The First Hundred

Executive transition coaching for Higher Education leaders

You got the role. Now make it count.

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Congratulations! After months of applications, interviews, and waiting, you've landed that Grade 9+ role. You're about to step into senior institutional leadership: shaping strategy, leading major functions, influencing decisions that matter across the university.

But here's what nobody tells you: getting the job is just the beginning.

The reality of your first 100 days

You're walking into a complex web of relationships, unspoken rules, and institutional politics that took your predecessor years to navigate. You're expected to hit the ground running, but the ground keeps shifting.

The stakes couldn't be higher.

Make the wrong early moves and you'll spend months rebuilding trust
Stay too operational and you'll be seen as "not strategic enough"
Challenge too quickly and you'll be labelled "difficult"
Don't challenge enough and you'll be dismissed as "not adding value"

Meanwhile, most likely you're reporting to someone so senior you rarely see them and they might not know anything about your area of the organisation. They're looking to you to be the expert. Your new team is watching every decision. Your stakeholders are forming opinions about your capability before you've even found the coffee machine.

You know you're capable. You wouldn't have gotten this role otherwise. But knowing you can do the job and actually doing it in this specific institution, with these particular people, under these exact pressures? That's a different challenge entirely.

Introducing The First Hundred

Executive transition coaching designed specifically for senior HE leaders stepping into Grade 9+ roles.

The First Hundred isn't about generic leadership advice or corporate onboarding checklists. It's about the nuanced reality of leading in Higher Education, where academic and professional services cultures collide, where decision-making can be glacially slow or lightning-fast depending on the issue, and where your success depends as much on reading the unspoken rules as following the written ones, if you can even find them.

This is your thought partnership for the most critical phase of your career transition.

How it works

Three focused coaching sessions over 90 days, plus ongoing support when you need it most.

Session 1: Reading the landscape (Days 1-30)

Decode the institutional culture and unspoken rules
Map your key stakeholders and their real priorities
Plan your early conversations and relationship-building strategy
Identify quick wins that build credibility without overreach

Session 2: Building influence (Days 30-60)

Navigate the shift from operational to strategic thinking
Handle your first major decisions with discernment
Balance challenging up with building trust
Manage your team's expectations while establishing new standards

Session 3: Cementing your position (Days 60-90)

Consolidate your early wins into lasting impact
Position yourself for the longer-term strategic challenges
Develop your authentic leadership voice in this new context
Plan your next phase with clarity and conviction

Plus: Ongoing Voxer support between sessions for those moments when you need to think through a situation quickly: before that crucial meeting, preparing for that difficult conversation, or when you're second-guessing a decision.

And: The First Hundred Playbook with frameworks, conversation guides, and strategic prompts designed specifically for HE leadership transitions.

What you'll achieve

By day 100, you'll have:

✓ Clarity on the cultural landscape and how decisions really get made in your institution

✓ Established key relationships that accelerate your influence and effectiveness

✓ Delivered visible wins that build your reputation as someone who gets things done

✓ Mastered the strategic mindset shift from managing teams to leading leaders

✓ Built trust with your line manager through considered challenge and thoughtful execution

✓ Avoided the early pitfalls that can set back your progress by months

✓ Maintained your confidence and energy instead of burning out from overthinking every decision

Most importantly: You'll feel steady, grounded, and effective in your new role instead of constantly wondering if you're getting it right or about to be found out.

Apply Now

Why application-only?

Because senior leadership transitions aren't one-size-fits-all.

Whether you're moving from a Russell Group to a post-92 university or vice versa or if this is a brand new role to you it required different navigation than stepping up within the same institution. Leading Finance demands different stakeholder strategies than heading up Student Services. Your background, your team, your institutional context, it all matters. You matter.

The First Hundred works because it's tailored to your specific situation. That means I work with a small number of clients at any time, ensuring you get the focused attention your transition deserves.

This isn't about whether you're good enough for the coaching. You already proved that by landing the role. It's about ensuring the coaching is right for your specific transition and that I have enough capacity to really support you.

Your investment

£2,200 for three coaching sessions, ongoing Voxer support, and The First Hundred Playbook.

Pro tip: Many clients negotiate this as part of their package during salary discussions. It's a small investment compared to your new salary, and it ensures you hit the ground running from day one.

Download the business case pdf

About your coach

I’m Fiona Bicket, the founder of The Hidden Curriculum of Progression and a specialist self-belief coach for Higher Education professionals.

I spent 13 years as a Professional Services manager in UK Higher Education, working across multiple institutions and functions. I know what it feels like to step into senior HE roles: the isolation, the complexity, the pressure to get it right immediately.

For the past four years, I've coached over 200 HE professionals through career transitions, promotions, and leadership challenges. I understand the hidden curriculum of HE leadership because I've lived it, learned it, and now I help others navigate it.

I get the sector because I've been in the sector.

Ready to make your first 100 days your strongest 100 days?

Your transition starts the moment you accept the job offer. The question isn't whether you'll figure it out - you will. The question is how quickly, how smoothly, and with how much confidence.

Why navigate it alone when you don't have to?

Apply now

Applications are reviewed within 3 working days during term time and may take longer during holiday periods. If accepted, you'll receive your payment link, scheduling access, and The First Hundred Playbook to start preparing for your transition. Apply now

Questions? Email [email protected]

Or book a call with me.