Home / The Playbook / Year 1 / Decide What You'd Change
Year 1 · Move 01

Decide what you'd change if it were fully yours.

By year one, you have enough standing to actually make calls, not just execute the ones you inherited. Start being deliberate about which of those inherited habits you keep.

A lot of what you're running today was set by whoever had this role before you, or by decisions made in your first few months when you didn't have enough context to question them. A year in, you do.

This is also the point where staying quiet stops being humility and starts being a missed opportunity. You've earned real judgment about how this team should work. Making one of those calls visibly, and putting your name on it, is how people above you start to see the role as yours and not just a seat you're filling.

List the systems you inherited without ever asking why
Meeting cadences, reporting structures, processes. Which ones are actually serving the team versus just persisting?
Change one thing you've been meaning to change for months
Pick something real, not symbolic, and actually do it instead of continuing to plan to.
Be honest about what you're keeping out of comfort
Not everything inherited is wrong, but "we've always done it this way" isn't a reason on its own.
More moves in Year 1
Year 1 · Move 02
Build the thing nobody assigned you →
Year 1 · Move 03
Start developing your own manager →
Year 1 · Move 04
Write down what you'd tell yourself on day one →
Year 1 · Move 05
Decide what kind of manager you want to be known as →
Year 1 · Move 06
Audit your own habits, not just your team's →
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Making It Yours: Year 1
All moves →