WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW CAN KILL YOUR CAREER, PART 2

We have observed that some managers unconsciously assume that the set of skills that led to their promotions will suffice. Operating from this assumption and from the erroneous belief that their best intentions, hard work, and high intelligence will "get them there," they proceed to make decisions and take action. Why do so many of these "well-intentioned, bright, hard-working" people who have been promoted into high-level positions end up being demoted or fired? We have seen this scenario played out again and again, in some companies as often as every two to three years. Of course, we all think this could never happen to us.

What Happened to John?

One explanation is that, from the outside looking in, movement to the next level can appear to be "more of the same" and not all that difficult. John, a young technical manager with a small staff, consistently got projects finished and out the door. Then he was promoted to vice president.

John's earlier success reinforced his notion that he could manage people. Unfortunately, he didn't have the right set of skills for his new role with its attendant jumps in scope and responsibility. He was in the process of crashing, but he couldn't see that he didn't have what it took to manage at his new level. His self-confidence and ignorance were getting in the way of realizing that he needed coaching to succeed in his new position.

Throughout his career, John had readily accepted increased responsibility. Each promotion with its change in scope was based on his previous success. No one ever addressed the issue of the additional skills and competencies he might need to succeed at each new level. His first clue came from a consultant who told him, "By the way, all the stuff you did--which was done very well by the way--is not going to be sufficient for you to succeed in your new position."

Not very reassuring. In one breath, a consultant had said that he liked John's past performance, but that if John were to continue doing what he'd always done, he'd fail!

"I See" Said the Blind Man

John suffered from what we call "management blindness," a common condition. Management blindness is much like the phenomenon known as cognitive blindness. Biologists know that we don't see with a certain part of the retina, yet this blind spot doesn't register when we view the world because we have adapted to it. In the cognitive world, the world of thought processes and logic, there are clearly things we know we know, things we know we don't know, and things we don't know we don't know. That last area is the one that causes us problems, especially when we're managing people. We would be better off if we had a signal--a kind of meter--that would alert us when we ventured into those blind spots.

Larry, a senior VP, had his own blind spot revealed to him through a feedback process. As a young manager, he took part in a management survey. Using a written form, subordinates, peers, and superiors assessed how Larry handled various situations. Larry vividly remembers the surprise he felt when he learned that most of the people he worked with didn't like him. He'd had no sense that people respected his abilities but still disliked him. He recalls his reaction when he found this out: "I was so hurt and disappointed I was going to quit being a manager. Then I got past my hurt, learned a few things about managing, and a year later I had turned the situation around."

This kind of management blindness is common. Whenever we administer surveys that ask subordinates, peers, and superiors to rate the manager, we know that managers will be surprised and perhaps hurt or angered by the feedback. Every manager has a picture of who he or she is as a manager, a picture that includes personal assessments of various competencies. Managers are often unaware that others hold different opinions of their management style and ability. Closing the gap between how you see yourself and how others perceive you in the work environment is fundamental to effective management and leadership.

Do You Need Training or Coaching?

Co-workers sometimes called Robert an "insultant" (instead of a consultant) because he told executives things they didn't want to hear. You may not have an insultant around, so here are some signs to help you determine if you might profit from coaching.

• You have been recently promoted to your present leadership role, but you've received little or no formal training in the fundamentals of managing at this level. Training or skill development was not part of your promotion.
  You are at risk, but you may not know it. Ignorance is not bliss in this case. Be aware that the skills that got you to this point are not sufficient to take you successfully through this level of responsibility. Learning is required, but that fact may not be readily apparent to you.
  This scenario is especially common in smaller companies. If you work for a larger company, you may have had numerous management courses along the way. Larry, a highly successful, former IBM manager, noted that he regularly attended 40 to 60 hours of management training per year. Twenty hours were mandatory but, in his words, "I noticed the best managers were always in these classes. I'd ask myself, how could they find the time? But they did. At that point I decided to go to all of these classes."
• You find yourself thwarted or frustrated by your boss, peers, or direct reports.
  Your boss/mentor may have been informally taught and promoted because he or she produced well. But, like you, your boss may lack the formal training we mentioned previously. If so, it's likely you've been promoted into a dysfunctional environment.
  Dysfunctional environments do not announce themselves; they just grind you up. It's natural to get excited about being promoted, but if you are unaware of the problems within the system--a system that you are now part of--you run the risk of having your career derailed or even destroyed.
• Your company has a strong "get it out the door" mentality, so there is no time for training.
  This is an environment filled with problems. If the company won't train you, get training on your own. Don't assume you don't need it just because it isn't offered. Pay for it yourself if you have to! The training will pay you back many times over.
• An important sign that you need coaching is that your dog or your children have you thoroughly trained. Don't laugh! It happens at the office, too.

Marriage is a Lesson in Training

In our experience marriage is a lesson in training. After the honeymoon, each partner begins to train the other about "how it will be." Often, one person is a better trainer, so that person's ways of doing things become institutionalized in the marriage.

People also train one another in work relationships, establishing patterns for how things will be done. When you moved into management, you may have had one or more of your direct reports attempt to modify your behavior--that is, to train you. We have found that ineffective managers often accept the training offered by each person reporting to them. Over time, this acceptance can be confusing at least, disastrous at worst. In our work with managers, we ask, "Can you afford to be trained by each person who reports to you? Do these reports get paid to train you?" (We know several people whose dogs have quite successfully trained them to behave in a certain way. The comparison between pets and co-workers is often easy to make.)

The "Pressure to Deliver" Mentality

As we said earlier, the VP you work for may have been informally taught or reinforced by top-level people who lacked the right skills. This VP, instead of being coached to improve, may have been pressured to deliver. The "pressure to deliver" mentality is evident in many environments--and it's a poor substitute for an orientation to produce and strive for improvement.

This "get it out the door" focus is especially common in young companies that have highly talented people eager to solve problems and willing to do whatever it takes. Such people direct their energy entirely toward finding solutions. But as they succeed and the company evolves, they need to learn how to step back and begin to improve their management and leadership skills.

In many companies the infrastructure has evolved from the pressure to deliver, and as a result we see these companies still living with the entrepreneurial mindset of "solving problems." We believe this mindset contributes greatly to the pervasive lack of general managerial skills in certain industries.

In our work, we often find a history of managerial incompetence that has cascaded through the ranks. There is no model or standard for effective management and leadership. Many senior executives have no sense that they need to learn or develop certain managerial skills. In some cases it is already too late, for these managers are not open to going back to the fundamentals.

For you however, there is hope. You want to learn and the timing is right. We look forward to being with you again next month when we explore why some managers just won't learn.

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