Boards stopped giving new CEOs time to find their footing

The clock doesn’t start on day one anymore. For decades, the “first 100 days” framework allowed new executives a structured runway—time to listen, assess, and earn trust before making consequential decisions. That window quietly closed. What replaced it isn’t a shorter timeline, but a fundamentally different set of expectations. Boards aren’t granting CEOs time to “learn the business.” They expect judgment from the start, and the tolerance for ambiguity has collapsed. Successful leaders must arrive pre-oriented, understanding the real mandate, the hidden risks, and how decisions are made be...