A playbook for a new commercial leader's first 90 days

Spend the first phase auditing the actual pipeline flow and function definitions before proposing structural changes — many new leaders make organizational changes based on early impressions that a proper diagnosis would have corrected.

Identify which friction points are structural (a broken definition or handoff) versus personnel-related before acting, since the two require very different interventions and are easy to conflate under time pressure.

Communicate findings and proposed changes transparently to the team, including where the diagnosis contradicts prior assumptions — credibility built early tends to make later, harder changes easier to implement.