Understanding
Career Derailment
and
How to Keep Your
Career on Track
American Society of Military Comptrollers
Professional Development Institute
Orlando, Florida
June 4, 2010
Presented by:
Thomas Gaffney
Senior Manager
Government Sector
Center for Creative Leadership
CCL at a Glance
Exclusive focus on the leadership development of
individuals and organizations for nearly forty years
Ranked among the world’s top providers of
executive education by Financial Times and Business
Week
Flexible and global delivery options
Ground-breaking research driving business results
One of the largest leadership benchmarking
databases in the world
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
Government
Agencies that have
worked with CCL
DOD
CIA
Dept of Homeland
Security
US Navy
US Army
US Air Force
GAO
CSTC-A
NSA
Dept of Commerce
Treasury
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DAU
Dept of Energy
Dept of Education
Dept of Justice
©2010 Center for Creative Leadership®. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The information contained in this document is proprietary and confidential intellectual
property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
Agenda
• What is “Derailment”?
• What are the causes of derailment?
• What are the signs of possible
derailment?
• How can derailment be prevented?
• What are my next steps to keep my
career on track?
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
4
Executive
Derailment
Why Do Leaders Come
“Off the Track”
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5
Why Do
Leaders Derail?
The organization perceives
a lack of fit between the
manager’s personal
characteristics and skills,
and the evolving demands
of the job.
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
6
Key Terms
Successful
A person who achieved the highest level
expected or is still promotable
Derailed
A person who has involuntarily stalled,
been demoted, fired, or asked to take
early retirement. This person did not live
up to his/her full potential as the
organization saw it.
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
7
Why Should
We Care?
•
•
•
Derailments hurt.
– People
– Retention
Derailments are expensive.
– The higher the level, the more
expensive they are.
Survival of the fittest is not the same
thing as survival of the best.
– Leaving leadership development to
chance is risky.
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
8
Derailment Research
History
• 4 Research Studies
– Spanning 19 years
• 430+ Case Studies
• Fortune 500
• International Scope
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
9
Sample Group
Over 32,000 Federal
Government Employees
from Multiple Agencies
Sampled
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10
General
Demographics
46%
54%
Gender
4%
25%
5%
22%
Men
Women
44%
Level
Executive
Middle
Other
36%
Upper Middle
First Level
64%
Age
GEN "X"
Baby Boomers
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11
Four Key Questions
1.
Success Profile: What leadership skills and
perspectives do bosses say are critical for
success?
2.
Current Bench Strength: How strong is the
leadership in these critical skills and
perspectives as judged by co-workers?
3.
Effectiveness: What skills are most closely
linked to effectiveness?
4.
Potential Pitfalls: What potential pitfalls lie
ahead for senior leaders?
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
12
What Was
Assessed?
•
•
•
•
Key leadership competencies:
Importance
Skill (Bench Strength)
Prevalence of characteristics that can lead
to being involuntarily stalled, demoted,
fired, or asked to take early retirement
Promotability
Overall measures of performance
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
13
An ASMC Perspective
“What does derailment look like
in government service?”
• Think of one person you know in the government
sector that fits the definition of derailment: A person
who has involuntarily stalled, been demoted, fired,
or asked to take early retirement.
– What were the fatal flaws that led to derailing?
– How did the person who derailed differ from those who made
it to the top?
– What event(s) surfaced those flaws?
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
14
Potential Pitfalls
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15
Reasons
Primary Reasons for Derailing
•
•
•
•
•
Failure to change or adapt (unwilling
and/or unable)
Problems with interpersonal relationships
Failure to build and lead a team
Failure to meet business objectives
Too narrow of a functional orientation
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16
On Track Versus
Derailed
Amazingly Similar
• Incredibly bright
• Outstanding track
records
• Identified early
• Not perfect
• Ambitious
• Made sacrifices
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17
How Did Derailed
Executives Differ from
Successful Ones?
• Derailed Executives:
– Failure to develop or
adapt
– Poor working relationships
– Unable to build and lead a
team
– Fail to meet business
objectives
– Too narrow of a functional
orientation
• Successful Executives:
– Able to develop and adapt
– Establish strong
relationships
– Build and lead teams
– Consistently high
performance
– Intelligent
– Problem solvers
– Ambitious
– Willing to take risks
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18
Problems with
Interpersonal
Relationships
Personality characteristics seen as:
• Insensitive
• Manipulative
• Critical
• Demanding
• Authoritarian (lacked a
teamwork orientation)
• Self-isolating
• Aloof
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19
He’s a great strategic
thinker, but…
“He is a great strategic thinker and he has high
ethical standards, but he lashes out at people;
he can’t build trusting relationships. He is very
smart, but he achieves superiority through
demeaning others. He is abusive, he hits
people with intellectual lightning. He
instinctively goes after people. Many people
have tried to work on this flaw because he has
such extraordinary skills, but it
seems hopeless.”
©2010 Center for Creative Leadership®. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The information contained in this document is proprietary and confidential intellectual
property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
20
Good Relationships
“He had a great belief that working
democratically would benefit all
workers. He was honest,
collaborative, and open to new
ideas. He made himself accessible to
everyone in the company. He was
extremely ethical and dependable.”
©2010 Center for Creative Leadership®. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The information contained in this document is proprietary and confidential intellectual
property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
21
Good Relationships
“He was very personable, easy to talk
with. He was also very credible. This
is because he would get the facts
before he said anything. He would
follow through on things. He was very
caring, straightforward, a most
successful manager.”
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
22
Good Doesn’t
Mean…
• A personality transplant
• Inauthentic behavior
• “That’s just not me”
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
23
Failure to Change or
Adapt
• Failure to adapt to a new boss
• Over-dependence on a single skill
and/or failure to acquire new skills
• Inability to adapt to the demands of a
new job, a new culture, or changes
in the market
• Failure to learn from feedback
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
24
Two Words You Don’t
Want to Hear
“He couldn’t change. He had a
rigid and outdated management
style. He was inflexible and
people got tired of it.”
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
25
Transitioning to the
Next Level
• You’ve been successful so far
• Your strengths have served you well
• How might your strengths become
weaknesses if overused?
• How are the demands of the next level
different than what you’ve experienced to
date?
• What changes will you have to make in your
behaviors to meet these new challenges?
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
26
Learning Agility
In many of the cases, senior executives
described repeated efforts to give the
leader feedback on areas for
improvement. For whatever reason,
the derailed leaders were unable or
unwilling to learn from and apply the
feedback.
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
27
Learn and Live
“He was very aware of his strengths and
limitations; he got help during a transition.
He sought advice from HR. We set up a
special program to get him in-depth
assessment. People see him as open to
feedback and change, and he actively works
on these. He is very reflective of mistakes; he
wants to learn from them. He is always
talking about improving the system so it
won’t happen again.”
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28
One
Step Forward…
“I was coaching her. We had many
sessions together where the
problems were identified and we
tried to come up with an action plan.
Some problems she “owned”,
others she didn’t. She really didn’t
change. She would change for a
week or two, then return to
base line.”
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
29
Failure to Build
and Lead a Team
• Failing to staff effectively
• Can’t manage subordinates
• Poor leadership skills
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
30
Team Trauma
“We had a huge project - our
biggest. It is late. It has cost
hundreds of thousands of dollars
because we didn’t have needed
staff, systems, in time. This is
her responsibility.”
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
31
Failure to Meet
Business Objectives
• Lack of follow-through
• Too ambitious
• Poor performance
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
32
Too Narrow Functional
Orientation
• Upward career progress in
same function
• Unable to wear multiple hats
• Lack of awareness about the
whole organization or
competitive landscape
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
33
Events That Can
Surface Flaws
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
New boss
Radically different job
Reorganization/culture change
Performance problem, handled
ineptly
Clash with a boss
Trail of little problems/bruised
people
Expatriate assignment
Over-using strengths
Going it alone
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
34
With Apologies to
Jeff Foxworthy
If you tend to hear “Yabut” when your work is discussed…
You may be on the road to derailment.
If you notice that people who work with you on a project seem to
have other obligations when another opportunity to work with you
comes up…
You may be on the road to derailment.
If you notice that your mentor may have become your protector…
You may be on the road to derailment.
If you find yourself in a new and challenging situation and you hear
yourself saying, “I just need to work a little harder and everything
will be fine”…
You may be on the road to derailment.
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
35
Preventing
Derailment
Executives should:
• seek feedback throughout their
careers
• seek development opportunities that
can help overcome flaws
• seek support and coaching during
transitions
• be aware that new jobs require new
frameworks and behaviors
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
36
Preventing
Derailment
Organizations should:
• consider zigzagging career paths
over vertical ones
• give lots of “how you did it”
feedback instead of “what you did”
• not consider one failure “off the
track”
• allow managers to complete jobs/
assignments
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property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
37
Next Steps –
Resources
• Consider coaching
• Take advantage of 360-degree assessments
• Ideas Into Action Guidebook – Keeping Your
Career on Track (CCL)
• A Look at Derailment Today: North America and
Europe (CCL)
• Preventing Derailment: What to do before it’s too
late (CCL)
• What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
(Marshall Goldsmith)
©2010 Center for Creative Leadership®. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The information contained in this document is proprietary and confidential intellectual
property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
38
Next Steps –
Actions
• Identify the derailer (current or potential) that you
most want to address:
–
–
–
–
–
Failure to change or adapt
Problems with interpersonal relationships
Failure to build and lead a team
Failure to meet business objectives
Too narrow of a functional orientation
• Decide specifically what you are going to do
(SMART)
• Determine who will partner with you on this
• Set a deadline
©2010 Center for Creative Leadership®. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The information contained in this document is proprietary and confidential intellectual
property of the Center for Creative Leadership. Copying or redistribution for commercial purposes of any material or design elements is strictly prohibited.
39
Understanding
Career Derailment
and
How to Keep Your
Career on Track
American Society of Military Comptrollers
Professional Development Institute
Orlando, Florida
June 4, 2010
Presented by:
Thomas Gaffney
Senior Manager
Government Sector
Center for Creative Leadership
336-286-4576
gaffneyt@ccl.org