CHAPTER 14
What Gets in Your People’s Way?
Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.
—VINCE LOMBARDI
Your people have essential work to do and important goals to achieve. Your ability to assist them in reaching those goals is important to them, to your organization, and to your future. As you develop and motivate them through leadership conversations, your purpose is to have them steadily become more competent in performing their current jobs and, ultimately, to acquire the skills to perform at the next higher level. The tools you can use to remove obstacles from your people’s growth path include training, mentoring, and coaching.
Are You an Obstacle?
A business speaker challenged a group of executives: “If you left your organization today, who would lead your business, and how well would they do?” In most cases, there was no clear successor; and even when there was, the executive doubted that person’s abilities. For Charles, the CEO of a midsize professional services company, the speaker’s question was a jolting wake-up call. He had focused entirely on growing revenue rather than on developing people. He immediately texted his management team to ask, “If I got hit by a truck today, what would concern you most?” Interestingly, helping him recover from the accident was not on their list.
The team compiled their concerns about key customer relationships, financing, succession planning, and other business matters, and Charles worked with them to resolve the concerns. A year later, Charles took a thirty-day sabbatical. When he returned, the team joked that everything ran better in his absence.
Even though that was not true, clearly the organization was stronger because it no longer needed him for routine operations. It may seem paradoxical, but your organization would be stronger if it did not need you to handle day-to-day matters. Instead of being an indispensable cog in the production machine, you need to build your people’s skills and knowledge so that you are free to pursue strategic opportunities for your organization. Furthermore, proving your ability to develop others is a big step toward your next promotion—and would open a slot for one of your high potentials. To start working on your next opportunity, ask yourself:
- Why am I in this position?
- What must I learn to get to the next one?
- What opportunities should I be preparing for?
- What will they require of me that is different from my current responsibilities?
Another obstacle to your people’s development may be that you are managing at too low a level. Heavy-handed control over operations retards development of high potentials and may cause them to leave. Even in large organizations, a surprising number of executives we coach cite their boss as a factor in performance shortfalls and production disruptions. Their bosses undercommunicate, micromanage, show favoritism, and do work themselves because they feel it would take too long to teach the right person how to do it. As a leader, you control the organizational factors that may adversely affect the performance of high potentials. The most frequently cited factors—other than the boss himself or herself—include
- Faulty organizational structure and overlapping job responsibilities
- Lack of quantitative performance goals and regular feedback
- Inefficient or nonexistent processes, or failure to follow processes consistently
- Outdated technology
- Inadequate support staff
Acknowledge that some things you do or do not do may be impeding development of your high potentials and compromising their ability to deliver top performance. As you grow, you provide room for your people to grow as well.
Removing Obstacles That Get in Your People’s Way
In Chapter 13 we introduced you to Marilyn, a high potential at a law firm who was fired when she failed to meet her boss’s performance expectations. The things that blocked Marilyn’s success are typical of high potentials whose careers derail. As a leader who is gaining expertise in the four types of conversations, how would you work with Marilyn to improve her performance—and how would you apply similar techniques to assist other high potentials in your organization?
A good place to begin is to explicitly identify the additional tasks you want Marilyn to perform and the performance objectives you expect her to achieve. You might hold a conversation with her about the management and leadership skills required to perform those tasks and achieve those objectives:
“Marilyn, you’re a skilled attorney, and that is essential for making partner. We hired you because of your legal acumen and leadership potential. Your legal abilities have proven to be world class—and your clients recognize them. On the other hand, so far we haven’t seen the skills needed to convert your abilities into the revenue stream and new clients expected of a partner. Let’s discuss what it will take for you to become a partner, and the activities and behaviors that will take you to that goal.”
Marilyn’s response might be something like: “I’m glad we’re having this conversation. I need to know what you expect of me besides meeting revenue goals. I always felt I was given stretch goals. Revenue has increased with all of my clients, yet I’m still not meeting your expectations. What else can I do?”
Marilyn provided key insights into how she has been thinking, which gives you the opening to suggest new activities and behaviors:
“Marilyn, your focus on revenue is admirable, but meeting stretch goals is hard when you do so much of the work yourself instead of delegating it. Besides, revenue is just one criterion for making partner. Your work with clients is superb, but it takes time away from growing your people and growing the firm’s client list. As your boss, I’m willing to mentor you in how to simultaneously lead your team, build their expertise, expand our relationship with existing clients, and gain new ones—the full set of skills required to make partner. How would you like me to assist you? Do you need additional resources? Are there any training courses that you would like to take?”
At this point, you and Marilyn might discuss the process for learning the leadership skills expected of partners, and how you could work together to prepare her for that promotion. Then you would want to agree on the improvements she needs to make. If neither of you is sure what is holding her back, you might speak with her colleagues to determine how well they feel she is performing. You could hold face-to-face interviews, use a 360-degree tool (a survey that contrasts Marilyn’s perceptions of herself to those of her bosses, peers, and direct reports), or both. When Marilyn receives the results, she can prepare a plan for your approval that outlines a developmental approach and identifies where she will need assistance. When you sign off on her plan, you are committing to provide the resources she needs and giving her responsibility to execute the plan:
“Marilyn, now that you’ve analyzed the 360 results and I have approved your plan, it’s up to you to follow through and ask for assistance when needed. Focus on developing your team as you service our clients. When you are comfortable with how I mentor you, start mentoring the attorneys on your staff in a similar manner. One way to demonstrate your proficiency is to teach your skills to your team and bring out the best in each of them. When you become proficient in developing others and winning work with new clients, you’ll also be achieving the revenue targets and be on your way to becoming a partner. I have a vested interest in seeing that you are successful.”
Going forward, your responsibility is to balance the assistance you provide directly to Marilyn with the assistance you obtain for her from other sources. Ensure that all of the assistance focuses both on the business opportunities and the development plan to which you and Marilyn have agreed.
Is the Issue One of Skills or Behaviors?
Once you approve Marilyn’s development plan, the question is whether she should focus on learning or applying new techniques. She may intellectually know what to do but have difficulty translating knowledge into effective actions and behaviors.
- If the barrier is lack of skills or knowledge, look into training and mentoring to teach Marilyn essential management and leadership techniques.
- If she knows what to do but needs assistance in implementing her skills, explore coaching options to improve her performance.
- If the issue involves both skills and behaviors, combine the two types of assistance.
The main difference between training and mentoring is that most training occurs in a group setting, whereas mentoring is delivered on an individual basis. Training focuses on general issues, whereas mentoring targets an individual’s next steps. Conversely, coaching tackles behavioral issues and beliefs that inhibit superior performance and rapid growth.
Training for Your People
When Marilyn began managing her legal staff, she had little prior experience or training in leading and developing others. Her formal education was in practicing law, and she was brilliant at that. Knowing the law—or accounting, engineering, sales, or any other specialty—cannot be equated with knowing how to manage and lead. So the first step in improving performance must be to gain Marilyn’s agreement (or your direct reports’ agreement) that management and leadership training are necessary. The next step is to identify training courses that might meet Marilyn’s needs and fit her schedule. Allowing Marilyn to research and pick her training course(s) will increase her buy-in to the overall process and increase her commitment to learning.
Management and leadership training comes in many forms, including
- Internal training courses on topics uniquely relevant to your organization
- Courses offered by training companies and accredited postsecondary schools
- Seminars given by trade associations in your industry
- Executive education programs at business schools
In addition, there are a wide variety of membership organizations that have regular meetings with instructional presentations by prestigious speakers. Have your high potentials research and find the appropriate course(s) they need.
Mentoring for Your People
A mentor is an acknowledged expert who is able to share experiences, past successes, and failings in a manner that builds trust. Working with a mentor allows high potentials to see that their challenges are solvable. If you determined that Marilyn could benefit from personal attention, ask Marilyn to identify specific mentors who are uniquely proficient in each skill Marilyn needs to develop and would be willing to work with her one-on-one. Mentors would approach conversations as experts to dispense advice and help Marilyn identify options relevant to the situation she faces. Mentors often make such comments as “When I was in your position, I would . . .” or “Based on my knowledge of your industry and your company, I would . . .” or “This is a best practice that you should follow.” The mentor(s) would work with Marilyn to implement new approaches and apply new techniques to address her management and leadership challenges.
Your role in the mentoring is to encourage Marilyn to openly share her concerns and problems with the mentor. Ensure that the mentor is thinking not only of what he or she did in the past but about what is likely to work for Marilyn now and in the future. You might mentor Marilyn yourself in some of your strengths if she would accept your inputs. In any case, check periodically to ask how the mentoring is going and what is or is not working for her. Mentoring is an experience, not a destination.
To get mentors to say yes to working with one of your high potentials, specify the skills they have that your high potential needs, and allow them to set boundaries on their availability. You also can increase your chances of getting a yes response by detailing your skills and offering to mentor someone in their organization in return for their assistance with your high potential.
Mentors can be internal or external. Internal mentors are executives in your organization, usually your peers in other departments. External mentors can be recent retirees or executives in companies that are strategic partners. A person qualifies as a mentor because he has held a position that Marilyn aspires to achieve or because he has special expertise in a critical area where she needs to improve.
Marilyn may find an internal person who has the skills to address the issues she faces or, more likely, she will choose to work with multiple mentors, each in an area where he or she excels. Some organizations also provide high potentials with a sponsor within the organization. A sponsor not only offers mentoring but also connects your high potentials with the right people to provide additional assistance. Effective mentors and sponsors will share with you in the pride of seeing Marilyn succeed. Internal mentors have the advantage of knowing the resources and culture of your organization. Their downside is that they are less likely to introduce new ideas.
External mentors generally function like internal ones. They may have worked in your organization, or they understand the operations of organizations in your industry. You might ask an external mentor to provide new skills and perspectives to Marilyn. She can then introduce them into your organization. Asking Marilyn to mentor other people internally as she learns new skills would be a powerful way to reinforce her learning and teach her how to develop others at the same time.
Coaching for Your People
Coaches assist those who possess skills but need to apply them more effectively. There are many things a coach can do for a high potential like Marilyn. A coach generally will
- Provide a safe space for open conversation—an environment free from judgment and risk of negative repercussions from anything she might say.
- Assume that Marilyn knows what to do to be successful in her position (or is willing to learn), and work with her on how to apply her skills.
- Elicit more effective strategies and solutions from Marilyn, but never tell her what course of action to take.
- Guide Marilyn through the process of awareness, reflection, learning, and action by asking questions, listening to answers, and thinking broadly.
- Assist her in identifying and pursuing new methods to achieve her goals.
Although you can certainly coach Marilyn as her boss, providing a professional coach is a valuable employee benefit. Multiple studies have shown it to have positive effects on employee retention as well as individual and team performance. Coaching is meant to be periodic, not endless, so commit to only three to six months initially. If coaching does not appear to be producing progress, have Marilyn discuss this with the coach—that conversation alone can lead to a breakthrough. Coaching and leadership conversations are similar in that they both drive toward action and results.
Today, many executives are trained to use coaching techniques to produce better results. You probably do this naturally when you say, “What are some ways you could reach your goals?” or “How else might you get better results?” instead of directing the action by saying, “The best way to reach your goal is to. . . .” One advantage of internal coaching is that the coach thoroughly understands and supports the culture of the organization. Another is lower costs, as an internal coach is already on the payroll. The downside to an internal coach is that the conversations may not be considered safe. Marilyn may be reluctant to confide her weaknesses to you, her boss, if she feels that the information could jeopardize future promotions and salary increases. Even if the internal coach is a professional from HR, confidentiality still might be an issue if that person is involved in succession planning or compensation discussions. In addition, a coach from HR may not have experience in an operating role or may be lower in the hierarchy than Marilyn, which would render that coach less credible to her.
An external coach is professionally bound to keep confidential everything disclosed by Marilyn, unless maintaining confidentiality would put a person in danger or significant property loss would occur. Coaching conversations with Marilyn would thus touch on not only her hopes and aspirations but also her fears and job concerns. Because coaches work with a variety of organizations, they also bring fresh viewpoints into the coaching conversations. In addition, accredited coaches have met education and experience requirements and have an obligation to obtain continuing education. Visit sites like www.coachfederation.org to view the standards set by the industry and determine whether a coach is accredited. Examine a coach’s credentials and check her references.
When you use an external coach, ensure that you and the coach work in tandem to assist your high potential. For example, Jack hired a coach to assist Mason, a new first-line manager with extraordinary capabilities. Once the coaching began, Jack stopped having conversations with Mason. Later, Jack wondered why Mason was falling out of alignment with the results Jack wanted and with a shift in the organization’s mission. When he voiced his concern to the coach, Jack said, “I’m not having developmental conversations with Mason. That’s your job now, and I don’t think it is going well.” The coach challenged Jack to see how separating their efforts actually could retard Mason’s progress despite Jack’s best intentions. The coach sat down with both of them, and they reached an agreement whereby Mason would receive simultaneous coaching by the coach and mentoring by Jack. The integrated result was dramatic. Mason was able to incorporate Jack’s mentoring and feedback into his work with the coach, and his performance soared. Jack has since been promoted, and Mason has taken over Jack’s position.
Your Role as a Leader
To develop your high potentials, determine the combination of internal and external coaching, mentoring, and training resources (including you) that is appropriate for each individual. Respect the fact that your people will not discuss some topics with you, and find someone in whom they are willing to confide. This also will enable them to discover how to work with you more effectively. Provide appropriate support, and model great leadership and management skills yourself to achieve maximum alignment.
Developing others is about producing top-notch results. Employ tactics that work best for each individual and match her learning style. Classroom training, experiential workshops, and annual reviews are key elements in developing people—if they are conducted properly. Too often, we hear high potentials describe their annual review as “a waste of time. My boss has me write my own review, and he signs it. Then we ignore it until six months or a year later. My boss is just too busy to care about building my skills.” In contrast, Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric (GE), says that he spends 30 percent of his time on people, and the company spends over a billion dollars annually for training. GE’s focus is on cultivating integrity and performance, and encouraging a healthy disrespect for history—figuring out what is most important to change and what should be maintained. Coaching accelerates learning and inspires new behaviors.
Coaching Managers
If you manage new managers, teaching them to coach rather than to direct the actions of their people will be among your challenges. Managers are responsible for getting work done through others, yet they may have been promoted without having developed that skill. In this case, it is more likely that management issues rather than technical issues will get in their way. Watch for the following issues in the managers who work for you:
- Doing their people’s jobs. First-line managers often exhibit this problematic behavior and get away with it by working long hours. This produces high stress and low performance because the manager becomes a bottleneck and complains about not having competent people or enough time to get the work done. His people complain in turn about being micromanaged.
- Poor teamwork. If the team is talented but production rates and quality fall short of expectations, the problem may be that the manager lacks the ability to define and implement efficient processes and then coach people to use the processes effectively. She also may be ignoring feedback from her people.
- Selecting the wrong people. Common errors here include promoting people based solely on technical skills without considering their attitude, or picking people who closely resemble, rather than complement, the manager’s skills and behaviors.
- Lack of performance feedback. When problems are not solved, the real difficulty may be that the manager has not set clear goals or is not providing actionable feedback to his direct reports (or both).
Coach your high potentials on the leadership aspects of their current positions so that they consistently deliver top performance. Coaching high potentials in the requirements of a higher-level position may seem like a good thing to do, but reserve that coaching for those who already perform exceptionally well at their current levels.
Coach your people through successive cycles of building relationships, developing others, making decisions, and taking action. Make sure they use the appropriate blend of management and leadership mindsets for their positions. Listen to their conversations to see if they properly use all three perspectives. If you find that they are reluctant to change, resist being judgmental; ask them to describe their obstacles. Explain how other high potentials have conquered similar obstacles and help them extrapolate those successes to fit their situation. Ask questions and listen more than you talk. The best compliment any coach can receive is one we heard recently: “Just having her there enabled me to figure out how to do a better job and gave me the courage to try new things. Now I know I can conquer any obstacle and make larger contributions to the organization and the people in it.”