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The media has given a lot of attention to how effective they think President Obama has been during his first 100 days in office. The decisions he made during the past three months have been scrutinized heavily because many people believe those first months predict his ultimate success or failure. The first few months are the most challenging for every leader because, for better or worse, they tend to have a significant impact on everything that follows. This is when leaders either build momentum and gain the support of their followers or make mistakes that can be difficult to recover from.

Most people who have worked in management would agree that the stakes never seem as great as when transitioning into a new position.

Thomas Neff and James Citrin state in their book “You’re in Charge — Now What?” that nothing is more important than nailing your first 100 days as manager. This is when employees size you up and determine if they like your management style. This is when superiors critically assess everything you do or don’t do, everything you say or don’t say. This is when superiors decide whether you’re an intolerant paper pusher or a fair-minded visionary who has what it takes to lead others.

The impression you make will “motivate people or keep them sitting on the sidelines — or worse, turn them against you.” After interviewing more than 50 CEOs across the nation, Neff and Citrin created an eight-point plan to help new managers make the most of their first 100 days on the job.

• Listen. Ask open-ended questions to learn as much as you can about what other people in the company think. Force yourself to hear what everyone has to say. Neff and Citrin state that “your most important tool is an open and questioning mind and manner.” Your first 100 days will be your only opportunity to ask stupid questions. Former Lucent CEO Henry Schacht recommends asking the following questions when meeting employees, suppliers, customers and board members: What’s on your mind? What should I know that I might not have known before? What would you like the new CEO to be doing?

• Resist the savior syndrome. Neff and Citrin state that the first 100 days is not the time to offer your grand strategic plan and tell people how things are going to be. No matter how much management experience you have or how much you’ve researched your new company, you still won’t know enough in the first few months to start imposing your views or to announce where the company needs to be in the next five years.

• Keep it simple. When it comes to giving employees priorities, remember that less is more. “When people are deluged with long lists of priorities and action plans, their eyes glaze over and inaction reigns. But when they are given a couple of concrete priorities wrapped inside a clear and simple theme, they can move ahead with purpose, leaving room for individual imagination and experience to fill in the details,” Neff and Citrin stated.

• Hit pause. You will be inundated with questions, which is expected, but employees won’t expect you to have all the answers right away. If you’re asked an important question and you don’t have a rock-solid answer, promise the employee you’ll get back with them as soon as you can. And do just that.

• Look for quick wins. If you find flaws in the company and quickly fix them, you’ll win supporters early. Lew Platt, a former CEO of Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates, spotted a fixable flaw almost immediately upon taking his position with the company. “Every expenditure over $25 had to be approved by Jess Jackson, the winery’s founder. I put in place a standard expense approval system. That was a simple but symbolically important change. People still talk about it, about recovering their dignity and being given the authority. If you can find a few things that are serious flaws in the organization and fix them quickly, you can establish your credibility as a leader very fast,” he said.

• Spell it out. Share your management philosophy with your employees as well as what your expectations are of them. Former Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons compared the first 100 days on the job to pouring cement: “While the cement is still wet, you can shape and mold it into a sturdy foundation that will shape and support your next 100 days and the 100 days after that.”

• Don’t dis your predecessor. Regardless of how badly the former manager might have done his or her job, don’t bring it up. Disparaging past bosses never looks good, and there probably are employees who still are loyal to him or her.

• Give feedback. Keep your employees posted on what you’re learning and changes you’d like to see happen within the company. Open dialogue encourages employees to take ownership of plans. Without this you have little chance for success.

If you don’t think this eight-point plan will work for you, Neff and Citrin offer new managers two pieces of advice that are guaranteed to steer them in the right direction — “Listen and learn. Underpromise and over-deliver.”