Being Shepherd 4 : Rush to succeed will make you fall

Being Shepherd

Rush to succeed will make you fall

www.beingshepherd.com

Chapter 4

We all are aware that there’s a difference in being a functional head and a CXO but not all CXO’s execute their responsibilities appropriately. A functional head, say a sales head, is best compared with a horse jockey, who is happy to have his team wear blinkers so as to remain laser focused and gallop towards the defined target. A 10% miss in the target by one can be bridged by making another gallop harder and cover the deficit. But as a CXO, your role is more like a shepherd. The underperformance of one function cannot be compensated by the over delivery of other. Each one must proceed and deliver in tandem with the joint objectives. You need to constantly maintain your flock close to each other, interacting, sharing and reassessing each other’s progress.

Thus it’s possible that your strength might be sales, but it might be the area that needs least of your focus. That’s a tough situation to be in: ‘To not do what you are the best at’ and perhaps ‘the best in the entire organization’.

But why is it important to let go and focus on your team? Imagine two scenarios:

1.

You have just taken charge of your Company. You are eager to show results. You know that if you personally take charge of sales, the numbers might immediately spike up by 5%. You will get early victory, the company will grow, you will be appreciated, feel good about yourself, the sales head will respect you and that will give the necessary window to focus on other verticals.  What’s the harm with that? Well, everything.

Because it’s all about you. It’s about your need to get early victory and to feel good early in your job. Your desire to be appreciated, hero worshipped and many more such aspects which is all about you. 

And the vision is very short term.

The moment you, the king of sales, the CXO, takes charge of sales, the Sales Head does as instructed. You show quick growth results. But how long will you keep leading the sales function from the front? And what will happen once you step back to focus on other functions. The sales head, who takes charge after you step back, might try and ape your style but imitation takes a while to master OR might do it her way which will need realignment and time for the team to adjust. Any unsettlement will cause a slight fall in the numbers. Consequently, once you’ve stepped back and numbers show a decline, your observation and that of the entire organization will be that when the CXO was in charge the numbers grew, but soon as the CXO stepped back the numbers dipped. Spoken or unspoken, the blame will be on the Sales Head, manpower review will peruse leading to fear, lack of ownership and perhaps resignations. But most importantly, what was an early growth curve will now be in a free fall.

What one will not realize is that the CXO set the sales head up for failure. Without assessing the leadership style, strengths & weaknesses of the current sales head, the CXO set the rules, defined a new pattern, knowing very well that his charge from the front is only temporary.

Figure 2a here explains the three stages of focus for the one who ‘Leads from the Front’ and how it directly impacts his team and growth curve of the organization / function.

2.

Why lead anything from the front that you very well know is only a short term measure. Rather invest that short term to aptly gauge the team and plug the gaps before jumping into the race for numbers as explained in Fig 2b.

Once you work on defining goals, evaluate self & the team (See blog Chapter 3) and collaborate to plug both technical & soft skill gaps in people  before jumping into a target chase, a marginal early fall, if any, can well be plugged very easily.

Because then if a fall happens the review will not be of the people, the review will be of the objective and the processes / resources or the very strategy itself. It is well possible that in an early stage itself you might not be happy with an existing function head. You might choose to retain them or drop them, which is always an option that some managers prefer (but remains debatable). If you don’t take an extreme measure and not share your concerns openly, it would be a gross disservice to the organization. If you express concerns clearly, yet help them to plug their shortcomings early on, they will get motivated for what you entrust them with and more importantly you will know where to allocate your time & focus.

Irrespective of the state of the people and the organization in the early stage of your role, it is advised to allocate Review Time as follows :

• 20%  : To areas of your strength. Because what you know best, you can best assess and advice in least time. Most managers make a critical mistake of investing maximum time on areas of their strength. Mostly it’s of past experiences and boastful claims what they can do if were in charge. Well, time to stop living in the past and you are not in charge. It’s time to lead from behind. 

• 60% : Areas that are vital but of low interest to you. You are not in a CXO role to do what you know best or enjoy most. You are hired to have a comprehensive vision and get the job done. To prioritize the important and the urgent. The fear with areas of low interest is that you might get too aloof of it and in the guise of delegation might actually abdicate it. The only way to generate interest is by doing more of it.

• 20% : Areas that are not your strong hold. This is because consistent investment must go in educating yourself. Education can come by asking the right questions (explained in subsequent chapters), reading, training or meeting the right people. And then use your best judgment by collaborating with that of the functional head. Sometimes, when you are not sure of the way forward, it is best to humbly disclose that and let the team take charge. There is also an option to get a consultant in for vital projects to maintain an objective view in areas that yet might not be your strength. Some might argue that it is vital for a CXO to invest maximum time in his weak zones. But then what is weak cannot be mastered over a short duration. Thus lay trust in those who are that functions masters. You are not supposed to have all the answers but you certainly should know the right questions. Educate yourself, mastery will follow.

So take your time in a new role, for the right reasons. You are here for the long haul, to make your team perform. Lead them from behind.