Bench Strength

231M

AKING

M

ID

-C

OURSE

C

ORRECTIONS

to conduct a 360 review on the manager to obtain a more detailed

view of her interpers onal and communication strengths and wea k-

nesses.

• If you have t he oppor t unity , look for an oppor tunit y to se e

the manager in a ction , as he condu cts a st aff m eetin g, directs a

project team, or confers with a peer or di rect report. Obser ve not

only the manage r’s be havio r, but others’ rea ction s to th is lea der.

• A final op tion is to go back and track down information

that can h elp you determine whether the leadership behavior that

you are en count ering is ind icati ve of a long-term performance

issue. For a newly hired man ager, consider going back to the refer-

ences that were originally provided during his hiring process . For

a recently prom oted leader , you may wish to talk with her p revio us

manager, or tho se HR manage rs who have p revio usly w orked with

her. In ei ther case, s hare y our concerns and ask for their feedback,

explaining that you a re attempti ng to honest ly assess the situation.

Then dete rmine whether the manager you are wo rking with needs

additional gui dance and coaching.

Taking Action

Let’s ass ume th at y ou do indeed di scove r that you have encoun-

tered a serious problem wit h a new ly hired or promote d man ager.

Obviously you can’t turn ba ck the clock and reverse the decisio n.

What’s left are five alternatives, presente d in order below, from the

simplest and most inn ocuou s to the most e xtensive. A good star t -

ing point for action is to di scuss the possible repercuss ions of each

action wi th a tr usted confi dant, such as your senior HR leader or

CTO. Take your t ime in considerin g your course of ac tion, but

once you’ve dec ided, act qu ickly and decisively:

1. Talk to the problem manager and provide feedb ack.Itmay

simply be that the new manage r doesn’t u nders tand how his leade r-

ship style is af fecti ng oth ers ar ound h im.

PAGE 231

................. 15735$ CH11 02-27-06 09:41:04 PS