Listen & Learn playbook
New managers should prioritize 'Listen & Learn' for their first 90 days — Mirko Samardzic published a free playbook that walks through listening priorities and assessing team dynamics before making changes social. The playbook is framed as a practical onboarding roadmap for engineering leaders moving from IC work to management social.
Samardzic has been publishing other leadership resources recently, including a recorded session that pairs a board‑level AI risk playbook with a prioritized 30–90‑day checklist for executives. youtube.com Research shows new leaders carry high stakes: Harvard Business Review reported roughly a 50% chance a new executive will leave or fail within the first 18 months. hbr.org Transition‑acceleration studies find new executives typically need about six months to reach full productivity, which is why structured early‑role playbooks focus on short, measurable ramps. genesisadvisers.com The market already contains similarly framed 30/60/90 courses and downloadable toolkits — for example, paid Notion workbooks and e‑books marketed under “The First 90 Days” and related engineering‑leadership playbooks. kulkarniankita.gumroad.com Onboarding outcomes data underscores the payoff: one recent roundup shows businesses can cut early turnover (20% quit within the first 45 days) and that strong onboarding correlates with a ~52% lift in retention for newly onboarded staff. devlinpeck.com Practically, engineering leaders adopting a Listen‑first approach pair people signals with delivery metrics — team engagement or sentiment (onboarding/HR benchmarks), plus delivery cadence measured by DORA metrics like deployment frequency and lead time, and a 12‑month retention trend to validate people changes. shrm.org
