The return of the blog - with no actual content

Yesterday I met with two progressive organizations in the not-for-profit sector. I was meeting the Directors for the first time and upon my entering the room, they commented that they had recently read my blog. That made me think... "MY BLOG !?!".

I haven't written a post in a few months and would like to get back to it. When used to speaking and presenting to teams and groups, it feels odd talking and typing to myself at home - as though nobody is ever going to read this. But, I know for a fact that's not true. My mother reads this and thinks everything I write is perfect, and my writer/editor friend Jordan reads it and tactfully and frequently suggests I send him my rough drafts before posting. So that's two.

It is today's blogs and podcasts that give you the truest sense of who a person is. You might feel you are expressing yourself through a bio on your company's website, a recent article in a trade publication or an essay being written for a professor. In those instances however, you are (or if you're not, you should be) writing and expressing yourself through a filter. It is not until you write freely in this format that you realize you can be your own CEO, editor and professor all with one click of a button - "publish post".

The word 'publish' used to be so prestigious.

For me, writing in this forum is energizing, therapeutic and good for business. I plan to do more of it.

Hi Mom and Jordan.

The Promotion Pitfall

It happens in almost every organization and might be the most common mistake made by executives when building their management teams.

We regularly see the exceptional sales person/social worker/technician/associate who excels at their job and we make the mistake of assuming they will be strong managers. Some of them will be - but we should take care to not trick ourselves into believing it is only as a result of being good at their front-line work.

If we fail in the evaluation process of determining if a good worker will make a good manager, we get hurt twice over: the loss of a good worker AND the addition of a bad manager - a trade no organization can afford to make. So, how do you deal with/retain a good worker who you don't believe will make a good manager and can you teach someone to be a good manager?

How do you deal with/retain a good worker who you don't believe will make a good manager?

As discussed in a previous post, it is important to believe that leadership can emerge at every level of an organization. Frankly speaking, some workers' skill sets are not best suited for managerial roles. This does not mean they are of any less value to an organization or its success. If a worker is individually excellent and not suited to a management role, they can be elevated in their role as domain experts, trainers, mentors or other roles that can capitalize on their ability to share their knowledge and expertise with those around them. This can create a very specialized, technically advanced workforce. It is not this simple, of course, when a worker expects to be rewarded for their good work by being offered a management position. To many, a promotion symbolizes the only way an organization can reward good work. We need to make different types of rewards more readily available to these employees for whom management roles are ill-suited.

Can you teach someone to be a good manager?

In most cases, yes.

Management training is a popular and necessary step to develop the skills and competencies you deem necessary to succeed in your organization at the managerial level. These might include: effective interpersonal and communication skills, ability to think strategically, ability to plan and manage risk, results oriented, etc. To some professionals, these skills come more naturally than to others. The ability to delegate and support, for example, is a skill that most people are likely to believe they possess. In reality, for many new managers, it is quite unnatural and for some, it will never be a comfortable practice. This is not a criticism of those professionals. From a strength based perspective, these individuals possess the ability and desire to manage every detail of their work and are likely to be the workers from whom the best work is likely to come. Placing this individual into a management roll would put a significant amount of stress on them and be putting them in a position where they are least likely to succeed. Training can help hone management skills, but is unlikely to alter the innate behavioural tendencies and preferences of employees as organizations are searching for the right employee-job fit.

It is up to each organization to define those competencies that are most likely to lead to managerial success and integrate them into the recruitment, training and evaluation systems of the organization. There is no off-the-shelf approach to success when it comes to identifying the best future managers and leaders within your organization. You must know your business, know your employees and beware of the promotion pitfall.