In either instance, the focus is on appointing a top performer.  The candidates that are appointed are initially keen to accept the role and earn the associated increased remuneration.  They apply themselves with high energy however after a relatively short period in the new role, they discover that there is a significant difference between the situation that they were in when they were over-achieving versus the new leadership role.

Past success in a role will not guarantee success when promoted to a management role.  The individual will understand how to be successful as a single contributor, but may lack the management and leadership skills, knowledge, and ability to be successful managing and leading others.

How to avoid promoting a top achiever into a struggling manager.

To avoid promoting your top achievers and making them struggling managers, consider these ideas.

Clearly define the Role.

Written position descriptions are seen as ‘old fashioned’ and inhibiting creativity of the person that is appointed to a role.  The reality is that every role has a set of mandatory outputs that must be clearly defined.  It is not unusual for a manager to be required to undertake a substantial administrative workload with responsibilities that are not apparent to the people reporting to them.  As organisations evolve, requirements of the roles change, yet the job description for the roles is locked in at the time it is written and may not have been updated for some time. 

It is essential that an up-to-date job description is written to enable the search for the appropriate manager.  This enables the attributes, knowledge, skills, and experience of the ideal candidate to be defined.  It forms the basis for the candidates to understand the role and whether they are suited to it.

Define the Skills, Knowledge, Experience, and Attributes of the manager.

With a clear Position Description in place, it is necessary to define the necessary skills, knowledge, experience, and attributes of the person that will succeed as the manager.  Once these are listed, it becomes apparent whether a person that is a top performer in their current role has the necessary requirements in each of the areas to succeed as a manager.  Especially, focus on the attributes.  There is usually a significant difference in the attributes of a successful single contributor to that of a successful manager.

Focus on demonstrated leadership ability.

Managers understand the tasks that must be completed, allocate the appropriate resources, and manage their application to achieve the goals.  Leaders are those that others follow.  Simply appointing a manager does not mean that others will support them toward achieving the required goals.  The successful manager understands that they must lead their people whilst being proficient at managing all resources, including effectively managing the expectations of the organisation of them and their people.

Leadership is a transferrable attribute across many disciplines.  Look for an individual’s proven leadership abilities in areas outside of their work environment and in their employment history, no matter how long ago it was.  The person may have demonstrated strong leadership in a sporting situation, a community organisation, musical pursuit, part time job whilst studying, in their college, etc.  There are many ways to supplement the administrative functions of a manager, but leadership must come from the manager.

Identify and retain a Mentor for the manager.

Assuming a management role is at once stimulating and daunting, whether the appointment is internal or external.  The new manager must rapidly learn the new role whilst meeting the expectations of their people, their management, the organisation, and all stakeholders in the business.  There is a short ‘honeymoon’ period, typically 90 days, after which they are expected to be fully functional.  A Mentor for the manager will provide an independent source of reference and offer them advice based on the Mentor’s experience and wisdom.  This relationship supports the manager and their confidence in performing the role.  As an independent observer, the Mentor can identify areas where the manager needs to focus and assist them in addressing any issues.  The Mentor contact will be regular in the initial phase, say weekly, then reduce when the manager is settled in the role, reducing to fortnightly or monthly after the first 90 days.

Regularly review progress and provide training/coaching where necessary.

Appointing a manager should not be ‘set and forget’.  Regular contact and review of progress in the management role, without interference, will enable the manager to feel supported.  An ongoing conversation about how they are going and any issues that they are facing enables a collaborative approach with ‘no surprises’ for either them or their manager.  If the manager is a CEO, this will involve an ongoing conversation with the Chairperson who can keep the Board informed of progress. 

It is not unusual for a new manager to require training in particular areas.  This may be as simple as them working alongside team members to better understand the operations of the organisation, internal sessions with a peer about their areas that the manager needs to better understand, or as significant as taking formal training at a University or Industry body.

Where a manager continually misses results even with full support, including training, and appears to be unable to adequately fulfill the role, it is time to discuss the situation with them and if necessary, agree their next career move.  This may be within the organisation or, if no mutually acceptable internal avenue is available, an exit plan must be implemented.  It is not in the best interests of the manager or the organisation to let an unworkable situation continue.  This is the most unfortunate outcome of promoting a top performer into a management role that does not suit them.  The organisation has lost a top performer and now must repair the situation both internally and externally with all stakeholders.

Actions for a struggling manager.

At some stage or our lives, we will find ourselves in a position where we feel out of our depth.  All progress relies on people that pushed themselves beyond their comfort zone.  If you are in a management role and feel that you are struggling, you are certainly not alone.  Some of history’s great leaders have been in similar situations.  Here are actions that you can take that will assist you to being a high achieving manager.

Review your Skills, Knowledge, Attributes, and experience for the role.

The pressure of a management role tends to distract you from taking time to reflect and objectively self-assess.  When you feel stressed, pause, and review your fit for the role that you are in.  You were promoted into the role for good reason.  Score yourself against the criteria that was used for the Position Description.  It is most likely that you will score highly for most areas with some areas that require improvement.  If you need objective input, work through this with your Mentor.  Once you have identified your strengths, devise actions that will leverage them.  Where there are areas for improvement, take immediate action to address them.

Re-state your Purpose in the role.

Leadership is the foundation of successful management.  To achieve results requires the quality input of the people that report to a manager.  People choose who they willingly support and for them to do that, they need to understand the leaders’ purpose so that they can align with it.  Ask yourself why you took the manager role and what the vision is towards which you are leading the organisation.  Your purpose is the ‘why’ that you are pursuing that vision.  Write your purpose down so that you can work out the ‘how’ you will fulfill it.

Develop and execute your business plan.

A management role is created to achieve specific objectives.  If you have a business plan to achieve the objectives, review it and where necessary adjust it to take current circumstances into account.  If there is no written business plan, build one immediately.  Actively involve your team in the development and review of the business plan.  Once the plan is defined, with owners for the respective initiatives and results, set up a regular review of the results to enable adjustment of the actions and development of new actions where required.  Create a scoreboard to track output in the key areas of the plan on a granular basis.  Results come from getting things done in a planned, systematic method.  Like the players in any competitive game, your people need to know how they are progressing towards their goals.  Having an always current scoreboard of the key areas for everyone to see enables them to drive toward the results that they are responsible for.  Execution of well devised strategy is the key to success and a well implemented scoreboard underpins relentless execution.

Face reality.

There are situations where, for what ever reason, you are in a role that does not suit you.  It may be that your understanding of the position, or the organisation, was not accurate.  Often you can only discover that once you have operated in the role for some time.  It may be that the organisation has changed its focus which means your position is not what it was originally defined to be.  It may be that your passion for the goals of the position is no longer strong or that you have decided that you wish to pursue other endeavours.  Attempting to lead when your heart is not in the position is stressful for you and demotivating for your people.  If your review of your attributes and purpose conclude that you are not suited to your role, face reality.  It’s time to move on to a more fulfilling role.  Work through this with your Mentor and set up an exit plan with your manager that will see an elegant transition to someone that has the necessary attributes and passion to fill the role.  Life is too short to be in a position where you feel overly stressed and unhappy.

Top Performer to Respected Leader

Respected leaders have a background of being top performers.  The difference between a respected leader and a struggling manager is that the respected leader progressed through a series of positions where they had the passion for those roles that was matched with suitable attributes for them.  The respected leaders had solid support along the way and took responsibility for their personal development to ensure that they could perform the roles that they accepted. 

Top performers, and their organisations, must each follow a clear process to ensure that they continue to be top performers, whether it is in their current positions or as respected leaders. 

Contact Philip Belcher at LSE Consulting to discuss how we can assist you with driving your business performance through superior leadership, strategy, and execution.  Email: info@lseconsulting.net.au.

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