Short-term experiences can be effective in helping to build certain competencies, as Table 11-1 shows.

In our work we’ve seen many examples of spectacular payoffs from short-term learning events. In one organization, for example, an up-and-coming young executive was sometimes making poor interdepartmental presentations; on other occasions, however, she did an excellent job. The problem was not a lack of skill but rather a lack of preparation. Although the executive had been given feedback telling her that she needed to devote more time to preparing for her presentations, she was adamant that the immediate task of running her department was more important than diverting time to prepare. Finally, she was asked on two occasions to watch the CEO rehearse a presentation and then give him feedback. By seeing how much time and effort the CEO put into his presentations, she came to appreciate the importance of preparing. Subsequently, she devoted an appropriate amount of time and energy to getting ready for her own presentations.

In another organization management was thinking about assigning a fast-track manager to the company’s Paris office, where he would interact with high-ranking French government officials. The manager was a bit unpolished in social situations. He didn’t have a passport and had never been out of the United States. In fact, he hadn’t spent much time outside his rural hometown. The consensus of everyone who knew about the potential assignment was that, although he had excellent technical skills and had proven himself in other parts of the organization, the manager would likely feel and look ill at ease.

Rather than throw the manager into a situation in which he would have to learn from making embarrassing mistakes, the organization sent him along with senior executives on trips to France. Management also made sure that he was involved when the organization entertained associates from the French office and French clients who were visiting. He was sent to an industry convention in France and was even given lessons in basic conversational French. The manager was very bright and a quick learner, so he soon had the skills he needed to be successful.

That manager’s story is not unusual these days. Indeed, our experience suggests that an alarming—and increasing—number of technically gifted people who are poised to enter senior management ranks do not have the necessary social skills for executive positions. High-tech geniuses accustomed to wearing jeans, eating fast food, and working alone are now often finding themselves in unfamiliar—and uncomfortable—social situations. Their new responsibilities might require them to deal with buttoned-down bankers or representatives of investment houses or to make informal presentations over formal dinners. These fast-trackers need experience in such situations before they become the center of unwanted attention and wind up embarrassing themselves and the company. That is, they need to be put into learning situations in which they can observe the kind of behavior that is expected of them. For example, a company might assign an Acceleration Pool member to accompany its investment banker to presentations given by financial officers of other firms.

This problem is not limited to high-tech entrepreneurs. Many newly appointed senior managers are unfamiliar with how executives should behave on field visits or when entertaining clients—largely because they have not had the chance to see more-experienced executives in action. Before the downsizing of the 1980s and early 1990s, many management trainees learned appropriate executive behavior by working as an assistant to a senior company officer. The trainee would do whatever was required, including drive the executive from one meeting to another, carry bags, run errands, and so on. The important learning point was not so much what the trainee did—it was that he or she observed firsthand what the executive did and how the executive did it. The job wasn’t very exciting or challenging, and it certainly wasn’t crucial to the organization’s success; in fact, that’s why the jobs were eliminated in waves of downsizing. But the position did orient the trainees to some of the more subtle skills executives must have, such as:

These kinds of social skills must be learned, and short-term learning events are an excellent way to teach them.

Acceleration Pool members should get involved in as many different short-term learning experiences as possible. Learning opportunities should be discussed and identified during development planning meetings with the member’s manager and mentor.

That said, it’s also important to realize that many short-term development events can’t be planned. Business is full of surprises. For example, there always will be the delegation from South Africa that decides to visit the corporate office with little or no notice, or the unexpected news that the company has been chosen as the corporate flagship for a high-profile community charity campaign. So, managers and mentors need to be constantly on the lookout for new learning opportunities and be prepared to move swiftly to assign Acceleration Pool members when those opportunities arise.