THE FIRST 100 DAYS: Why Most New Leaders Lose Control of Their Time — And How to Build a Stronger Leadership Capacity
Leadership begins where your calendar begins
The Hidden Trap of the First 100 Days
New research conducted as part of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative — and published in Public Administration Review — reveals a striking truth:
Leaders dramatically overestimate how much time they’ll spend on strategy
and underestimate how much energy urgent daily demands will consume.
But here’s the real insight:
This pattern doesn’t just apply to mayors.
It applies to every CEO, founder, and senior executive stepping into a new leadership role.
The first 100 days are rarely the strategic sprint leaders imagine.
They become an unplanned battle for attention, energy, and clarity.
One mayor summarized the shock perfectly:
“Once you get elected, there are ten other jobs nobody told you about.”
This is not a scheduling problem.
It is a leadership capacity problem.
The Research at a Glance
The study tracked 15 newly elected U.S. mayors, surveying them:
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Before taking office — to understand how they expected to spend their time
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After the first 100 days — to see how they actually spent it
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The findings were consistent:
Leaders consistently misjudge four major categories:
| Expectation | Reality |
|---|---|
| More strategy time | Much less strategy than planned |
| More community presence | Far more time stuck inside city hall |
| Less operational work | Operational demands dominate |
| Less reactive pressure | Constant interruptions and urgencies |
One mayor reflected:
“I envisioned more space for larger thinking.”
This misalignment is not unique to government —
it is the universal leadership gap of the first 100 days.
The New York Business Excellence Interpretation:
The Three Capacities That Define Leadership
NYBE doesn’t just cite this research; it transforms it into a leadership capacity model for C-suite executives.
Successful leaders use their first 100 days to build three capacities:
1. Personal Capacity — Managing Energy, Focus, and Decision Flow
This is the foundation.
A leader’s inner system—energy, clarity, and discipline—determines:
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Can they protect time for strategy?
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Can they stay clear-headed during tough decisions?
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Can they manage their energy in the middle of chaos?
The research’s most important message is this:
“Time is not a calendar issue; it is an energy management issue.”
Personal capacity is ultimately the anchor that shapes how leaders navigate pressure, complexity, and competing priorities.
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2. Relational Capacity — Trust, Alliances, and Influence
Leaders consistently underestimate how much time relational work requires:
staff onboarding, stakeholder coordination, media interactions, partner engagement, and community presence.
As one mayor admitted:
“I didn’t realize how much I had to learn about communicating publicly.”
Relationship-building is not a bonus activity.
It is the engine of execution.
Without trust, alignment, and influence, even the best strategy stalls.
3. Organizational Capacity — Systems, Structure, and Delegation
The first 100 days reveal the true state of an organization:
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Where capacity exists
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Where it does not
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Which processes are broken
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Which teams are misaligned
A strong mayor—or CEO—uses this period to diagnose, align, and strengthen the system.
Failing to correct misalignments early creates chronic organizational fatigue that drains energy and slows execution for years.
The NYBE Takeaways for CEOs & Senior Leaders
1. Protect Time for Strategy
If you don’t guard strategic hours, operational gravity will consume them.
2. Build Relationships Before You Need Them
Influence is not built in crisis — it’s built early.
3. Map Organizational Capacity, Not Just Priorities
A strategy only works when the system can support it.
4. Recalibrate Frequently
Weekly reviews prevent yearly regrets.
Da Vinci Mindset Metaphor:
“The First 100 Days as the Sketch Behind the Masterpiece”
Da Vinci never began with the final painting.
He began with a sketch — the structure beneath everything else.
The first 100 days are precisely this sketch.
If the lines are weak, the masterpiece cracks later.
Leadership Activation Task
This week, block 120 minutes for one action:
Map your first 100 days into three columns: Personal – Relational – Organizational.
Mark where your time is ACTUALLY going.
Then mark where it SHOULD go.
This small audit triggers massive clarity.
Power Question for Leaders
“If someone studied my calendar, would they understand my vision?”
Conclusion
This study confirms what elite leaders already sense:
The first 100 days determine the trajectory of an entire term or tenure.
As one mayor warned:
“If you don’t build the foundation early, you may reach your goals —
but with much less support and much more resistance.”
The difference between leaders who thrive and leaders who drown is simple:
Those who treat time as a strategic asset build capacity;
those who treat time as a schedule lose control of it.
Reference Note
This NewYork Business Excellence Leadership Insight builds on research conducted by Matthew Lee, Quinton Mayne, and Jorrit de Jong as part of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative and published in Public Administration Review.
While the study examines how newly elected U.S. mayors allocate time during their first 100 days, NewYork Business Excellence extends these findings through additional leadership analysis, C-suite applications, and capacity-building insights tailored for global business executives.
