When you take on a new leadership role, there is a definite honeymoon period. As leaders we know it and as employees who see new leaders come on board, we know it as well. As a digital executive, this is even more important to recognize. Every one is looking to see what you will do. You can’t create a digital business without doing a few things right early on. Having a clear idea about this and having a plan will make or break things. Here is a good case study.

The thing to master early is probably not an issue of goals and strategies. It is about people, the culture that exists and the transformation that may need to occur.

When Stuart McGuigan began his tenure at Johnson & Johnson, he had already been the CIO at CVS Caremark and at Liberty Mutual. A leader with a master’s degree in cognitive sciences from Yale, McGuigan thinks more than the average leader about how the mind works, and thus how to motivate people. As he notes in an interview with him, learning the culture of an organization is the first order of business for a new leader. Only then can the appropriate changes be made during the window of change afforded a new executive during the early days of his tenure.

via Johnson & Johnson’s CIO Leverages A Proven Blueprint For Success In The First 100 Days.