Give Tasks to the Best People You Can Hire
Q: As a new director, I am responsible for hiring and managing a larger team. Are there some best practices that you have observed for building great teams? T.S., Montreal
A: One of the strengths of a great leader is the ability to hire and develop successful teams. The Gallup Organization interviewed 80,000 managers in 400 countries to determine what some of the best managers do, and what key mistakes are made.
The results are documented in a book called First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman (Simon & Schuster, 272 pp., $28.35). According to the study, many managers make two key mistakes:
1. They assume that each person can learn to be competent in almost anything.
2. They believe each person's greatest room for improvement is in their weakness.
Great managers, however, do not help people overcome their weaknesses so they can do a competent job, because competency does not lead to excellence. Which would you prefer, a "competent" surgeon or a great surgeon?
Identify what core competencies you have on your team, and where the gaps are. As you mould and develop your team, work diligently at having your key people in the right roles. Don't be afraid to bring in experts from other parts of your organization, or even from outside the company, to fill in the gaps -- and do it sooner rather than than later.
It can be dangerous to focus on improving an individual's weaknesses. This can take an enormous amount of energy on the part of both you and the person you are managing. This could put your project at risk.
Obviously, we all can improve; encouraging a strengths-focused philosophy, however, increases the likelihood of success and is much more profitable and enjoyable for all involved.
A: One of the strengths of a great leader is the ability to hire and develop successful teams. The Gallup Organization interviewed 80,000 managers in 400 countries to determine what some of the best managers do, and what key mistakes are made.
The results are documented in a book called First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman (Simon & Schuster, 272 pp., $28.35). According to the study, many managers make two key mistakes:
1. They assume that each person can learn to be competent in almost anything.
2. They believe each person's greatest room for improvement is in their weakness.
Great managers, however, do not help people overcome their weaknesses so they can do a competent job, because competency does not lead to excellence. Which would you prefer, a "competent" surgeon or a great surgeon?
Identify what core competencies you have on your team, and where the gaps are. As you mould and develop your team, work diligently at having your key people in the right roles. Don't be afraid to bring in experts from other parts of your organization, or even from outside the company, to fill in the gaps -- and do it sooner rather than than later.
It can be dangerous to focus on improving an individual's weaknesses. This can take an enormous amount of energy on the part of both you and the person you are managing. This could put your project at risk.
Obviously, we all can improve; encouraging a strengths-focused philosophy, however, increases the likelihood of success and is much more profitable and enjoyable for all involved.
posted by Alan Kearns at 12:47 PM
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