Bench Strength

226 B

ENCH

S

TRENGTH

1. Delayed J udgme nt Cal ls. The mana ger may appe ar hesitant

to make decisions and take actions. Certainly all manage rs have to

get their footi ng bef ore th ey tackle a new job in a new comp any.

However, watch for the manager wh o appears to be all talk and n o

action, or who a ppear s caught in ‘‘analysis paralysis.’’ If yo ur newly

hired manager a ppear s stuc k on a m ajor decisi on, as k two r eason -

able questions :

• ‘‘What in forma tion do you feel that you have to have in

hand before you can make this deci sion? ’’

• ‘‘What actions are you taki ng to get thi s info rmati on, an d

how long will it be bef ore yo u are r eady t o take actio n?’’

The manager’s r esponses to these quest ions will tell you

whether he is simply making an ast ute assessm ent of the si tuati on,

or is having tro uble taking risks and being accountable for deci-

sions.

2. Bad Judgment Ca lls. These may inv olve decisi ons that ap-

pear to reflect a lack of experience or techni cal knowled ge. Mo re

often, they’ll be dec ision s that betray a high level of ignoran ce

abouthowyoudothingsinyourorganization.Forexample,you

may work in an or ganiz ation in whi ch imp ortant deci sions are al-

ways rout ed through chain of command. A bad judgmen t call that

reflects an ignorance of your culture would b e a new ly hir ed lea der

who makes a large, hig h-ris k contractu al com mitme nt on behalf of

your comp any wi th an outside supp lier without first getting ap-

proval and auth oriza tion fr om his direct manager.

3. AReluctancetoRelocate. Occasi onall y you’ll fin d your self

hiring a manage r w ho contin ues to find reasons for n ot rel ocati ng

to your organiz ational site. In my experience, if t his behavior ex-

tends over a yea r, it may wel l indicate that the manager (or the

manager’s spouse or p ar tne r) is unwilling to make the fin al com-

mitment to the move. If you have co ncern s regarding this issue,

consider having an ho nest conver satio n with your m anage r, and

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