Management books are full of them: the do’s and don’ts of your first 100 days as a manager or leader in a new role. When you step into a new position, a great deal is expected of you, and you will face a range of challenges straight away:

• Time is scarce. How do you allocate your time effectively
• What are the priorities, and where do you want to invest your time
• Who is willing and able to support you

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How do you deal with all the new impressions, expectations and responsibilities? With Summiteers, you first take a step back, so you can then build a strong foundation for your new role.

The workshop

During this workshop, we dedicate one full day entirely to you and your new role. What are your priorities, and how will you realise them successfully? We approach this through three pillars:

• What is your vision — what do you want to build
• What is your focus — what truly are the priorities
• Who are the internal and external stakeholders

Summiteers provides both the structure and the psychological safety to work together on a concrete 100‑day plan. Together, we define the actions that allow you to set your own course with clarity and confidence.

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Kickstart your position - 100 days: “Genuinely helping people move forward.”

“We see it time and again with our clients: individuals who have just stepped into a new role and are suddenly presented with an overwhelming number of responsibilities,” says Luc Beurskens, Management Consultant at Summiteers. “At Summiteers, we support organisations in defining and realising their vision, strategy and organisational challenges. But how do we genuinely help these people — these individuals in new roles within our client organisations — move forward?”
Following a pilot with one of our clients in the banking sector, the idea for a workshop began to take shape: Kickstart your role – 100 days.

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The challenge of a new position

When people are promoted or move into a role at a different organisation, a wide range of challenges comes with it. There are so many impressions, expectations and to‑do items that it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. In many organisations, the playing field is also complex, with many people holding strong opinions.

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“There will always be people who believe you should do your job in a certain way, or who try to influence you to fit their perspective. And then there is the dynamic created by people who really wanted the role themselves, but didn’t get it.”

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Within our client organisations, we noticed that individuals in new roles — often CEOs, leaders or managers — were genuinely struggling and allowing themselves to be guided by what ‘others’ expected of them. “That’s where I immediately connected this to my experience in facilitating workshops,” says Luc.

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Structuring and challenging: “What do you really want to achieve?”

“I realised that I could apply my workshop experience effectively across all levels.” There is real value in supporting people who are new in a role and who have spent a month or two ‘swimming’, by helping them structure their thinking and challenging them from that point onwards: “What do you really want to build?”

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We also gather input from the surrounding environment on what is expected of the role and bring structure to those expectations. This ensures that someone is not driven by others’ opinions, but instead takes two months to form their own observations. From there, they take the helm and start working towards strategic pillars. “This is where I want to go, these are the people who will support me, and this is how I’ll get there.”

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“You often see people in strategic roles still spending a lot of time firefighting and working operationally. Not because they want to, but because so much comes at them and the vision is missing.”

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‍Building the foundation of a new role together

In concrete terms, the goal of the workshop is to lay the foundation of a new role together with the individual stepping into it. “What are the real priorities, and how do we chart a successful course? That is the essence of the workshop.”

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We focus on making the vision tangible and clarifying what someone truly wants to build, defining priorities, and understanding the role and influence of both internal and external stakeholders. This results in a clear roadmap: a personal plan of action.
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The focus on the first 100 days is inspired by many management books. That said, this only provides the outline of the workshop. We dive deeply into the specific needs of the individual in their new role. “Recently, we supported someone with a critical milestone coming up in six months, which they wanted to prepare for optimally. In cases like that, we naturally adapt both the day and the plan.”

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Just start with coffee in a relaxed and cozy way. At Summiteers, that is important to us.

By dedicating one full day entirely to the individual, the role and the new challenges, we are convinced that we can define a clear path to success. It matters to us that such a day starts in a relaxed and welcoming way, with coffee and a brief introduction.

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A fixed element of the day is the brain dump, where we explore what is currently on someone’s mind and what they want to put on the table, followed by articulating the vision. “You have this role now. Where do you want to be in one year or in five years? What do you want to achieve personally, and what does your environment expect you to achieve? What are you concerned about?”

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We reflect on this and gain insight into how someone currently spends their time.
“How much time are you really spending on strategy, and how much on operations and firefighting?”
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All the tools, focus and priorities to chart your own course

By getting everything out of your head and onto a board, we can start setting priorities. What is important and urgent? From there, we select two or three core themes, sometimes complemented by something that is important but less urgent for the longer term.

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Once this is clear, we explore together what is required, which deliverables need to be produced, and which people are needed. For each theme, we specify the actions, deliverables and stakeholders.

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“The outcome of such an intensive day? A concrete plan of action, and all the tools, clarity, focus and priorities you need to define and follow your own course.”

We get you there. It gives us energy to truly support our clients in being successful and to make a difference together.