During a recent discussion with a new business client, she shared the following situation: “I have a manager having a conflict with an employee…can you help?” In order to help her resolve this issue and share with her a productive process for conflict resolution, I asked her a series of questions to get to the root cause. That way she could make a productive decision.
1. "Who approached you with the issue, the manager or the employee?” The manager shared with the client that the team member would not do as she was told.
2. “Do you think the issue is with the manager or the team member?” The client stated that the problem was with several team members who would not obey the manager’s orders.
3. “Did the team members have problems with each other or just with the manager?” She reshared that they would not obey the orders from the manager.
4. “How long had the manager been at her position?” She shared that the manager was recently appointed to this new position.
5. "What leadership training was provided for the new manager?” The new manager was promoted and just took over with no additional leadership training.
6. “Was this the manager’s first leadership role?” This was, in fact, the manager’s first leadership role.
7. “So, just to be clear, you promoted a team member to be the manager. This was her first managerial role. And, she was given no guidance in being a team leader? The client then asked me if she should send the newly manager for some leadership training or if she should hire someone with successful management experience to lead her team.
This series of questions was designed to follow the Dale Carnegie method for solving a problem. (We will visit this method more closely in a moment). I needed her to see the problem clearly so she could arrive at the action(s) required for a solution. It was imperative that I not make the decision for her. She came up with 2 solutions. These required that she choose which solution was best for her and her staff in the both the short term and the long term. She made her decision after seeing the problem clearly.
Far too often, individuals are promoted and/or transferred into new roles/responsibilities with no clear guidance other than “You’ve done a great job so far. You have earned this promotion. Now, go make me proud!”
All to often in both the restaurant business, automobile business, service organizations, and churches I have witnessed individuals who are promoted as a reward for doing a good job or for long term service. The criteria for promoting someone should not be determined by how well they currently perform or how long they have been employed. The promotion must be made with the determination of who is best suited to handle more responsibility while assisting the team to meet or exceed their goals.
For example, the #1 sales person may be promoted because the owner or team leader assumes that this person will be just as effective leading as he/she was in selling. The person promoted them may assume that they have been rewarded because of their past success. The owner or team leader may assume that success in sales performance will pass on to the rest of the team by promoting their best sales person. This is why so many top salespeople and trophy winning athletes make less than successful managers and/or coaches.
LEADERSHIP IS AN OBLIGATION NOT A REWARD!
As an overachiever, an individual is responsible only for their own success and performance. As a leader, they will be judged based on the success and performance of their team and their individual team members. That is the difference between a great performer and their coach. Here a perfect example:
Tiger Woods was very ably coached to reach the pinnacle of professional golf by his father. Tiger used the excellent instruction he was given by his father to hone his skills and excel in his performance. His father was a great teacher but he could not perform at the level of his son. His father achieved world-class status by being responsible for the development of his son. The son achieved world-class status by using what he was taught, expanding on it, and performing at the highest level. These are 2 different skill sets…achieving success in performance (Tiger), and achieving success by leading someone else to be their best (his father).
Remember that leadership is an obligation, not a promotion. When choosing a leader or coach for your team or organization, go with the person who is best equipped to help your team members excel. They will help your team members succeed so your organization will be successful.
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Being a leader requires that you make decisions. Use this conflict resolution method to arrive at the best decision involves asking and honestly answering these 4 basic questions:
1. What exactly is the problem or opportunity?
2. What is the reason(s) for the problem or opportunity?
3. What are the possible solutions to the problem or opportunity?
4. Which solution do you recommend?
Using this process with this client brings to mind several other issues/opportunities for leaders. These include…
· Your vision so that team members have guidance in both how to serve their clients and how to resolve problems.
· Building your “bench” for growth and continuous improvement both now and in the future.
· Three-way communication between team leaders, team members, and clients. They all have a vested interest in success…both theirs and yours.
We will discuss these is subsequent articles.
If you questions and/or suggestions, please contact me at lab@larryonlearning.com.