I wish to round off the first phase of the Q and A’s this week by discussing a few more questions.
I find that a lot of materials we use are foreign, such that many of our participants are alienated. With the generation of top managers and CEOs that have handled world class companies and conglomerates, why is it that we do not have intellectual resources of our own? The ones available are so limited that they hardly cover key areas of study. What do you think we can do in this regard? Alex
I must confess, I have not done any research to validate your view but if it is true, I submit that there are several Nigerian leaders who are already giving back by providing core Nigerian situational leadership experiences. This should shape the leadership capability of the up-and-coming business executives. Hopefully, you would see what I am doing with this column as being in service of that as well.
If as a junior employee, you try as much as possible to suggest ideas but you hit a brick wall in the person of your boss, how do you make such a boss realise that you are not trying to take his seat but working for the good of the company? Mazi
Every boss wants to be successful. I realise that, just as most of us parents are in self-denial in claiming we love all our children “equally” and there is no “favourite child” (but subconsciously behave in a way that is at variance with that claim), so are some corporate leaders. Over time, they tend to have ‘favourite employees,’ even if they would always deny the same. For me, one of the things I always strived to do as I grew in my career was to manage upwards. At times, more than the tangible results you deliver to your boss, demonstrating a chemistry that works well with him is absolutely crucial. This would never happen by accident; it has to be caused. All through my career, I chose to trigger the strengthening of relationship with my bosses consciously. You must understand your boss’s likes and dislikes professionally and check in to cause alignment with him as often as possible. You don’t have to be a ‘yes sir’ employee to make that happen. As you strive to do that and demonstrate an unalloyed loyalty to the company’s outcomes he is working to cause, you will surely earn his trust. Once this is the case, even if you come up with what sounds like stupid ideas, he would at a minimum, give you a listening ear. The reverse is also true when he does not trust you. He tends to think you are out to ‘shaft’ him. He takes everything you say with a pinch of salt. He develops his own side team (some call it ‘kitchen cabinet’ – and let’s not be deceived, this doesn’t happen only in government circles but exists in the corporate world too). He very quickly assumes you have your ‘agenda’ and his radar is switched on to circumvent your (perceived) agenda. So, please own the process of winning your boss’s trust; so there is no case of him thinking you want to take his seat; and with that, in most cases, you would grow together. Personally, as I got promoted or moved from one company to the other in my career, I lost count of the times I had gone back to poach people who had worked well with me in previous roles or companies to support me in my new role or new company. It was because I trusted them. Flipping over the age-long saying, “the angel you know is always better than the devil you don’t know.”
I am the CFO of a multinational company and a regular follower of your column. I am someone that likes to avoid the unexpected. So, in reference to your article of July 10 “inspect what you expect,” where do I draw the line between giving teammates freehand to operate and insisting on ‘inspecting what I expect?’ Kunbi
“Inspecting what you expect” is not the same as micro-managing. Any major activity that adds strategic value or is key to the company’s ability to deliver its results, must have SMART goals (I trust you get that). As part of the process of measuring that the goals are met to agreed timelines; it is critical that as the supervising manager, you are kept abreast along the way on status of the task – (1) so you can reassure yourself the team is on track and (2) offer some coaching for the growth of your people. “Inspecting what you expect” encourages leaders not to assign tasks and wait till the agreed delivery day before asking for the outcome, as more often than not, you would be disappointed, either to see that the timelines have not been kept or the quality of execution is below your expectation – and this is why you must “inspect” along the journey. If you were calling back the task to your own desk, due to your dissatisfaction, and doing it yourself, I would classify that as micro-managing. This is bad for morale, bad for employee growth and bad for succession planning. If your intuition tells you that you are overbearing with the frequency of your requests for updates on assigned tasks, then you have probably crossed the line. However, if your periodic requests for updates are in line with the agreed milestones upfront, I would be surprised if the employees get turned off by that. Whatever you do — please when you assign crucial tasks to your employees, create a governance structure that enables ongoing dialogue on the subject — that is the surest way to manage your BP down and ensure desired outcome is achieved.
Have a great week.
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