When you take over a country, you do not choose the team. You inherit it.
It was built for someone else's plan, someone else's priorities, sometimes someone else's style.
The temptation is to move fast. Change a few names early and everyone knows who is in charge.
In my experience, that is usually the most expensive way to start.
Michael Watkins, in The First 90 Days, makes the point that new leaders should assess the team they inherit before they restructure it. I have found that order matters more than speed.
Listen first. One-to-ones with every manager. Field days with their teams. The first weeks are for learning, not announcing.
Then assess each role against what next year needs. Not against loyalty to the last leader, and not against your first impression.
Then decide, fairly and with HR. Develop someone, move them to a role that fits better, or part with respect. A clear decision is kinder than months of doubt.
Then act, and explain. Each person hears it first, in private. Then the team hears the reason.
Done this way, most of the team you inherit becomes the team you lead.
“Earn the right to change a team by understanding it first.”
Lesson 15 of 17 in Step 5: Building the organisation, with the full guide and a checklist for this week.