as a new CEO are intense. From the start, colleagues are looking to you and waiting for signals about now and the future - the stakes feel high.
Leading a trust: relationships
Leadership is essentially an exercise in relationships and in the early days you sense that all colleagues are seeking to understand you, how you work and what you will look to do.
This is not just born out of curiosity, but the need for psychological safety; understanding where they stand under new leadership.
As such, while your head may be full of plans and ideas, the first job is to seek to understand the organisation and your colleagues - at all levels - by talking to them, asking questions, listening and appreciating how things are done here.
This was why meetings - both one-to-ones and with groups of leaders - held ahead of the summer were hugely helpful in enabling a surer foothold in the new academic year.
Culture and connection
In the first 100 days there are also more formal “set-piece moments” where you connect with all colleagues or groups of colleagues in your new role, each one feeling high-risk but high-reward.
Taking your time to choose the right words and visuals and approach to connecting and building culture across the trust is crucial. Culture is everywhere and in everything, so being explicit about what culture is and what it is not has been important in setting the direction and indicating the new cultural climate of the organisation.
Your opportunities to meet staff across those first 100 days are not equally important - defining moments exist, particularly when presenting to all colleagues across the trust and in key networks. Prioritising time to visit schools and present to all colleagues in two whole-trust Inset days was hugely important for setting tone and direction.
Ultimately, relationships are the golden thread running through the early days and ever onward.
Learning the history and organisation
Each organisation is unique and just as humans are the result of their experiences over time, so are academy trusts.
Making sure you understand the history and the dynamics of the trust shows that you respect the past and signals a level of care to colleagues as you seek to lead their trust well. This reduces the unknowns and enables surer decision-making and prioritisation.
Appreciating the good has been very helpful, and there is much that is good: the trust has great colleagues, systems and approaches that support schools well. The past seven primary inspections have resulted in five judgements of “outstanding”.
This means you are not starting with a “blank page” - the organisation existed and lived before you. So tapping into the organisational memory is key to understanding why things are the way they are, and has helped me to inform my approach and priorities.
Committing
Colleagues expect change, but it is important to seek the best change, not just any change. So the first 100 days cannot only be about you learning - you have to commit and set direction, even when you are not quite ready, or you risk being seen as ponderous.
It is essential to evaluate what you need to get behind, alongside, in front of and what needs to be added.
Balancing this gives a sense of evolution rather than revolution; a focus on what is good, could be good, is no longer required and is new.
Find the fun
And one other thing: find the fun, the light, the human side of every situation. It oils the wheels of culture.
It is a route to wellbeing, to generating humility and generosity and freeing colleagues to relax and bring their best selves to work.
Taking time to explore things beyond education and linking to life outside work offers deeper connection and enables colleagues to bring more of their real selves to work.
Overall, after 100 days it is still humbling and a privilege to lead those at White Horse, and I do so with pride.
Dan Nicholls is CEO of The White Horse Federation
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