Why the New Boss Failed
Cassandra was moving up to a high level leadership position. She had been in her current role for almost 20 years and was highly valued and trusted by her team. She was taxed with helping to choose her replacement. She knew that whoever she chose would have big shoes to fill and it would be important to her own reputation as a leader that this person be successful.
I’ve seen this done well. And I’ve seen it fail miserably, even when the replacement, the new boss, is highly experienced and skilled. So why would it fail?
Cassandra and her organization conducted an exhaustive search and ended up bringing Alex in from another state. Cassandra’s company paid to relocate him, gave him an attractive salary, and overall invested a lot of resources in bringing him on board and setting him up for success.
Yet Alex would not succeed.
Why? Alex had the right experience, he was knowledgeable about their industry and was successful in his last role which he had been in for nearly a decade, so what could possibly go wrong?
Cassandra was a very relational leader. She was a visionary, and she led her team of nearly 40 people by giving them a lot of autonomy and freedom. She used the skills of empathy, and active listening to help lead her people to effective and successful solutions and outcomes. She had many people on her staff that had been with her for many years. They were a tight team who were very loyal to her.
Alex was also a problem solver. He had succeeded in his role by solving complex problems and was highly strategic. He led a small team of three people, but felt confident he could successfully navigate the needs of a larger team.
What Alex didn’t understand from the outset was that one of his most important hurdles to overcome would be filling Cassandra’s shoes by gaining his new team’s trust and their confidence that he would lead them as well as Cassandra had.
Most people don’t look forward to having a new boss. Why? Because the new leader is going to come in and make changes that impact their lives and work, and they will have little to no control or say so about it. Which is exactly what Alex did.
He noticed that people took PTO without getting permission from their superiors first. He also noticed that people didn’t always come in on time and that sometimes people would tell him they were going to work from home on such and such day. He didn’t like this at all. He felt that there should be much better structure to create stability and promote efficiency, accountability and results. So, Alex created new guidelines and protocols and sent them out in an email to all. One of these protocols involved having everyone share their calendars with him, and he would do the same with them he said, so that he would know where everyone was at all times; that it would prevent a lack of coverage in areas and ensure that people could be found when they were needed.
Everyone was in protest. Some were vocal, but many were not, it was a very polite culture. People were leaving faster than they could replace them, and now the team was also very short staffed. Those that remained had new rules they didn’t like, more responsibility than ever and much higher stress loads.
It took only a year to push turnover up to an all time high.
When I was brought in, it didn’t take long to see that things were going downhill due to staff leaving. Yet, when I would ask Alex how things were going and to share what his challenges were with me he was unaware or unwilling to acknowledge the truth. He’d say things like, it’s going great! I’ve got a plan to ramp up process and client experience...we need a more progressive and efficient approach. When I confronted him about his turn-over, he dismissed it claiming it was a non issue. People need to get on board or they can leave. Everyone is replaceable. Boy was he ever right about that!
He tolerated our sessions but it was clear he felt they were a waste of time. In fact, he told me so during one of our sessions. I don’t think I’m gaining anything from our time together. I feel like it would be better if I just let you know when I need something from you. Unfortunately for Alex, that wasn’t going to happen.
I suggested a 1 - 3 year plan for him. If he truly believed that changing the structure and processes for autonomy concerning working from home and PTO were a priority, then it was something we could look at after he’d gained some trust from his new team. The last thing you want to do, I advised, is to come in and mess with people’s holidays and time off! You couldn’t make a worse impression. But Alex wanted to run a tight ship. Instead he ended up sinking the Titanic.
Could it have gone differently or was it doomed from the outset? I believe Alex could have been successful if he had been open to coaching. He needed help in recognizing his true challenges as the new leader of this team but unfortunately, Alex didn’t want help.
As an outside consultant, I have no agenda other than to create as much success as possible for both the leader and the organization. In my experience as a consultant, I have a much greater chance at positively influencing and sustaining hard challenges in leadership than someone internally because of my neutrality. Even with this advantage, however, when a leader is totally unwilling to engage in their own growth or reflect on reality, change will not be possible.
What started as a challenging role transition quickly turned into a disaster. I realized that Alex didn’t have the E.Q. to be able to turn things around and he simply was unwilling to consider an outside perspective. He told me repeatedly that people were just going to have to get used to his style and eventually they would see that he knew what he was talking about. He struggled to understand that as he continued to tighten control, he was shooting his own efforts down.
Alex was smart, experienced, and highly skilled, but unfortunately he was also very low in many of the E.Q. skills or what I sometimes refer to as relational competency skills. He failed to understand the power of relationship and how his relationship with his team impacted everything else. He believed that his technical knowledge, expertise and skill would be enough.
Alex was wrong.
A leader with low relational competency will always negatively impact the outcomes, wins and ultimately the bottom line of an organization.
The loss was immense. Both in financial resources and in human capital. And sadly, with the right leader, it could have all been preventable.
Relational competency always trumps technical competency and experience.
Three things to look for when you’re assessing a leaders relational competency level:
Look to see if they ask questions instead of just giving solutions. Questions like: What have you already tried? What do you think might work?
These questions should prompt others to share their input and experience. This creates a feeling of being valued and respected.
Observe how they handle challenges to their ideas. Are they open and curious? Or, do they defend why they are right?
Observing these types of behaviors can help you identify where someone is on the relational competency scale.
If you would like to grow your relational competency level or have someone you lead who would benefit from this, reach out to me and we can talk about the process to make this happen.