C

H
A
P
T MANAGING CAREERS
E
R

2
 INTRODUCTION

• Fewer positions on the way to the top

• New position involves substantial change in
job content and responsibility
• Companies prefer to fill in vacancies from
outside
• Companies reducing investment in
development of employees
• If an executive has been in his job longer than
colleagues, it is time to move on
• A meaningful job gradually becomes less fulfilling
• Focuses on achieving day to day business goals
• Becomes habituated to his frustrations and
boredom
• Assignments challenge his convictions and
principles
• Recognizes his calling
• Jolted to take a hard look at life by an unexpected
event

LOSING PASSION
FOR WORK
• Takes time off to figure out what he really
wants to do and to reconnect with real self
• Executive development programs help him to
explore himself and his dreams
• Allocates time and space for self examination
• Takes outside perspective of family members,
friends, colleagues or coach
• Makes his work consistent with his values

REGAINING
PASSION FOR WORK
 CHARACTER

Too much
Tendency to
focus on
downplay
technical
importance of
proficiency, too
human element
little on
in management
character

Management is
Impossible
a series of
demands made
human
on managers
interactions
IMAGINATION

INTEGRITY
• Original • Being responsible
• Unconventional • Communicating
• Counterintuitive clearly and
• Ingenuity consistently
• Wit • Being an honest
broker
• Keeping promises
• Knowing oneself
• Not having hidden
agenda
• Serves two masters –
his organization and
his conscience
 • Creating value where
SUBORDINATES

HEROISM
RESPECT FOR

• Delegates authority
• Makes subordinates none existed
feel powerful and • Saving and creating
capable jobs and careers
• Draws creativity from • Doing what is right,
them productive and
• Gives so much beneficial
responsibility that their • Standing alone against
behavior changes formidable opposition
forever without any support
• Doing the intellectual
work of creating vision
• Doing the moral work
of staying true to
vision
INTROSPECTION

Communicating priorities
Managing time
Giving timely feedback
Identifying talented subordinates
The evolving firm
Handling stress
Staying true to oneself
Communicating
Managing time
priorities

Which way the

Tracks how he is
company is
spending time
headed

Disconnect
What employees between how he
need to focus on spends time and
his priorities

How company’s Match between

priorities might actions,
change as the priorities, and his
world changes team’s activities
 Identifying
Giving timely
talented
feedback
subordinates
The executive
Executive waits until
delegates major
the year end review
responsibilities to his
to give feedback
talented subordinates

Subordinates start
Employees want believing that the
feedback when there company is interested
is still an opportunity in their development
to act on it and career
progression

Executive seeks Are not tempted by

feedback on his own offers from other
performance companies
The evolving Handling
firm stress
A company changes Executive determines
when its customers’ how he behaves
needs and under stress and the
competitors’ tactics signals he sends to
change other employees

Design of the Subordinates

organization aligned decipher his
with key success personality and
factors for the beliefs by his actions
business during the crisis

Seeks advise and Executive’s negative

perspectives from actions to stress
people who are less deters subordinates
emotionally invested from telling him what
in the company may go wrong
Staying true to
oneself The executive’s
leadership style
should fit his
beliefs and
personality

Develops an
overall style that
fits his unique
skills and
personality

An executive is
likely to be worn
out if he is not true
to himself
 Building
relationships
with peers
and
subordinates

Winning EMOTIONAL Ability to

support for negotiate
change COMPETENCIES with peers

Regulating
emotions in
times of
crisis
 BEING FIRM
GIVING FEEDBACK

CREATING DEPENDENCY
• Is provided • Is moved out • Boss explains
detailed and of his comfort to him the
extensive zone consequences
feedback • Is assigned of continuing
• Feedback cross his
comes from functional destructive
multiple roles outside behavior
sources his expected • Boss
career path acknowledges
• Learns about his own
others’ development
insights and goals
experiences
INSTITUTIONALIZING PERSONAL

CREATING INFORMAL NETWORKS

DEVELOPMENT

• Emotional skills • Informal networks

are essential not confined to
criteria for organizational
promotion boundaries
• Employees are • Mentoring helps
expected to be both junior and
open about their senior managers
weaknesses, ask for • Peer networking is
help and offer encouraged
constructive
feedback to peers
 FEEDBACK

• Employees procrastinate
when they feel helpless
about a situation
• They are in denial when
Threat of they are unable to face
reality
critical • They lapse into passivity
feedback and paralysis when they
cannot do anything about
a situation
• They make destructive
comparison with others
 • The executive recognizes
his emotions and his
responses to them
• He asks for help from
trusted friends who listen,
encourage and suggest
• Reacts to feedback in
Adapting to positive light so that he is
not overwhelmed by
feedback negative emotions
• Divides feedback into
measurable units and sets
time frames for each one
of them
• Rewards himself
whenever he makes a
change in his behavior
 Setting
priorities

Ultimate Taking right

responsibility decision

Productive WORK Action plan

meetings PRACTICES

Responsibility
Focusing on
for making
opportunities
decisions

Responsibility
for
communication
 TAKING THE RIGHT DECISION
SETTING PRIORITIES

• Executive does what • Decision supported by

needs to be done all stakeholders
rather than what he • Decision not right for
wants to do a company will
• Concentrates on only ultimately not be right
one task though there for any stakeholder
are more than one
urgent tasks
• Focuses on work that
he can do especially
well
 DECISIONS
AN ACTION PLAN

RESPONSIBILITY FOR MAKING

• Executive thinks about • Decision should have
desired results, name of the person
probable restraints, accountable for
future revisions, check- carrying it out,
in points, and how he deadline for carrying it
will spend his time out, names of people
• Plan is flexible and affected by the
revised as success and decision, and names of
failure create new people who have to be
opportunities informed about the
decision
• Low level decisions are
very important in a
knowledge based
company
RESPONSIBILITY FOR

FOCUSING ON OPPORTUNITIES
COMMUNICATION

• Executive identifies • Executive ensures that

information he needs, problems do not
asks for it, and keeps overwhelm
pushing till he gets it opportunities
• Pays attention to • Problems not
information needs of discussed in meetings
subordinates, until opportunities
colleagues and have been analyzed
superiors • Best people are put on
opportunities rather
than on problems
 ULTIMATE RESPONSIBILITY
HOLDING PRODUCTIVE
MEETINGS

• Executive determines • Executive has

the kind of meeting ultimate responsibility
that is appropriate and for the organization
sticks to the format which can neither be
• Meeting is terminated shared nor delegated
as soon as its specific
purpose is
accomplished
• Prompt follow up
action is taken
 Managing
demands

PERSONAL
DISCRETION

Developing Developing
alternatives resources
 Executive
overcomes the
psychological desire
to be indispensable

He presents his
own ideas and
goals to He sets priorities
influence what and boundaries
others expect of
him
 Executive develops
long term strategy
and pursues his
goals slowly

Steadily
Does not allow
acquires the
his resolve to
resources he
wither away
needs
 Executive pursues
personal expertise
and a wide
perspective of a
particular area

Develops the
ability to see,
Builds credibility
grasp, and fight
for opportunities
 Understanding
boss
subordinate
relationship

Managing the
boss MANAGING Knowing the
subordinate boss
relationship THE BOSS

Knowing
oneself
• Some executives do not
understand that the boss
needs their help to do his job
• Some executives consider
themselves independent of
their bosses
• Some executives assume that
the boss will intuitively
know what help they need
Understanding boss
subordinate
relationship
Knowing the boss
• A subordinate needs to
appreciate his boss’s goals
and pressures, strengths and
weaknesses
• He should understand what
the boss is trying to achieve
for the organization and for
himself
• He is sensitive to the boss’s
style of working
• Some subordinates are
predisposed to consider their
boss as an obstacle to be
tolerated and circumvented
• Some subordinates are
predisposed to comply even
when they know that the
boss is wrong
• Changing predisposition to
authority is not possible but
understanding predisposition
helps to temper extreme
reactions
Knowing oneself
Managing the boss
subordinate
relationship
• Unambiguous understanding
of mutual expectations
• Subordinate adjusts his style
to suit his boss’s preferred
method for receiving
information
• Adjusts to the boss’s
decision making style
• Subordinate promises less
but consistently delvers
whatever he promises
 Executive lets new Tries to match the
boss know that he Does not push his own
agenda working style of new
wants to be on his team boss

Tries to
understand
He takes up what new
an important boss is trying
project in to achieve and
which he provides all
must interact possible help
intensively
with the new
boss

Discusses situation in
He helps him achieve his division as they
positive operating are, and his plan for
results progress
 Should focus on
building his
Manager does network of bosses,
not have Should spend peers, managers of
time with his other departments
significant people and businesses,
suppliers,
authority regulators and
customers

Earns
Authority does credibility by Demonstrates
not flow from demonstrating his
manager’s his intention competence
to do the right and influence
position thing

Exercises
Manager does influence by Shares power
not control his creating with
culture of subordinates
subordinates enquiry
 Harnesses the
Cannot focus collective power
on forging of the group to Shapes team’s
improve norms and
good individual individual values
relationships performance and
commitment

Cannot ensure Recommends Challenges

and initiates organizational
that things run processes that
changes to
smoothly by enhance his
exist above and
beyond his area
maintaining team’s of formal
status quo performance authority

Does not have Forges

all the answers developmental
relationships
and insights to with peers and
all the problems boss
 New
assignments

Leadership Changing
development careers

MOTIVATING
MID CAREER
EMPLOYEES

Long leave Mentors

Training
 Global job posting Company can offer an
NEW ASSIGNMENTS

CHANGING CAREERS
system that alerts internal career change
employees to Employee may
opportunities in other develop a new
functions and specialty, take an
geographical locations altogether different
Lateral moves that job or get back to an
have equal mix of new individual contributor
and old role from a
responsibilities managerial position
Made to feel that their
careers will always be
in motion
MENTORS

TRAINING
Are put into Fresh training is
mentoring, integral to career
teaching, and other changes
knowledge sharing Employees are
roles educated and keen
A companywide to learn new skills
database tracks and behaviors
skills attained and
desired, and helps
match partners
with mentors
 LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT
LONG LEAVE
Employees do not Employees are
take long leaves frustrated by the
because of financial lack of promotion
constraints or opportunities
employers’ When they
discouragement participate in
Sabbaticals leadership
rejuvenate development
employees programs, their
personally and commitment to the
professionally organization is
renewed
 Integrated
method

SUCCESSION
PLANNING
Authenticity
Fixing
and
alignment
AND responsibility
LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT

Developing
future leaders
 INTEGRATED METHOD

• Succession planning drives leadership

development programs
• The company alerts its competent and
ambitious executives to potential leadership
opportunities
• The company’s performance appraisal process
identifies the most talented executives in its
hard-to-fill position, evaluates them, and
determines the potential executives’ readiness
for promotion
 FIXING RESPONSIBILITY
• Line managers are held responsible for
recognizing their subordinates’ developmental
needs, help them cultivate new skills, and
provide them with opportunities for professional
development and personal growth
• Line managers transfer their talented
subordinates into new functional areas or
business units to arm them with experiences that
makes them competent for certain positions
• Board directors assume high level ownership of
the overall system
 DEVELOPING FUTURE LEADERS

• The leadership development program has

mechanisms for exposing future leaders
to all the company’s operations
• Business unit heads and functional heads
are personally responsible for rotating
future leaders through different parts of
the organization
• Cross functional development plans for
executives are explicitly chalked out
 AUTHENTICITY AND ALIGNMENT
• The constituent parts of the leadership
development program combine in a way that
enables the company to compete more effectively
• The leadership development program reinforces
the perception that the company wants people to
have about it
• Employees believe that those employees whom
the leadership development system recruits,
selects and promotes are truly qualified for their
positions
 CAREER CHANGE

Plan and First act and

Change Reasons of
implement then think
stories change
approach approach
 REASONS FOR CHANGE
CHANGE STORIES

• Transition to a new • Rationale for change

working life is a time of should be rooted in our
confusion, loss, insecurity character
and uncertainty • Should have both
• A change story reassures personal and professional
that our plans make sense reasons for making a
and that we are not change
risking everything that we • Should elaborate on an
have explanation that extends
• If the change story is back in time
coherent, the listener is • Reframe past in the light
convinced that the change of change we are seeking
makes sense and will
bring success
PLAN AND IMPLEMENT
APPROACH

APPROACH
FIRST ACT, THEN THINK
• Person determines • Person learns who he
what he really wants has become by doing
to do next what he thinks he
• He identifies jobs in wants to do and
which his passions checking whether he
can be coupled with can actually do it,
skills and experience and enjoys doing it
• This approach does • Tries out new
not work because professional goals on
most people cannot a limited scale
discover their true without leaping into
selves by mere a new position too
introspection soon
 Dip in Drivers of
performance performance

Keeping Developing
hired talents top talents
DIP IN PERFORMANCE
Performance of employee dips because he is
obstructed by the attitudes of his colleagues
when he tries to learn about procedures,
personalities, and relationships

Performance of his team declines because his

arrival results in interpersonal conflicts and a
breakdown of communications in the team

Companies’ stock prices decline because

investors believe that top talents leave when
they are near their peak
DRIVERS OF PERFORMANCE
Resources and capabilities: Top talent uses
company’s resources and capabilities to do
things that really matter

Systems and processes: Corporate

procedures and routines contribute to the
success of executives

Leadership: Executive’s boss provides

him resources and support he needs to
become a top performer
Internal network: A company helps an
executive deliver superior results by forging
relationships across functions and businesses

Training: Training programs inform an

executive about the resources that are
available and how best to use them

Teams: The executive works with smart

colleagues which stimulates productivity
DEVELOPING TOP TALENTS

The company recruits good people,

develops, and trains them

Training and mentoring are

important activities

The company encourages its top

talents to broaden their skill sets and
speak on its behalf at conferences
KEEPING HIRED TALENTS
The company targets executives of
similar companies or executives whose
performance is driven by general skills

Company has detailed plans to

assimilate the hired executive

Company designs long term

performance goals for its hired
employees
PART-TIME JOB

The part time employee

lets his organization know
his work life priorities,
schedules and plans for
the future

Makes a business case for

his part-time arrangement
and publicizes it by
demonstrating that work
is getting done
Establishes schedules to
protect his time at work,
and rituals to protect his
time at home

Cultivates champions in
senior management who
advocates his part-time
arrangement and protect
him from skeptics
 CAREER SETBACK

Deciding Getting
Enlisting Rebuilding
how to back to
support of public
stage work
others reputation
comeback
Deciding
Enlisting
how to Friends provide
support of
stage a support and
others
comeback advise and help
Decides whether
he will confront him get
the situation or perspective on
put it behind him the good and bad
choices he has
made

His reputation is
his most
important Slight
resource, and acquaintances are
should fight back more helpful than
if the allegations close friends in
are strong enough finding a job
to block a career
comeback
Rebuilding Getting
public back to
reputation True causes for work Takes up a job or
his dismissal are starts a company
hidden by the to demonstrate
company to that he can still
protect its perform
reputation

Gets his story out Needs to prove

by launching a his competence
public campaign in a situation that
to educate and is enormously
inform difficult
 The
process

Avoiding SET UP
it The cost
TO FAIL

Breaking
out of it
The process The costs
• Managers categorize • The boss increases
employees into supervision to
either the in-group improve
or out-group performance of
• Mutual respect and weak employee
reciprocal influence • He gives more work
govern the boss- to already busy,
subordinate strong performers
relationship in the • Alienation of weak
in-group performers
• Manager treats adversely affects
employees of out- team spirit
group formally
Breaking out Avoiding it
of it • Manager is actively
involved with all his
• The boss and the employees, gradually
weak performer reducing his
identify areas of involvement based on
weakness and the group performance
reasons for them • He challenges his own
• They identify the assumptions and
attitudes about
ways in which they employees
can improve their
• Creates an
skills, knowledge, environment in which
experience and employees feel
personal comfortable discussing
relationships their performance
 Symptoms

Cure Causes
SYMPTOMS

CAUSES
• Executive has • His formula for
mastered most excelling at
of the work is no
challenges of longer effective
his work • Has to reinvent
• Work seems himself
tedious
• Gets easily
distracted
CURE

• CAPABILITY TO MANAGE POWER

• Must empower others
• Must give up his need to control
• CAPABILITY TO MANAGE CONFLICT
• Designs and facilitates meetings where there
are vigorous debates
• Modulates the amount of tension in conflicts
 • CAPABILITY TO MANAGE RELATIONSHIPS
CURE

• Relates to a broad spectrum of individuals

• Selects subordinates whose background and
approach are different from his own
• CAPABILITY TO MANAGE THE FUTURE
• Learns to shape larger visions and strategies
• Consults others to create a picture of the future
• CAPABILITY TO MANAGE LEARNING
• Evolves into a coach
• He and his subordinates undertake joint
exploration to build a developmental agenda
 The risk

Everyone RISKS Winner

is at risk takes it all
AT
THE
TOP

Avoiding Price of
the fall success
 • Demonstrates lapses in professional
judgment or personal conduct
• Flouts rules with incredible daring
The risk

• Large number of smart people vie for a few

top positions
• Aggressive about taking risks
Winner • Looks for a back door to success
takes it all
 • Painful trade-offs on the way to success
• Abandons the practices that made him
successful
Price of • Gets distracted by temptations
success • Ignores critics and enemies

• Leads a simple life

• Acknowledges shortcomings and owns up to
failure
• Wants to know the truth
Avoiding • Worries about small things
the fall • Tries to become reflective
 • Success will change everyone
• Most people will fall prey to the trappings of
Everyone is power if they do not become mindful
at risk
 BEING FIRED

Leaving
Shock
with dignity
S Employees feel that they
H have lost their identity
O
C Employees feel that they
have lost their family
K

Employees withdraw
 Inserts
Resists termination
impulse to clause in
complain employment
contract

LEAVING
Volunteers Schedules
to be WITH network
terminated call
DIGNITY

Raises
Watches
visibility,
for exit
but by
signs
stealth