INTRODUCTION:
Ask any leader what the key to a high performing organization is, and
they’ll typically say “execution” which boils down to high performing
people. But what do you do when you have someone on your senior
team who is not performing – and continues to underperform despite
your investment in performance reviews, coaching and mentoring?
The answer is simple, but often not easy.
Recently, we were working with a leadership team who faced just this
sort of dilemma. Although the VP of Marketing in question had many
years of experience with the firm (regarded as one of the original
pioneers of the business), was generally well-liked, and had been
instrumental in the company’s early years of growth in developing
some of their critical legacy products – there was sustained
underperformance by the Executive and the choice was clear, the
negative impact of not acting was weighing on them individually and
collectively, yet the decision was getting consistently deferred. Why?
Complacency? Reliance on the devil you know versus the one you
don’t? A psychological predisposition that creates resistance to conflict,
resistance to change? The stories we tell ourselves about all the
disastrous impacts to the organization – hurt morale, inability to
appropriately transfer knowledge, etc.?
After a period of personal growth and working through resistance to
conflict and change, our CEO set the VP free – to find an organization
more fitting to her core values and ways of being. And afterward, the
entire leadership team was set free – feeling a tremendous decompression
– a lightness, an ease, that wasn’t previously there. They also got
the gift of being able to perform at a higher level.
I invite you to consider: when was the last time you did a talent
assessment of your primary team? Have you fallen into any complacency?
How many of your direct reports are at least an 8 out of 10? And if
you have those below an 8, what are you doing to help them improve?
While our experience has shown us difficult conversations often
get procrastinated – when they’re embraced – they enable a new day
– a resurrection if you will – of the best the team has to offer.