Manager

Lately, I’ve been talking with a number of people who are frustrated due to not being promoted. These conversations are the genesis for this article.

Did you know that almost 40 percent of new executives fail within 6 to 18 months?

What can you do to avoid becoming part of this statistic?

I’ve talked with many up-and-coming executives that believe “I’ve got this handled.” Although they were able to talk their way through the interview process, they did not convey the management, decision-making, and communication skills required to succeed as an executive. Some simply were not ready and did not know why.

Remember, you won’t have time to acquire these required skills after you are promoted since decisions at the executive level impact the entire company in real time.

What are the top 3 skills to learn before becoming an executive?

 1. Do you have the emotional intelligence required?

• -Are you aware of your impact on others?
• -Do you manage appropriately?
• -Are you aware and able to work through biases you have towards others?
• -Are you able to compromise with others without sacrificing integrity?
• -Do you effectively manage the impact you have on others in the workplace and with clients?

A mid-level manager, a GenXer, felt in his heart and mind that he was ready. He thought he had done the work, but, found out after he received his promotion that his new boss expected him to directly resolve sensitive client and employee controversies. Before his promotion, his former boss had resolved sticky situations. As a result, he lacked the experience, skills, and relationships to get issues resolved. Three months later, he was fired after a major client threatened to leave.

2. “Can you talk the talk?”

• -Do you think, speak, and make decisions in a consistent and objective business manner?
• -Words have power.
• -Decisions made as an executive matter a lot!

An ‘older-millennial’ believed he was ready for a promotion to the executive level. But, others believed he lacked the ability to make good decisions and communicate at the executive level. For example, instead of using numbers and facts to back up his assertions, he used words like, “I feel” and “others wouldn’t be happy if we did that.” He soon left to become an executive for a competitor. Six months later he was fired for poor job fit. He still lacked the ability to communicate and make decisions at the executive level.

As an executive, you are an advocate for the entire company. It’s a huge job, and, at times, requires you to make unpopular decisions. Your ability to build relationships and communicate effectively is built over time, not in the moment. Additionally, strong financial skills are required and can be learned by starting with the basics.

3. “Are you coachable?”

• -Do you have a coach? Most successful executives have coaches.

A mid-level director wanted to become an executive. But, she believed the executive team was “too male-oriented” for her to be accepted as an executive. Instead of hiring a coach and spearheading a campaign for her promotion, she kept waiting for the right time. That time never came and she left after a company merger.

What prevented her from becoming an executive? She lacked the willingness to take a risk and become her own advocate.

Moral of the story…hire the right coach for you, even if you have to pay for it yourself! It will be money well spent.

With the right coach, you will:

• -Become a risk-taker and go for it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain from the experience.
• -Blast through “current challenges” that are in the way of building your “brags” and improving your experience, skills, and relationships.
• -Boldly navigate through uncharted, and often, murky waters.
• -Find out whether or not you’ve been sidelined and why. Then, with your coach, turnaround these situations.

Believe it or not, these stories are common and can happen to you! As an experienced coach, my advice to you as an aspiring executive is to prepare before the executive level promotion becomes available.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

Jeannette Seibly is an experienced award-winning executive coach. She has been a champion for people achieving results for the past 26 years. Her clients have created more fun, 6-figure incomes, and success when working through confusing situations. Develop your executive persona and avoid being sidelined.  Contact Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

We’ve all experienced confusing situations in our jobs and relationships that we wished would simply go away. These situations can be messy, political, and fear-filled, and outcomes unpredictable. We justify our fears by thinking “I don’t have the time or ability to improve the situation.”

Confusing situations throw you off-balance. To improve them, you must get outside your comfort zone. Remember, your inner mental chatter rarely improves or resolves anything. It’s the outside “chatter” or “talking it out” directly with the person or team, that makes the difference. This creates the potential for win-win-win outcomes.

The Top 5 Approaches that Don’t Work!

• -Manipulating the Situation. Being a “know-it-all” and dominating the conversation won’t improve the situation.
• -Blaming Others. Not taking responsibility for the situation won’t improve the outcome.
• -Denial. Pretending a confusing situation doesn’t exist won’t have it magically disappear.
• -Lying. Are you willing to put at risk your job, promotions, and pay increases? The truth always surfaces one way or the other.
• -Fear. When fear is your overriding emotion, your commitment to resolving confusing situations disappears.

It’s time to commit, stand up, and talk it out.

• –If you have a problem working with your boss, sending out your resume won’t improve the relationship. Talk it out with your boss or HR.
• –When you are upset with an employee’s behavior, ignoring or sidelining them won’t improve them! Instead, talk it out, rewrite their job description, and/or hire them a coach.
• –When a client has lied to you, refusing to return their calls or ignoring them won’t resolve the issue. Instead, talk it out face-to-face after receiving coaching on how to do it effectively. (Don’t rely on previous experiences or current feelings to improve the situation!)
• –If you have a negative attitude towards your neighbor, building a fence won’t heal the issue. Talking it out over a BBQ can.
• –Implementing a new business model to fix the old model won’t improve a confusing situation. Instead, hire the right industry mentor and experienced executive coach to talk it out and resolve the underlying issue.

A Checklist for Win-Win-Win Outcomes

Talking it out and expanding what’s possible in the job or relationship is key to improving confusing situations. It takes time and requires sharing your POVs while listening to others’ POVs!  

1. Ask a “what if…” question as an inquiry. (Hint: This means there is no right answer.)

For example:

• -“What if each employee was responsible for being engaged in their job, what would that look like?”
• -“What if you changed your job description, how would that improve your results with clients?”

2. Engage your boss or everyone on the team through brainstorming. Yes, you want to hear everyone’s thoughts and opinions.
3. Listen for the golden nuggets in each person’s POV on how to improve the situation.
4. Stay away from biases or quick fixes.
5. When the proverbial elephant shows up in the room, be vulnerable by sharing it openly and honestly instead of ignoring it.
6. Align everyone on a solution before addressing the details.
7. Fear will naturally arise when people operate outside their comfort zones. Talk it out. For example, “Where could we find new resources?” (This moves you past the excuses of why it won’t work.)
8. Remind the team daily of the goal and intended outcomes. When new situations arise, and, they will, it’s time to talk further!
9. Track success. Celebrate and brag about it.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2019

Jeannette Seibly has been a champion for people achieving results for the past 26 years. As an award-winning coach, she has helped 100s of bosses create more fun, 6-figure incomes, and success when working through confusing situations. Improve the outcomes of your confusing situations by contacting Jeannette for straight talk with dynamic results.

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