When taking on a new leadership role, it’s natural to focus on the immediate challenges of making a successful transition, including accelerating your learning, building relationship with stakeholders, and securing early wins. However, it is essential to complement this “now-forward” planning with “future-back” thinking about your desired destination and what it will take to get there. As Stephen Covey expressed in his best-selling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, you want to “start with the end in mind.” This means envisioning what you want to accomplish in the new role so you will be ready to move beyond it and then working backward to map out how you will get there. In so doing, you can shape your early actions to lay the foundation for long-term success.