An ongoing challenge for
many of us is how to ensure consistent growth. I define growth in broad terms, beyond
just getting the next higher position or a better pay packet. It is about an
increase in the level of your knowledge, exposure, experience and networks. It should
reflect an increasing level of responsibility, and more complexity in
assignments requiring the use of multiple skills.
I have recently had to
assist two people who had to deal with their desire for growth when they were
under an unmoving shadow of insecure bosses. The paradox of the situation is
that it is in the interest of the boss for the employee to show the best they
can do, as it will make the boss look good. But an insecure boss may not want
the subordinate to have an exposure lest they either start to be more valued
than them, or the boss potentially loses a key person on whom (s)he depends. How
do I generally approach this type of a problem?
I start with the acknowledgement
of the reality. There is nothing unique about bosses who make the mistake of
thinking that the subordinates belong to them, and the fate of their careers is
also dependent on them. It also happens that over time a subordinate will start
to believe that they need the boss for their career, and thus never get out of
the superior’s’ shadow. These superiors forget one very important fact, which
is that they have nothing but a “custodial responsibility” on what are the
assets of an organisation. The organisation’s leaders have the right, in fact
the responsibility, of deploying the employees where they will ensure customer
value and maximise returns for shareholders (if it is a profit making organisation)
or maximise the level of services to the public or relevant stakeholders (if in
public services).
I said once they acknowledged
this reality, then they needed to be clear about what they wanted to achieve. Going
back to basics, I highlighted the importance of knowing self, which I have
written about before. In going through this process of knowing self, I
confronted them to be very clear about their full potential. It is an important
step as in a way it influences one’s ambition.
I followed this with
challenging them to take a more external view of opportunities, rather than
relying on the world as framed by the superiors who were the cause of their unhappiness
and frustration. This view was not necessarily external to their respective
organisations. But then, if you take an external view, what becomes the
important next step?
The most critical is the
process of having conversations with those external to your current environment.
This required them to start building a new value network wider than their
current one, which was limited to the areas where they worked. It needed them
to have a deeper understanding of the business challenges and opportunities
that existed in the environments external to their own. It required them to be
very clear what value they bring and why the current position limited their
ability to add this value. After developing a deep sense of these external
opportunities, and having a clear sense of who they are and what capabilities
they bring, they were able to start matching the opportunities to their
capabilities and ambition.
Subtly, by going through
this process, one of them was able to use the fact that her organisation has a
responsibility to ensure that it uses its human resource to its full potential
to her advantage. She used the knowledge that an organisation is not beholden
to the whims or needs of a particular individual, even if that individual has a
seemingly powerful position. And she did it using tactics that limited conflict
between her potential new superiors and her current boss.
Although they either did
this or are in the process of doing it, I have emphasised the need for them not
to speak negatively about the current boss. Most executives do not like to deal
or engage people who come across as complainants. I emphasised the importance
of framing the argument around the context of their growth potential, their
capabilities, the desire to add value and why the current environment was
limiting in that context. The current boss should come out as a player in the
environment rather than being the environment. I did not see it as a positive
action to come across as simply just whining about the boss.
Paradoxically, they had to
find some positives in the experience of an environment that they were finding
no longer worked for them. This was important because they should ensure they
do not devalue themselves in the process of being critical of the current
state. If they hated the current boss and environment so much that they did not
value anything, they would be giving the potential new superiors leverage in positional
and remuneration discussions to undervalue them. A lot of us spend too much
energy on the getting out part (which I think is negative energy) than on the
potential to create something new (which is the positive energy that enables
you to see more). I emphasised the need to focus on the latter.
One of them has found a new
opportunity that will take her career to the next level, and she credits our
dialogue as being crucial to opening her eyes to her own potential. It fits the
definition of growth I used at the start. The other one is at early stages of
the journey, but I am convinced she is in the right direction.
The message is to go on
tackle the world. To get out of the shadow of an insecure boss, but use the experience
has gained as leverage for the next opportunity.
