The Metiss Group's Blog

We’ve all seen it several times: the emerging superstar or long-time warrior who’s excelled at all the challenges the organization has given them.  Their career path was impressive and the organization has benefited handsomely from the high-performer’s contributions.  The next logical step up the ladder is a managerial role.  This is where the superstar fails and the organization has not only lost one of it’s most valued contributors, they now have a leadership issue.

Not every superstar makes a great leader and great leaders were not always superstar contributors.  Though leadership skills can and should be developed, a high-performer’s leadership potential must be evaluated before they are promoted.  Delegation tendencies, strategic focus, situational control, humility, and people awareness can all be assessed BEFORE someone is promoted.  Understanding a superstar’s limitations before setting them up for failure can prevent the loss of a great asset and a managerial headache.  In fact, many organizations have two high potential career tracks: one for high performers with leadership potential and one for strong individual contributors.

Empower yourself to assess a superstar’s leadership potential before promoting them to a leadership role and you’ll both be more successful.

Many years ago we worked with a leader who had an office manager whose husband was tragically killed in a car accident.  The office manager, not only distraught over the loss of her husband, was deeply upset she would not be able to return to work after the company’s one week bereavement period.  She was in no condition to work and the stress over losing her job because she could not adhere to company policy only deepened her mourning.  Her leader, to his credit, on behalf of his office manager approached the company’s senior leadership to plead her case for more bereavement time.  Senior leadership, persuaded by the leader, gave the office manager one month paid bereavement time before returning to work.

It’s your job as a leader to advocate on behalf of your direct reports.  If your organization’s policies do not treat your direct reports fairly, you must battle for them.  Whether it’s more pay, time off, or policy exceptions, you need to take up the fight – not your direct reports.  Whether you win or lose the crusade, your direct reports will be deeply grateful and perform at greater levels for you.

Empower yourself to advocate for your direct reports, and you’ll experience more success from them.

If you’ve ever experienced flight delays while traveling, you know how frustrating it is when the airline withholds or sugar-coats bad news.  We’d all like to know our flight is delayed or cancelled when the airline knows about it.  But airlines, concerned they might disappoint their customers, often conceal or soften the bad news.  As travelers, even though it’s unpleasant, we’d much prefer to know what’s happening and want the airline to be honest with us.

This is how direct reports feel when leaders aren’t completely forthright with them.  Leaders need to be completely honest when delivering feedback and conducting performance reviews.  Like airline customers, employees want to know when there are issues impacting the company sooner rather than later.  Though it may feel uncomfortable, employees have much more respect for the leader who is forthright and direct.

Empower yourself to be honest and prompt when delivering tough messages and you and your direct reports will be more successful.

Eventually your organization will reach a common barrier to growth whereby the employees who got your organization to its current level will not be able to grow the organization to the next level.

According to Wikipedia, the Peter Principle is a belief that, in an organization where promotion is based on achievement, success, and merit, that organization’s members will eventually be promoted beyond their level of ability. The principle is commonly phrased, “employees tend to rise to their level of incompetence.” Essentially employees tend to be given more authority until they cannot continue to work competently. It was formulated by Dr. Laurence J. Peter and Raymond Hull in their 1969 book The Peter Principle.

The best way to manage this inevitable dilemma is to establish job accountabilities and measure quarterly whether or not the job’s success factors are being achieved.  Eventually both you and your direct report will realize the Peter Principle has been reached and a change is needed.  Furthermore, setting accountabilities and success factors for future positions, helps the individual prepare for success in that position as they work their development plans so the promotion doesn’t rely on “hope” as the strategy for success.

Empower your direct reports with job accountability success factors, review them regularly, and you’ll successfully mange the Peter Principle.

Hopefully you have a job accountability matrix for each of your direct reports capturing the job’s activities, priorities, and success factors.  Maybe you have a “job description” instead listing the job’s requirements and expectations.  Maybe you have a tattered sheet of paper detailing what you’d like out of the job.

Whatever you are using to scope your direct report’s job, be sure to review and update it regularly.  We recommend reviewing job accountabilities during each quarterly performance review session.  By reviewing the accountabilities regularly with your direct report, you both are reminded of what is important.

Do not assume the job’s description is static and cannot be changed.  The document is a dynamic, evolving view of the job and should be updated as the job evolves or changes.  Your direct report should be responsible for “owning” this responsibility and keeping you apprised of changes.

Empower your direct reports to manage their job accountabilities and watch both your careers succeed.

In their book “Contented Cows Still Give Better Milk, The Plain Truth About Employee Engagement In Your Bottom Line,” Bill Catlette and Richard Hadden describe how animal science studies have shown that dairy cattle who are given a first name and are regularly called by that first name will produce an additional 60 gallons of milk annually. That’s amazing, simply paying attention to the producer increases their productivity.

How does that translate to your direct reports? Our experience has shown that leaders who conduct regular one-on-one meetings with their direct reports get much more productivity out of those direct reports.  Sometimes its hard to remember these one-on-one meetings need to be about what the employee needs, not focused on their boss.  Everyone needs the undivided attention of their boss and it is proven that those who get that attention are more productive.

Empower yourself to conduct regular one-on-ones with your direct reports, and you’ll all experience more success.

When we think of bad bosses, images from the comic strip Dilbert and the television shows The Office and Mad Men come to mind.  We imagine bad bosses as those screaming, paper throwing, sexist leaders Hollywood likes to portray.  Since most leaders don’t demonstrate these behaviors, they don’t consider themselves bad bosses.

However, research suggests that the offensive actions associated with being a bad boss make up less than 20% of the behavior that actually defines the worst bosses.

When HBR authors Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman analyzed the behavior of 30,000 managers, as seen through the eyes of their 300,000 peers, direct reports, and bosses on 360-degree evaluations, they found that the bad bosses were guilty more of what they didn’t do than what they did do.

Bad bosses didn’t:

• give timely and productive feedback
• spend consistent, quality one-on-one time with their direct reports
• give quarterly performance reviews
• clearly define job expectations
• set goals aligned with the organization’s goals
• develop their direct reports
• create succession plans

Ask yourself what you can do to be a better boss and you’ll be more successful.

Habit #7 in Steve Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is called “Sharpen the Saw.” Covey describes a woodcutter who is sawing for several days straight and is becoming less and less productive. Cutting dulls the blade and the solution is to sharpen the saw; however, the woodcutter is too busy cutting to take time out to sharpen his saw and is stuck in an unproductive cycle.

Many leaders believe taking time off or going on vacations sharpens the saw; this is putting the saw down not necessarily improving yourself.  Sharpening the saw requires an activity that is targeted at self improvement.  Here are some saw sharpening activities we’ve seen:

• Embark on an extensive exercise program
• Take a class (cooking, economics, leadership, etc)
• Eat at least one healthy meal each day
• Volunteer at church, Rotary, Lions or other industry committees
• Meditate for ten minutes each day
• Organize your work area
• Read a literary classic

Let us know what have you done to sharpen your saw lately.  Empower yourself to take time for self improvement and you’ll be more successful cutting down your trees.

When you’re finished changing, you’re finished. – Benjamin Franklin

Patrick Lencioni in Three Signs Of A Miserable Job says, “A job is bound to be miserable if it doesn’t involve measurement.”  Yet most jobs do not have defined success factors.

Just because your direct reports have been doing their jobs without defined measures and successes, doesn’t mean you can’t start now.  Change is good, and improving the way you hold your direct reports accountable, is good.

To get started, let your direct reports know you are going to introduce a tool to assist you in helping them gain clarity on their job.  Work with your direct report and others connected to the job to determine the important job accountabilities and measures.  Finalize the document and meet with your direct reports to let them know this is going to be their “scorecard” and you’ll be reviewing each success factor with them at least monthly.  The first couple of meetings might seem a little awkward but as you both understand the expectations, you’ll quickly become comfortable with the process.

Empower your direct reports with defined success measurements and you’ll both be more successful.

Many, if not most organizations, promote their employees as being their “greatest asset.”  Unfortunately, most employees indicate they hardly feel like an asset, much less among the greatest assets of the company.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average employee stays at a company for 3.5 years and makes about $40,000 per year.  Therefore the average “employee asset” costs organizations just in wages $140,000.  How much effort do you invest in your employee assets as compared to your investments in other $140,000 assets?  Think about how much time you spend buying and maintaining your computer systems – how does that compare to the time you spend hiring and accelerating the performance of your direct reports?  Ask yourself these questions:

• Do you give your “greatest assets” daily, customized feedback?
• Do you invest 30 minutes of uninterrupted one-on-one time weekly with your “greatest assets” talking about their issues?
• Do you review your “greatest assets'” accomplishments, personal development, core value adherence, and future objectives at least quarterly?
• Do your “greatest assets” have clear job accountabilities specifying key activities, time percentages, priorities, and success factors?
• Do your “greatest assets” know what the organization’s goals are and do they have goals that are aligned to the organization’s?
• Do your “greatest assets” continually work at developing to be a better person – physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually?
• Do you have a succession plan for your “greatest assets” so they don’t feel trapped in their role?

Remember, unlike most assets on your balance sheet, these assets should appreciate over time so the investment you make in them should continue to net you great returns.  Invest in your greatest assets regularly and empower them so you’ll all be successful.