Few sentences in professional life land with such force as “Congratulations, you’re now the team leader.” For many, it is both a moment of pride and a sudden jolt of anxiety. You may feel honoured by the trust placed in you, but just beneath the surface runs a cascade of questions: What do I actually do? How do I prove myself? How do I lead people who were, until yesterday, my peers?

This shift is one of the most challenging transitions in any career. It marks the move from being valued for your own output to being responsible for enabling the output of others. Research from the Center for Creative Leadership shows that the most common reason new managers stumble is not technical incompetence but difficulty in adjusting to the relational and political demands of leadership (CCL, 2022) . It is no longer enough to be the most intelligent person in the room or the hardest worker on the team; you are now expected to create the conditions that allow others to thrive.

The challenge is compounded by time pressure. While many leadership playbooks posit the “first 90 days” as the window for building credibility, today’s workplaces are less forgiving: impressions form quickly, and expectations for visible impact surface within weeks. Failing to establish early momentum risks being trapped in cycles of mistrust and underperformance that become difficult to escape. In short, there is no leisurely three-month grace period. Your team, manager, and peers will be scanning for signs of your leadership almost immediately.

And yet, rushing to prove yourself with sweeping changes can be just as dangerous as doing too little. Studies from Gartner show that leaders who chase visible “quick wins” without building relational foundations often erode trust and reduce long-term performance (Hartfelder, 2025) . Early credibility cannot be built on results alone; it must rest equally on the trust and belonging you cultivate with your people.

That is why this guide compresses the usual 90-day roadmap into 60 days, structured into four 15-day waves. It acknowledges the urgency of modern organisational life while honouring a deeper truth: leadership is more than managing tasks; it is about creating a community of accountability and purpose.

This plan is anchored in two complementary lenses. The Performance Lens takes the practical wisdom of management research: clarify expectations, deliver early wins, create alignment. The Stewardship Lens insists that leadership is not about heroics but about hosting; convening conversations, distributing power, and nurturing trust as the foundation of performance.

Across the next sections, you’ll find not only step-by-step guidance but also evidence-based insight and reflective questions. The aim is not to hand you a script but to provide a compass: a way of navigating the messy, human, high-stakes terrain of your first two months in leadership.

Days 1–15: Listen deeply, act lightly

Your first two weeks as a team leader are not about grand gestures. They are about how you enter the room. The truth is, people are already forming stories about you. Every question you ask, every silence you hold, and every promise you make (or fail to keep) teaches the team what kind of leader you will be. This is the season of listening, but it’s a listening that is active, visible, and purposeful.

One common mistake is to believe that you must “prove yourself” by quickly diagnosing problems and issuing fixes. That instinct is understandable, since many of us were promoted into leadership because of our problem-solving ability. But research consistently shows that the most critical factor in new leader success is not technical acumen but the ability to build trust early. A McKinsey study on organisational health found that leaders who invested deliberately in relational capital in their first month were far more likely to succeed over the long run than those who led primarily with task management (McKinsey & Company, 2022).

So what does it mean to listen deeply? First, it means setting up one-to-one conversations with every team member. These are not performance reviews. There are opportunities to ask open-ended questions, such as: What do you enjoy most about your work? Where do you feel stuck? What do you want us to achieve as a team? Harvard Business Review reports that leaders who begin with curiosity and empathy lay the groundwork for psychological safety, which in turn unlocks creativity and accountability (Harvard Business Review, 2017).

Second, deep listening involves clarifying expectations with your manager. Too many new leaders stumble because they inherit a team without really knowing what their boss expects. The first weeks are the time to ask explicitly: What outcomes do you need from me? What is negotiable, and what is non-negotiable? This conversation anchors your actions in organisational reality rather than assumptions.

Third, it involves mapping the more expansive terrain. Teams never operate in isolation. There are peers, cross-functional partners, and even informal influencers who shape whether your team thrives or stalls. Take time in the first fortnight to identify who those people are. Some you will need to ally with, others simply to understand. This mapping is part political savvy, part stewardship. It ensures you know where the boundaries and opportunities lie.

Finally, listening deeply does not mean being passive. You can and should act, but act lightly. Look for one or two “quick relief” opportunities. These are not the major strategic wins, but rather small irritants that can be resolved quickly, such as clarifying a confusing process, unlocking access to a resource, or removing an administrative blockage. Gartner research shows that small, visible follow-through in the early weeks is one of the strongest predictors of perceived leadership credibility (Hartfelder, 2025). The paradox is that by starting small, you are actually making a big statement: I hear you, and I act on what I hear.

The measure of these first fifteen days is not a polished plan or a significant result. It is whether people feel seen, heard, and cautiously optimistic. Your team should come away thinking, “Our new leader is paying attention. They care about what matters to us. They do what they say.” That foundation will carry you when the harder work begins.

Five critical leadership moves (Days 1–15)

 1. Schedule one-to-one conversations with each team member, prioritising curiosity over judgement.

 2. Clarify expectations with your manager and define success in concrete terms.

 3. Map stakeholders inside and outside the team to understand who influences your success.

 4. Deliver one or two small, visible fixes to signal reliability through action.

 5. Share back what you are hearing to demonstrate that listening leads to insight.

Three self-reflection questions

 • Am I creating enough space for people to speak their truth, even when it is uncomfortable?

 • Have I followed through, however modestly, on at least one commitment I made in these first two weeks?

 • What have I begun to notice about the unwritten rules and culture of this team?

Days 16–30: Build credibility through early wins

By the second fortnight, the team has already started forming impressions. They know whether you listen, whether you follow through, and whether you can be trusted. Now they are watching for something else: does this new leader actually make a difference?

Credibility is the currency of leadership. Without it, even the best ideas fall flat. With it, you create confidence and momentum. Research from Gartner indicates that leaders who deliver early wins shorten the time it takes to achieve sustained performance, reducing the average duration from nearly nine months to approximately six months (Hartfelder, 2025). Yet not all early wins are created equal. If pursued too aggressively or disconnected from what the team values, they can backfire, eroding trust and creating cynicism (AIIR Consulting, 2023).

The key is to convert listening into visible action. This begins by sharing back what you have heard in your one-to-one conversations. A simple team conversation where you summarise themes such as strengths, frustrations, and hopes can be transformative. It shows that voices were not only heard but valued enough to shape your understanding. Harvard Business Review highlights that such “sense-making” conversations strengthen the bond between leader and team by showing transparency and reinforcing that leadership is a dialogue rather than a monologue (Harvard Business Review, 2016).

Alongside sharing insights, this is the moment to introduce light structure. That might mean a weekly check-in, a shared priorities board, or a simple rhythm of updates. These habits do not need to be heavy or bureaucratic. What matters is the predictability they create. Gallup’s research on employee engagement shows that one of the most critical drivers of performance is clarity about what is expected at work (Gallup, 2020). When people understand the rhythm and their role, they feel more secure and are able to contribute effectively.

And then comes the critical step: delivering an early win. The best quick wins are modest in scope but meaningful in impact. They address something the team cares about and can be achieved within weeks. It might be improving a cumbersome reporting process, resolving a cross-team bottleneck, or fixing a long-standing irritant. The power of an early win lies in what it represents: that you are not only listening, but acting on what you hear.

The trap to avoid is chasing visibility at the expense of relevance. A cosmetic fix designed to impress senior stakeholders but irrelevant to the team risks undermining credibility. The most resonant early wins are those that feel like shared victories rather than a leader’s performance. When a team says, “we did this together,” you have laid the foundation for durable trust.

By the end of this phase, your team should feel that their new leader is not just present but effective. They should be saying, “When we raise an issue, something happens. When we look for direction, there is clarity. Our work already feels a little better.” That is the essence of credibility in leadership: reliability, responsiveness, and results that matter.

Five critical leadership moves (days 16–30)

 1. Share back the themes from your listening sessions so the team feels heard and understood.

 2. Recognise contributions publicly and privately to reinforce what is working.

 3. Establish a light rhythm for team coordination, such as weekly check-ins or shared priorities.

 4. Identify and launch one or two early wins that matter to the team.

 5. Communicate progress inside the team and to stakeholders, making credibility visible.

Three self-reflection questions

 • Have my early actions emerged from what the team said, or from my own need to prove myself?

 • How am I balancing visibility to senior leaders with authenticity to my team?

 • Where have I demonstrated reliability, and where have I allowed commitments to slip?

Days 31–45: Align and empower

By the time you enter your second month, the initial impression period is over. Your team and stakeholders have already observed whether you follow through, whether you provide clarity, and whether you can be trusted. The next question becomes: where are we going, and how will we get there together?

This phase is about moving from credibility to direction. It requires you to create alignment around shared priorities while also redistributing leadership. Without direction, teams drift. Without empowerment, teams stagnate. Effective leadership requires both.

From listening to direction

The most powerful way to establish alignment is not to hand down a finished plan but to co-create one. Research from Harvard shows that organisations succeed when leaders surface the real issues and work collaboratively with teams to shape solutions (Beer, 2009). The act of co-creation itself builds ownership.

This means taking the insights you gathered in your first month, the hopes, frustrations, and strengths of the team, and drafting a provisional set of priorities. Crucially, you bring this as a starting point, not an endpoint. You say: “This is what I think we should focus on. What resonates? What is missing? What should change?” That invitation to critique is as important as the content of the plan. It shows humility and trust, while ensuring the priorities reflect more than one voice.

Setting goals that matter

Goal-setting research consistently shows that teams perform best when their goals are both clear and co-owned. Locke and Latham’s work on goal-setting theory demonstrates that clarity and challenge together drive performance, but commitment determines sustainability (Locke & Latham, 2002).

In practice, this means identifying two or three short-term goals or experiments that the team can rally around. These should align with organisational priorities so the team feels relevant, and they should align with team aspirations so the work feels meaningful. Goals that tick both boxes energise people, because they know they matter in two directions: upwards and inwards.

From control to empowerment

This phase is also about loosening your own grip. A common trap for new leaders is to try to “carry” the team, making all the key decisions themselves. The danger is twofold: leaders burn out, and teams become passive. Research on shared leadership shows that distributing responsibility increases innovation, resilience, and accountability (Wang et al., 2014).

The practical step is to begin delegating ownership, not just tasks. This means asking team members to lead initiatives, facilitate meetings, or represent the team externally. It signals trust and builds capacity. When people own work visibly, they shift from saying “I am doing this because my manager asked me to” toward “I am leading this because it matters to us.”

Shaping norms

Finally, alignment and empowerment are sustained by culture. What behaviours are being reinforced, and which are being tolerated? Amy Edmondson’s research on psychological safety shows that high-performing teams are those where people feel able to speak up, offer ideas, and admit mistakes without fear (Edmondson, 2019).

As a leader, you shape these norms by what you celebrate, what you challenge, and what you ignore. Highlight examples of collaboration, initiative, and peer support. Encourage team members to recognise one another. Over time, these small acts accumulate into culture.

By the end of this phase, your team should not only know where it is going but also feel that the direction belongs to them. They should see themselves not as individuals waiting for instructions, but as co-owners of the work. That is the essence of empowerment: alignment without dependency.

Five critical leadership moves (days 31–45)

 1. Draft a provisional picture of team priorities and invite the team to refine it.

 2. Co-create two or three short-term goals that link organisational priorities with team aspirations.

 3. Delegate ownership of initiatives, meetings, or external responsibilities to team members.

 4. Reinforce behaviours that strengthen culture, such as collaboration and accountability.

 5. Encourage peer-to-peer recognition and problem-solving.

Three self-reflection questions

 • Am I inviting the team into genuine ownership, or am I still holding too much control?

 • Which goals feel like they belong to the team, and which still feel like they belong only to me?

 • What norms am I actively reinforcing, and how are they shaping our culture?

Days 46–60: Deliver, reflect, and set the path forward

By the final stretch of your first two months, the team has seen you listen, follow through, and begin to shape direction. The question they are now asking is different: are we really making progress, and where are we going next?

This phase is about crystallising leadership identity. It is where you take the early trust and credibility you have built and convert them into momentum that the team can carry forward. That requires three moves: delivering on promises, creating space for reflection, and charting a shared roadmap.

Delivering on promises

The quickest way to erode credibility is to let commitments drift. In the first month, you identified small wins and co-created short-term goals with the team. Now is the time to deliver them. Their significance is not measured by size but by symbolism. They show that when the team commits, results follow.

Research on leadership transitions highlights that failure to deliver early outcomes often sets in motion cycles of mistrust that are difficult to reverse (Center for Creative Leadership, 2022). The discipline of delivering what was agreed, even if modest, establishes a track record that creates permission for more ambitious work later.

Creating space for reflection

Progress alone is not enough. Teams that sustain performance are also teams that learn. Around the halfway mark, create deliberate space for reflection. This could be a retrospective, a structured discussion, or a team check-in designed to explore what is working well, what is not, and what needs to change.

Amy Edmondson’s work on psychological safety shows that reflection is not a luxury; it is a performance driver (Edmondson, 2019). Teams that take the time to openly examine mistakes and successes adapt more quickly and sustain higher performance. By leading such a session, you are not only inviting feedback but modelling that accountability and learning are shared responsibilities.

Charting the path forward

Once you have delivered on promises and created space for reflection, the next step is to co-create a forward-looking roadmap. This should cover the next six months and balance two dimensions: performance outcomes and cultural commitments.

Performance outcomes provide clarity on what must be delivered to the organisation. Cultural commitments define how the team wants to work together, communication norms, recognition practices, or learning goals. Research from McKinsey shows that organisations with both clear objectives and intentional culture are healthier and more resilient than those that emphasise one without the other (McKinsey & Company, 2020).

Finally, make the team visible. Share their progress with your manager and peers. Recognition strengthens pride and reinforces identity. When the story of success is told as our achievement rather than my leadership, the team feels ownership of both the results and the culture.

By the end of this phase, the team should feel momentum, clarity, and pride. You will have shifted from being the “new leader” to being our leader, someone who helps the team see itself as capable and forward-looking.

Five critical leadership moves (days 46–60)

 1. Deliver on the early wins and short-term goals to prove reliability.

 2. Facilitate a reflection session to capture what is working and what needs adjustment.

 3. Adjust course visibly in response to feedback to demonstrate responsiveness.

 4. Co-create a six-month roadmap that integrates performance outcomes with cultural commitments.

 5. Share and celebrate progress with stakeholders to strengthen team visibility and pride.

Three self-reflection questions

 • Have I honoured the promises I made in the early weeks, and where do I still need to follow through?

 • Did I create genuine space for reflection, or did I dominate the conversation?

 • Does our roadmap reflect both what we need to deliver and how we want to work together?

Bringing it all together: your first 60 days as a team leader

Leadership transitions are thresholds. Crossing them is not simply about walking into a new office or accepting a new title. It is about stepping into a different way of being. The first 60 days shape the story that others will tell about you long after. Not because everything will be perfect, but because the habits you establish early, such as listening, following through, and empowering others, become the scaffolding on which both trust and performance are built.

The arc we have traced is straightforward to describe, but not easy to enact:

 • Days 1–15: Listen deeply, act lightly. You begin by showing curiosity and humility, entering with presence rather than control.

 • Days 16–30: Build credibility through early wins. You translate listening into small but meaningful action, proving that your leadership makes a difference.

 • Days 31–45: Align and empower. You invite the team into shaping priorities, co-creating goals, and taking ownership of the work.

 • Days 46–60: Deliver, reflect, and set the path forward. You consolidate trust with delivery, foster learning through reflection, and chart a shared roadmap for the future.

Each phase blends two perspectives. The performance lens emphasises delivering results and providing clarity. The stewardship lens emphasises belonging, distributed accountability, and leading as a host rather than as a hero. Performance without stewardship risks burnout and mistrust. Stewardship without performance risks drift and irrelevance. Held together, they create leadership that is both credible and humane.

Research supports this integration. Leaders who fail to create early momentum often fall into cycles of mistrust and underperformance that are difficult to escape (Center for Creative Leadership, 2022). Gartner highlights the power of early wins but warns that pursuing them without relational grounding undermines long-term impact (Hartfelder, 2025). McKinsey’s organisational health index shows that the most resilient teams combine clarity of objectives with intentional culture (McKinsey & Company, 2020). Amy Edmondson’s work on psychological safety demonstrates that sustainable performance depends on trust and the freedom to speak openly (Edmondson, 2019). All of this evidence points to the same truth: what you do in these early days matters not only for outcomes, but also for the fabric of your team.

Reflective close

As you step into this journey, carry these questions with you:

 • Am I balancing the urgency for results with the deeper call to create a team worth belonging to?

 • How do I want my team to describe my leadership at the end of these 60 days?

 • Where am I willing to let go of control so that others can step into their own power?

The invitation is not to be perfect, but to be intentional. To approach your first two months as both a proving ground and a possibility space. To remember that leadership is not something you do to others, but something you create with them.

If you do that, if you listen deeply, act reliably, empower widely, and reflect openly, you will not only survive your first 60 days. You will set in motion a story of leadership grounded in trust, stewardship, and shared success. And that story will serve you and your team for far longer than these first two months.

If you are looking to build some very specific skills and capabilities as a new leader, the Leadership Library has 100 capabilities for leadership.

Reference list

Center for Creative Leadership (2022) Developing first-time leaders? Set them up for success. Center for Creative Leadership, 16 August. Available at: https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/prepare-first-time-leaders-success (Accessed: 31 August 2025).

Delizonna, L. (2017) ‘High-performing teams need psychological safety: here’s how to create it’, Harvard Business Review, 24 August. Available at: https://hbr.org/2017/08/high-performing-teams-need-psychological-safety-heres-how-to-create-it (Accessed: 31 August 2025).

Edmondson, A.C. (2019) The fearless organization: creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Edmondson, A.C. and Kerrissey, M.J. (2025) ‘What people get wrong about psychological safety’, Harvard Business Review, May–June, pp. 52–59.

Gallup (2020) The outlook on employee engagement 2020. Washington, DC: Gallup. Available at: https://www.gallup.com (Accessed: 31 August 2025).

Groysberg, B. and Slind, M. (2012) ‘Leadership is a conversation’, Harvard Business Review, June. Available at: https://hbr.org/2012/06/leadership-is-a-conversation (Accessed: 31 August 2025).

Hartfelder, B. (2025) ‘Quick wins: how new executives can succeed’, Gartner, 6 August. Available at: https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/how-to-target-quick-wins-when-you-take-a-new-executive-role (Accessed: 31 August 2025).

Locke, E.A. and Latham, G.P. (2002) ‘Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: a 35-year odyssey’, American Psychologist, 57(9), pp. 705–717.

McKinsey & Company (2020) Organizational health index. New York: McKinsey & Company. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/solutions/orgsolutions/overview/organizational-health-index (Accessed: 31 August 2025).

McKinsey & Company (2024) ‘Organizational health is (still) the key to long-term performance’, McKinsey & Company, 12 February. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/organizational-health-is-still-the-key-to-long-term-performance (Accessed: 31 August 2025).

McKinsey & Company (2023) The state of organizations 2023. New York: McKinsey & Company, 13 April. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-state-of-organizations-2023 (Accessed: 31 August 2025).

Wang, Y. and Jin, X. (2023) ‘Exploring the role of shared leadership on job performance in IT industries’, Sustainability, 15(20), 16767. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/su152016767 (Accessed: 31 August 2025).