Bench Strength

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find out how the new job and location is m easur ing up to his expec-

tations.

4. Cultural Ignor ance. Ever y organizational cultur e has its

own unwritten s et of ru les and nor ms. Watch for sign als that y our

newly hir ed manager isn’t pickin g u p on these new c u ltural norm s

or m ay be having d iffi culty adapt ing to this new culture. Here y ou

may find it helpful to borrow some of the suggestions for obtaining

CTO alignment t hat ca n be fo und in Chapter 2.

5. ALackofSponsorship.A dangerous situation is whe n, aft er

several months on board, the newly hired manager is unable to

muster a strong degree of sponsor ship f or her actions. This prob-

lem shows up in a number of wa ys, includi ng the inabi lity to buil d

a strong business cas e for new ide as, having d iffic ulty gettin g on

senior managers’ sch edules, and being unable to build a convincing

business case t o sell new pro ject s. If you have concerns about this

issue, ask t he newly hired manager, ‘‘With whom, on o ur senior

team, do y ou feel that you’v e built stro ng, influential r elati on-

ships?’’ Later on, ask these exec utive s to provide their feedb ack on

the manager.

6. Managers Who Ge nerat e ‘‘Heavy Wakes’’ in Their Pat hs.

Strong leaders are sometimes brought into organizations to take

on t he roles of change agent s and innova tors. As a r esult, you can

always expect some de gree of complaining whenever a strong

leader is attempting to move people toward a t otall y new direction.

Therefore, if you beg in to hear co mplaints about th e new manag-

er’s leadership style, take the time to determine whether thes e com-

plaints are sim ply backgrou nd noise em anati ng from people who

are change-resistan t or ar e refl ectiv e of deficie ncies in the manag-

er’s leadershi p styl e.

The Five Warning Signs of a Bad Promotional Decision

Now let’s consider the case of tho se leaders who are promoted

into larger rol e s with disastrous effects. Quite o ften, such problems

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