Bill Canady explains that a CEO's first 100 days means delivering $6 million to the board within nine months, compressing three years of growth into three quarters. Missing even a $2 million target creates debt the board notices. After day 101, you're no longer new, and every unchanged element gets automatically endorsed.
The question is what your first 100 days are actually made of. One goal CEO puts $6 million on the board in 9 months. That's about 3 years of required slope delivered in 3 quarters. The third, the 25 initiative CEO puts on nothing and he doesn't owe $2 million anymore. He owes $2 million plus the $2 million he just missed. It doesn't go away. It stacks up. And he owes it against a board that has started to wonder. And a team that has now learned that the plan is a document rather than a fact. And then there's the cost in days, which is worse because you can't refinance days. Your first 100 days are the only clean pass you get at establishing command. On day 101, you're not the new CEO anymore. You're just the CEO. And every single thing you didn't change is now something you endorse.
