Bleeding Edge

The 20% rule is actually quite faulty, because Harvard Management Case Study Research shows that organizations rate 80% of their teams as mediocre, the remaining 20% are rated as good, yet only 1% are considered truly accountable.

The question is “What leadership training does your organization offer?”

Realistically this is quickly followed by “Do you have an onboarding process for new employees related to leadership?”

Going from an employee to a leader is a big step. Taking on new assignments, getting work done through others, shifting from being a friend to a boss can be difficult and overwhelming.

Changes in many workplaces have meant that new leaders take up positions where they have little time to get up to speed and they are expected to get results fast. First-time and experienced leaders face a set of responsibilities and goals they may not be prepared for and that may be at odds with the skills, abilities and attributes that got them promoted into their leadership positions in the first place.

Even worse is when a leader is hired from outside the organisation based on prior performance, only to be told “That isn’t how we do things here”.

Even an experienced leader joining the organisation can struggle to understand the organization’s goals and use them to motivate employees and determine work priorities. 

Organizations want leaders who are aware of the organization’s mission and goals, who have a knowledge of the core business of the company, and who understand the competitive environment they are operating in, yet they fail to provide any training around this hoping that they will hit the deck running and learn the rest over time.

Yours,

Dr Churchill

PS:

In conclusion, the next time you seek, hire, or promote someone as a leader, please take some time to familiarize them with your strategic plan, your core initiatives, your vision and mission and most precisely your organizational goals.

Maybe go out to a Speakeasy and over cheap beer and good cigars, talk then through your Vision, your Mission, your Goal setting processes, and the monthly review meetings, and how they are conducted and recorded, but most importantly how you create accountability for the teams that need to deliver the goals…