Monthly Archives: January 2015

You didn’t get promoted…now what?

Nothing is more disappointing than not getting something you were expecting/hoping for.

In my career, I have had many people come to my office upset because they didn’t get promoted. I always ask the one question:

“Did you have a conversation with your manager about promotion?”

Every time, the answer is no.

I know everyone wants to believe that their works speaks for itself. That it will come to them because they deserve it. That it’s impolite to bring it up if your manager hasn’t.

Nope. Here’s the reason why: your manager may think you’re not interested.

Once you have the conversation, a couple of things will happen:

1. Your manager will be supportive: you’ll work on a plan together to make it happen.  If your manager is supportive, you’ll probably see the change right away. Someone I spoke to who did this saw that she was given much more exposure, invited to more meetings, and given the ball more frequently. That’s exactly what should happen.

2. Your manager might be surprised and not think you’re ready. The question you need to ask is “Is my promotion an if or a when question”?   Someday is different than never.

If the answer is “when”, you need to have a frank conversation about what you need to work on. Is it platform, perception, or performance? (see LL#24)  Create a set of action steps with your manager, and schedule a quarterly touch base on how the plan is progressing. Don’t get too hung up on timeframes: you want to be ready when it happens.

If the answer is “if”, meaning they’re not convinced you can operate at the next level, you need to ask yourself the hard question: “Is my manager right?”

I have had many conversations in my career with people who thought they were ready to be promoted, but I didn’t agree. Often it’s a timing issue. But sometimes, it’s not, especially at the more senior level. It’s a hard conversation to have because the individual compares themselves to other people at that level, or because they are strong performers in their current role.  But that’s not the only thing needed. So here are two things to think about:

1. Do you trust your manager’s opinion?  If your manager is telling you you’re not ready, are they specific with your areas of weakness? Is your manager respected within his or her peer group?  Have you heard this feedback before? Do you think other people you respect would agree with your manager’s assessment? Do you respect your manager’s opinion? Do you think it can be changed?

2. Why do you think you should be promoted? Will you be able to meet the criteria of the new role? Have you demonstrated that consistently to a meaningful population? Why does your opinion differ from your manager’s?

Keep in mind: it’s easy for a manager to put a candidate forward, and let the process weed weak candidates out. It’s a lot harder for a manager to have the honest conversation. It may not be what you want to hear, but at least they told you the truth from their perspective. There is nothing worse than 1) the promotion that clearly was too early, or 2) the loss of a talented person who didn’t realize they were on the promotion track.

So in order to prevent those two things from happening, have the conversation before you decide what to do next.

 

Quotes I Love

I was re-reading my journal and came across this quote I had copied from somewhere that I think is so profound.

“Worry is the product of a future that we cannot guarantee.

Guilt is the product of a past we cannot change.”

So, my lesson learned is that all you can do is your best in the present. You can learn from your past, and anticipate and plan for the future, but if you can say that you’re done your best today, you’ve done all you can.

13. Be a true team player.

Out of all the lessons learned, I would put this one in my top 3.

Being a team player is not about lip service. It’s about truly believing that the power of a team will be better than the single contributor.

I have never, in my entire career, met someone who was so good that they did better than the team would do. So here’s some observations about what it takes to be a true team player, all learned when I played JV basketball in high school, which I loved. But was terrible at.

1. You communicate quickly to help those in trouble.

This means you don’t just watch people go over a cliff if you think they’re headed the wrong way. It means you figure out a way to help them, to pull them aside, to guide them. On the court, that means you yell at your teammates “Heads up!” so they know what’s going on. You are fast and loud, but for their best interest. Teammates don’t take it personally.

2. You go after a loose ball, even if it’s not your job.

One of the rules of basketball: you go after the ball. If it breaks loose, is headed out of bounds, you go after it if you’re the closest to it. You don’t argue whether or not it’s your job. When you’re on a team, if you see a ball that needs to be picked up, do it. You can argue position later.

3. You work with each other to get better, but you don’t ignore your skills either.

For basketball, that’s practice every day for hours. Individual training and team play practice. And scrimmages against each other. And of course, the games.

At work, it comes in the form of staff meetings, individual development plans, individual and team goals, and execution. Every day you’re going out on the court. How did you play today? How did your team do? You can’t win as an individual if your team loses. And your team can win, but not be helped by you.

4. You have coaches, you have captains, you have stars.

Their job is to win, and do what’s best for the team. You don’t get to pick if you want to be the coach, captain or star. The coach is the one held accountable for how the team does.  The captain is elected by the team. And you’re a star if you are clearly the go-to person.  You’re not always going to like how this plays out, but it is what it is.  A lot of people want to be stars…but are you the go-to person? And don’t resent the stars: support them, and be glad for the lift they give the team. If you want to be a captain….did the team elect you? If you’re a coach, do you hold yourself accountable for the team’s performance, or do you look for excuses?

5. The team is bigger than just the players on the court.

Teams are big for a reason. When someone gets hurt or tired, the second string gets tapped and has to perform. Everyone matters. Don’t make the mistake of defining your team too narrowly (“My team is just who reports to me”). The more you exhibit teamwork across the biggest, most inclusive definition of team, the more successful you’ll be.

When you win, you savor the moment for a few hours. But you’re already onto the next game, the next challenge. Nothing promises that you’ll do it again next time. Just like work.

 

Do what needs to be done today

It’s easy to get frustrated when your day is interrupted, or doesn’t go as planned. Unexpected phone calls, meetings cancelled or moved up, crises, problems. So how do you cope?

No matter what happens, make sure you do what needs to be done today.

As long as you stay focused on that principle, you’ll work on the right priorities.  You’re likely to spend your time wisely. More importantly, you’re setting up for a better tomorrow.

A big lesson learned for me? Schedule capacity. That means you block time out on your calendar. Sprinkle half hour  placeholders throughout your week to make sure you create capacity for the unplanned. I used to schedule my day with back to back meetings. I would have no time to deal with important issues without disrupting my whole schedule. I would get frustrated because by the time I got back to my desk, everyone was gone.

So before you let the day’s emails, appointments, and requests take over your day, make sure you’ve decided what needs to be done today. But also make sure you have the capacity to do it.

You got promoted…now what?

So some of you may have gotten promoted with the New Year. Congratulations!

Here are some of my lessons learned.

1. Thank the folks who got you there. I’m talking about the people who really championed you, advised you, were there when you needed them. It’s not always your manager. Either call them or write them a note.  Or bring them a bottle of champagne. It’s a big deal for someone to support you: think of the hundreds of people they come across. They picked you.

2. Be appropriately humble. Remember when Kevin Costner was coaching Tim Robbins on what to say to the press in Bull Durham..”We gotta play it one day at a time”? Yes, it’s boring. But saying things like “you knew this was the year”, “if I didn’t get it this year, I was leaving” or anything like that isn’t what you want repeated around the water cooler.

3. Take a hard and honest look at yourself. What things do you want to get better at? You’re going to be measured against a higher standard, and a more senior peer group. What made you the top of the class before has gotten you to the next level, but at the entry level. Unless you have been way overdue for a promotion, you’re starting at the bottom again. Be honest about what you need to work on to stay at the next level. A big mistake to make is to assume what got you here is what’s going to keep you there.  I have seen situations where newly promoted people weren’t able to keep up with their new peer group.

4. Keep in touch with your mentors. You’re going to be challenged in many different ways than you had been before, and you’re going to need their advice more than ever. Now is not the time to lose them.

5. Take a moment and enjoy what this means. You’ll feel exhilarated, proud, excited, as well as scared, overwhelmed, and nervous. All normal reactions. But before the reality of what it all means sets in, have a 30 second dance party.

 

Help.

Help. A small word, but so powerful.

It means you’re doing something for someone else. You’re trying to get someone to a better place. You are stepping in to turn around a bad situation. It’s about someone else.

Here are a couple of ways to incorporate “help” at work that I like.

1. When someone asks me to do something, I always say “I’m happy to help.”  I don’t say “fine”, “sure”, “ok”. When I say it, I mean: “I am on your side and will work to make you/this successful”.  I saw this happen at a management meeting where a CEO asked one of his directs to do something, and that was the person’s response. It always struck me as a gracious answer.

2. A junior person asked me for advice. She had down time during the day and wanted to do more. She spoke to her manager, but nothing had come out of it. She was wary about constantly asking her manager for more things to do, to own…she didn’t want to seem like a nag.  My suggestion to her was to ask him periodically, “How can I help?” It’s hard to get annoyed when someone’s offering to help.

3. Whenever I finish up my meeting with my manager, I always ask “Is there anything you need help with?” I just find it’s a good way to make sure there isn’t something that needs attention, and he knows that I care.

Here’s what I’ve learned about being my best self: being confident that I could help made it easier to put my fear of failing to the side. So when you find yourself fearful of taking the risk, ask yourself “Can you help?”

A quote I love….”Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Clear eyes, full heart.”

For those of you who have watched Friday Night Lights….you know what this means.

This was a show that got a lot of critical acclaim, but didn’t get the attention of the masses.

It’s available on Netflix: the hero of the show is the coach: he  is an amazing example of leadership. He’s tough, he’s demanding, and he’s loved. He’s noble. This was his motto.

Watch here on youtube a tribute of the show. Take a moment and give yourself a shot of inspiration. Can’t lose.

“You’re too detail oriented.”

So when someone tells me they got feedback that they’re too detail oriented, it has a couple of possibilities:

1. It could mean that you are so focused on the details, you can’t tell the story or set the context.  So you might know the data, but you can’t explain to people what the data means, or you don’t correlate different pieces of data into an overall conclusion. Force yourself to write a conclusions page: what are the conclusions? What is the decision which needs to be made? What’s the “net net”?

2. It could mean that you’re the law of diminishing returns. Meaning you’re so focused on chasing down the details, that big stuff is going wrong: like missing deadlines, or budgets. The effort you’re spending on the details might not be worth it. Ask yourself “Will it materially change the outcome?”

3. It could mean that they don’t think you know how to be strategic. Yes, details matter. But step back, and ask yourself “Why is this information important? What is it telling us?” My rule of thumb about presenting numbers: the reader should have an immediate reaction of “good” or “bad”.  If they don’t, chances are the data has no context, so they can’t tell if the number is a good one or a bad one. You want it to be clear to your reader. Data does not always equal information.

4. You might be obsessing about stuff no one cares about. Are you one of those folks who continually send presentations back with lots of little corrections at the last minute which don’t change the content of the presentation? Or you bring up questions and make your team chase down issues which aren’t relevant to the overall decision, so it wastes people’s time?  Take a step back: you might be driving everyone crazy.

Details are important for credibility, but too many details without context don’t have much meaning. Make sure you can see the forest for the trees.

6. No substitute for in person talking.

There are times when nothing can substitute for in person talking. There are two situations where I have seen communications go awry.

1. You offend someone. People are sensitive. And while email and texts are efficient, they can lack context and end up miscommunicating intent. And though you didn’t intend to do it, now you’ve got to go mend fences.  I have seen two very senior people not speak to each other for months because of a miscommunication. It can happen because someone got blindsided in a presentation, because an inappropriate response was sent to many people on email, because something got repeated out of context…you get the drift.

When this happens, you need to go see the person and have the conversation. It doesn’t have to be confrontational…often a “Hey, got a minute? I wanted to talk to you about something …” works. Then have the conversation you probably should have had in person versus email/powerpoint/text or whatever form it came in instead.  You don’t need to apologize for your point of view, but you do need to apologize for how you made the other person feel.  I have said things like ” I didn’t mean to make you feel I was unsupportive. I didn’t mean to make you feel blindsided.” Then move on.

2. There’s a crisis brewing, but you rely on email or voicemail to tell people.

This is the “bad news does not age well.” When you have a problem or issue, here are the steps I’ve taken to make sure people are aware.

1. I stick my head in the office with the “heads up” message. Yes, I interrupt if it’s important enough. It usually goes like this:

“Just wanted to make you aware, we just found out that x happened. We’re still chasing down all the facts, but it looks like y, but we won’t know until probably end of day today. I’ve got Joe and Nancy working on it, and we’ll come back to you when we have more data.”

In that 15 second sentence, the following happened 1) I let my boss know, 2) my boss knows it just happened, 3) he knows I’m looking into the details, 4) he knows when I’ll get back to him, and 5) he knows who I have assigned the problem to.

Now, my boss might have more questions, but in 15 seconds, I covered the most likely set of questions which he would ask. the most important thing: I got to him before anyone else did.

2. More time has passed, and now I have more information. So I’m back in my boss’s office, telling him 1) chronology of what happened, 2) what we need to do now, 3) what we still don’t know, 4) who’s been notified or needs to be told, 5) if I need resources/take action to resolve.

3. After the crisis is resolved, I always go back with the team with the question: “What do we need to change to make sure this doesn’t happen again?”. Nothing is worse than a problem that repeats itself.

And those two senior people who stopped talking? I advised one to go and buy the other person a cup of coffee and go visit him in his office. Just a casual “stop by”. They chatted, and started talking again.