THE first 100 days are tracked closely following the inauguration of a new president of the Philippines and much can be learned by taking a similar approach as you enter a new leadership role in a company or in any organization. Those first 100 days will set the tone for the remainder of your tenure, and they require a delicate balance of confidence and action with listening and learning.

Like any transition, some advanced planning is required. The leader should understand the public perception and the existing leadership team or Cabinet members. I was expecting our government will review all plans of the first 100 days, key performance indicators, and the leadership team performance top goals.

This will give you a quick sense of current goals and how the government is performing against them.

If someone were going to do a 100-day report card on your performance, what would you want it to show? Then work backward to formulate that plan.

During my past life in the corporate world, I had the chance to be involved in the drafting of the first 100 day report card, so to speak.

Assess how the people are really feeling.

In a parallel effort to the planning, it’ll be important to embark on a listening tour. One-on-one meetings with your key Cabinet members are critical, but also identify who in the last administration might have thought were the high performers or those identified in the strategic planning for the presidency.

Find quick wins.

While it’s critical that you listen and learn, bringing the existing team along with you as you set about changing the organization, it is critical that you’re setting the tone of action. Identify a handful of quick real wins that can happen fast at the beginning of your tenure to signal who you are, how you operate and what will be important to you as you move forward.

Cross the border – essence of unity

Just as in the political arena, it’s important to study what your biggest adversaries are saying about you, too. Read the news to understand what competitors and analysts might have to say about you. Talk to your human resources and leadership teams, and ask them what they’re hearing in regards to issues such as why people are leaving, why people are frustrated, where there are weaknesses, etc.

Then, reach across that border and engage in conversation with those critics to understand if what they’re saying is valid or if their toxic energy needs to be purged from your organization.

Take action with sense of urgency

Now that you’ve gone deeper into the team, you will likely have a clearer picture of what’s working and what is not. Identify a minimum of five priorities tied to action plans, deadlines and accountability. Communicate it widely to the people with passion and sincerity , and be very transparent about delivery or lack thereof. Identify a cross-functional group of individuals to assist, and give credit where credit is due publicly and often.

Build the rallying and inspiring cry

As you’re moving into action mode and settling in during your first 100 days, consider crafting a rallying cry — whether it’s a mission statement published at the Palace entrance, an open letter from you or a motto like President Biden’s “Build Back Better.”

Whatever it is, ensure it will help people clearly see what you intend to execute, and remind them of it regularly. I believe if you pause to bring people on board, your likelihood of success will dramatically increase.

Ultimately, you’ve got to find the right balance of listening and learning vs. action. You must instill confidence in your ability to lay out the plan as much as your ability to lead. You must also signal that you have substance and speed. Continue assessing your constituents throughout your tenure to see if they’re understanding and adapting to your philosophy, and show them that you’re planning to move the company in the right direction.

Performance management system or the state of the nation address follow through or first 100 days report is essential to align people, resources, systems, capital investments, etc. to meet objectives. Again, it serves as a dashboard …as the saying goes: “what gets measured , gets done.”

If you have a strong purpose in life, you don’t have to be pushed. Your passion will drive you there.

More importantly – the first 100 days should be tied to the leader ‘s sense of purpose.

What is sense of purpose – it is the quality of having a definite purpose in life and the quality of having great value or significance.

Having a sense of purpose is related to having the intention to accomplish something that is meaningful to you and makes a positive difference to others. So having a sense of purpose in what you do at work relates to believing that what you do is meaningful and contributes to making a positive difference to others.

Your sense of purpose is influenced by your core personal values and beliefs.

Why a sense of purpose is important

A sense of purpose acts like a north star in directing your thoughts, feelings and behaviour.

Having a sense of purpose in what you do provides a sense of lasting fulfilment and is the most significant enabler of you being at your best.

A sense of purpose provides immense motivation and guides you in achieving your authentic potential.

A sense of purpose enables you to get through harder times and persevere through adversity.

Having a sense of purpose significantly benefits your health and work performance.

Recent years have offered plenty of examples of leaders who were extremely well-respected by their colleagues and peers falling from grace because they made this mistake of not finding the sense of purpose in leading.

PBBM should focus on the top goals to inspire more people. But he must put his money where his mouth is. I believe he should project an image of a hardworking leader who’s really caring for his people.

How you allocate resources is where the rubber meets the road. Real strategy in companies and in our lives is created through hundreds of every day decisions about where we spend our resources. As you’re living your life from day to day, how do you make sure you’re heading in the right direction? Watch where your resources flow. If they’re not supporting the strategy you’ve decided upon, then you’re not implementing that strategy at all.

Personally, I want to make each day meaningful in such a way that when I get out of bed in the morning, my conscience will say, “that’s the way to do it. “ I just hope our president is thinking about it too in this challenging time.

In many lines of work having early success is widely publicized and celebrated, and it often creates a myth that early success means consistent and permanent success, when in reality the path to success is often indirect and rife with failure. I believe that failure is the path to success. Getting something wrong doesn’t mean you failed. Instead, you have just learned what does not work. You now know to try something else.

There are many unanswered questions, but it is the courage to seek those answers that continues to give meaning to life. You can spend your life wallowing in despair, wondering why you were the one who was led towards the road strewn with pain, or you can be grateful that you are strong enough to survive it.

Appeal to PBBM

The relationships you have with your people who elected you in power, family and true close friends are going to be the most important sources of happiness in your life. But you have to be careful.

He will be tempted to travel to other countries to look for investments but he needs to stay home more often to fix his home of many compelling problems.

When it seems like everything at home is going well, you will be lulled into believing that you can put your investments in these relationships on the back burner. That would be an enormous mistake. By the time serious problems arise in those relationships, it often is too late to repair them. Thus we need to step back and reflect on our sense of purpose. By Dr. Tony Leachon

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Anthony C. Leachon, M. D.

Independent Health Reform Advocate

Past President ,
Philippine College of Physicians

Chair , Kilusang Kontra Covid
( KILKOVID )