The first weeks in a new role are not about proving that you have every answer. They are about creating the conditions for better answers.
The first question people ask when you take on a new leadership role is usually some version of “What’s your plan?”
It is a fair question. When you are new, there is a natural temptation to prove your value by showing up with quick answers, or a list of things you plan to fix. I have found that there is a better place to start.
I’m early on in my role at BILL. The questions I keep coming back to in these first three months are how do I want my first days, weeks and months to look. Where should I spend my time and why? How do I strip away noise and “get to signal” quickly? How do I create proximity to the customers and to teams without slowing down the organization’s work? These are things an entrepreneur is faced with every day, whether they are stepping into a new role, growing a team or navigating a changing market.
Every leader is tempted to bring their playbook. In my opinion, playbooks are a point-in-time representation of how things were done — perhaps in a different company, at a different time. 2026 is wildly different from even 2025, let alone 2020. We have to leverage the lessons from our past while building for the future, backed by modern technologies and customer expectations.
In a new role , credibility comes from being clear about what you want to accomplish and getting in the trenches.
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