Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Beyond Work

Beyond Work is our line of resources for people and community leaders looking for something new and innovative outside, be it a new job, career change, or personal development outside of work.

GREAT REALITIES OF MANAGEMENT: It’s Not Your Fault, But It’s Your Problem…

By Kris Dunn

It’s one of the unwritten rules of management. It’s also one of the hardest things for new managers to wrap their heads around.

“It’s not your fault, but it’s your problem.”

Let’s deconstruct that a bit. New managers were often very high performing individual contributors (ICs). The great thing about being an IC is that you only have to worry about one person – and that person is you.

But your performance as an IC convinced us that you’d make a good manager of people. For the most part that’s true.

One point that sneaks up on new managers is taking feedback on what needs to happen related to their team as failure on the part of themselves (the new manager).

Here’s what I mean – If you’re managing other managers of people and some of those are first time managers, you’re going to spend more time talking about what’s going on within those teams than you will with a more experienced manager of people. You have to be the coach for the new manager.

As you’re coaching that new manager of people, it’s important to separate their individual identity as a high performer from the brand new – and at times, scary – role as a manager of people.

Example – someone on their team is struggling in a certain area, and the new manager delays a bit. Your job is to push as the director, but careful! Your feedback might be perceived as failure on the part of the new manager.

I’ve always found the best way to handle that with new managers is to use the title of this post –“It’s not your fault, but it’s your problem.”

What I’m trying to convey with that is simple – “Look, you’re going to manage people who struggle in your life as a manager. Just because they’re struggling doesn’t mean you’re a bad manager. It’s what happens next that is key – are you gong to address it, coach for improvement, etc. Or are you looking the other way?”

The only way you lose is if you don’t get in there and address it. Bias for action is the key for new managers. Left to their own devices, most will wait too long to address whatever performance issue is in question.

“It’s not your fault, but it’s your problem.” by Kris Dunn first appeared on November 30, 2015 at HR Capitalist

February 2, 2016
Should we measure leadership by popularity?
“The culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate.”

What departments and/or managers do people in your company clamor to get into? What drives this clamor? I’ve seen it before. No one wants to work in finance, but everyone wants to be in marketing. Or everyone is trying to figure out a way to work for manager A instead of having to report to manager B. What is driving the popularity of the department or the person, and should we pay attention to it? Is the number of people who want to work for you a good way to measure your leadership strength?

Kris Dunn calls it “Leadership Gravity” in his Workforce Article. But I think we need to get to the root of what causes the gravitational pull before we bank on it as a way to measure leadership success.

Some recent coaching examples I’ve encountered may give us some insight on the pull….
1. Leaders that are everyone’s best friend
2. Leaders that hold people accountable for results and because they are held accountable, they grow. This is what Kris is talking about when he says,
“All that interaction and observation means your employees know which managers in your organization are the best at developing talent, giving them interesting things to work on, challenging them, giving them the credit for great work and always approaching employee development with an eye on what’s best for each employee.”

I’ve had a couple of clients who have brought us in to say, hey, we think something is up with John/Jane Doe’s performance as a leader. We need a 360^o evaluation of them. Can you do one and then let us know what’s up?

Sure we can.

In completely unrelated instances, the “perception” of the leader in question is he/she being the guy/gal no one wants to work for. He/she is usually compared to a counterpart middle level leader in his/her area. The counterpart seems to be best buds with his/her direct reports- i.e., the popular one.

We do the 360^o. And we look at it by those that report to this person and those that don’t. In both instances, the people who report to the boss in question don’t say he/she is the jerk. They cite he/she as being focused on accountability, and, surprisingly, they don’t complain about it. They may say something about wishing he/she was a little “warmer” as a person. A little less closed off, but not a jerk.

In contrast, those who are looking from the outside, i.e.-those that don’t report to this manager, and sometimes it is his/her own boss- cite he/she as being the jerk.

Maybe the manager in question needs to improve his/her interpersonal skills by lightening up a bit, seeing the personal side of things. We can coach on that. But, at the end of the day, they challenge people to get stuff done and hold them accountable for it, and the people who are held accountable don’t mind it. They grow. Maybe they just want the boss to ask about how their day has been a little more, but they are better because of their leader.

So maybe the better question about how to measure leadership is not by popularity but by measuring what DRIVES that popularity.

Is it because he/she is best friends with people and lets them coast or is it because he/she creates a vision and drives people towards that vision and holds them accountable for it?

If I were the boss’ boss, I’d choose the latter. That one is making more leaders, and 9 times out of 10 those who are following, aren’t complaining about it. And the ones who are complaining, you may not want around anyway.

What popularity contests do you see in your workplace?
January 19, 2016
Before You Can Measure It, You have to Define it: What is Leadership?

We’re talking about measuring leadership here at Horizon Point this month. In an increasingly prove-it-to-me through data world, one of the things that we don’t do a good job of measuring, and I wonder if we ever really will, is leadership. It’s so complex.

I think part of the reason we have trouble measuring it is because we have trouble defining it. What is leadership? What is great leadership?

Most people will tell you that leadership is some form of influence. It’s getting work done through others. True, but what do we want to accomplish because leadership is at work?

Here at Horizon Point, we define the crutch of leadership as “Leaders make more leaders.” It is both the definition and the measurement all in one.

But how do you measure leaders making more leaders? Leave it Kris Dunn to help us solve the conundrum. He defines it as “leadership birth rate”. Check out his Workforce Magazine article here for some more insights on this measurement here.

Although we advocate for a multiple hurdles approach to leadership effectiveness measurement, if we need one measurement to look at whether it is leadership or any other dimension, go by how you define that dimension and measure that. For us, we’ll measure “leadership birth rate”. What about you?

If you like this post, you may also like:

All Leaders Need to Develop Others

January 12, 2016
Thank you for a great 2015!
2015 has been a great year for Horizon Point Consulting thanks to our wonderful clients and partners! We have been fortunate to meet and work with some great people and organizations, partner with innovative companies, and continue our own professional development to better serve our clients.

As a thank you to our clients and friends, and in keeping with our Give Back Value,of supporting organizations and causes that work to create passion and productivity by putting people first, we have made contributions to these two organizations:

The Neighborhood Christian Center

Decatur City Schools Foundation

Both organizations work in some capacity to improve the workforce in our community through innovative and results-driven programs.

In other news, we were honored this year to be selected as a finalist in the BBB Torch Award for Ethics in the Small Business Category from the Better Business Bureau serving North Alabama.

We look forward to 2016 and offer these pieces of advice as you prepare and plan for the New Year:
We’d like to end the year with a look back on our Top 10 blog posts of the year:
We thank you for following us in 2015 and hope to see you back in the New Year!
December 29, 2015
3 Tips for Eliminating the Stress of a Job Interview
I’m sitting in a Starbucks now, and it is obvious by the dialogue of the two people sitting across from me that one person is interviewing the other. The guy being interviewed is tapping his foot in sheer nervousness and is babbling through his responses, unable to answer the questions he is being asked effectively. I want to get up and give him a hug and tell him to calm down. It will be okay. If he could just calm himself down, I think he’d be able to effectively focus and answer the questions. Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation being interviewed or interviewing someone?
For even the most confident job applicant, a job interview can be one of the most stressful experiences. Because it is not something we do often, interviews put us out of our comfort zone.

To be able to present yourself in the best way for your next interview, here are some tips:
1. Practice, Practice, Practice. Set up the video camera on your phone, tablet or computer and video tape yourself answering common interview questions. Better yet, have someone else ask you the questions and seek their feedback about ways you can improve upon your responses. You can find some sample interview questions as well as how to prepare for behavioral based interviews on our tools page.
2. Eliminate unnecessary stressors. Things like running late, your outfit not fitting, not having copies of your resume, etc. are all things that can be avoided if you proactively prepare. Do a drive by of where you are going to for the interview around the time of day you are scheduled to go and see how long it will take you to get there, then plan accordingly. If you’re doing a phone or Skype interview, make sure your technology works the day before and that the background where you plan to sit is appropriate. Try on your outfit beforehand to make sure it fits and is pressed. Eliminate all that you can that could possibly cause unnecessary stress the day of the interview.
3. Remember, an interview is just a conversation between people. Having the awareness that the interviewer(s) are people too and just want to talk to you about your skills and how they align with the needs of the company can combat the stress of the situation more than anything. The interviewer doesn’t want you to fail; he or she just wants to find the right person for the role. By putting yourself in their shoes, you will be better able to answer their questions with a demeanor that presents confidence in the situation.
What about a job interview causes you the most stress?
December 11, 2015