A few years ago I was working with a CFO who had come to me for advice on how to deal with her direct reports. She felt that they were not meeting her expectations, that she had to closely monitor them and their work, that she couldn’t trust them to do it her way, that she couldn’t really delegate work to them, and that she was essentially having to do all of their work herself. She was exhausted and didn’t know what to do next. In fact, she had come to me thinking that she would need to start formal performance management processes with her people.
A sidenote here – over the preceding weeks her four direct reports had individually and at different times also come to me to complain about the boss and ask what could be done. There wasn’t any sense of collusion here but each of them felt that they were being micromanaged, that the CFO didn’t trust their ability, judgement or experience. They felt like every piece of work was more difficult than it needed to be because of the daily status updates and the boss inserting herself into every step of what they were doing. They had no autonomy or ownership in their roles, yet they were all senior managers with teams of their own.
So we’ve got the one story with several very different perspectives. The CFO was coming at this from where she sits, while her direct reports were experiencing the situation very differently.
I asked the CFO what she thought needed to happen? She was at the end of her rope and was thinking performance management was the only option. I asked her how were each of her direct reports different, and did she feel she was treating them differently? And here is where we get to the root of the problem… she replied that she treats each of them the same way, and that nobody was being treated differently. Seeking further clarity on this, I asked her how did each of them respond to her leadership style? She replied that her style was what works for her, and they would all just have to adjust and get used to it. That is how she likes to work.
About now some of you will be nodding. This scenario is not uncommon. It may have happened to you… or it may even be you.
People progress in their careers up to a certain point using a set of skills and behaviours that work for them, that get results for them. Unfortunately, at some stage (like this CFO) you get to a point where those behaviours no longer serve you, in fact they can start to work against you. There is a great little book by Marshall Goldsmith titled “What got you here won’t get you there” where he talks about this. Essentially, as we move into more senior roles we need to learn new skills and behaviours in order to be effective at the new level.
The first time we usually see this play out is when people first get promoted from that technical/doing role into a more strategic/leading role. Their first time being responsible for the outputs of a team rather than just their own individual productivity. A different approach is now required.
Long story short, I worked with the CFO to develop a strategy whereby she would trial a different management style for three months. We would catch up during this time and review how it was tracking but she would remain committed to the three months. A few key changes during this time included more delegation of tasks, fewer status updates, weekly (instead of daily) catch ups, and greater autonomy for her direct reports. We had a long conversation around trust and how her direct reports were all very experienced technical experts in their own right. We talked about how each of her direct reports were very different, and would each need a different leadership style from her. It was important that she adapt her approach to what they needed , rather than insist they adapt to her style. We talked about how much easier her life was going to be once this team was really allowed to perform.
It took weeks not months for the CFO to tell me that she was much happier with the team. Her workload had decreased dramatically allowing her to spend more time on the important strategic work that she had been trying to fit in around the technical work. She was feeling more relaxed, the team had “stepped up” in terms of their ownership and accountability for the work, and the section was performing well. She had also realised that one of her direct reports was a clear successor, and could work almost completely autonomously, while another two actually needed further development and support, to be fully effective in their roles, which she was now providing to them through her weekly ‘coaching catch ups’.
Similarly, it also only took weeks not months for the direct reports to let me know that they were so much happier in their roles. They now felt more valued, respected and accountable for their work. They now had room to breathe and do their jobs. One of these people, the clear successor who is now the current CFO, had been on the verge of leaving because of the boss’s leadership style. That would have been a real loss to the organisation.
Key takeaways here are that people need to be managed in a way that helps them perform at their best. If your people don’t have enough autonomy in their roles, if they feel micromanaged, if they feel like you don’t trust them, then you are going to have problems with performance, behaviours, team culture and turnover.
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The Workplace Coach
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