"The danger of striving for the 'inner ring'"/ "How to avoid pitfalls of bad promotions"

Apr. 2, 2018 "The danger of striving for the 'inner ring'": Today I found this article by Harvey Schachter in the Globe and Mail:

There are inner rings in the places we work and the voluntary groups we immerse ourselves in – small groups, with influence and power. They can mesmerize us with their rituals and practices, as they parade into the boardroom or come laughing out of the leader’s office. They can haunt us or taunt us, not through anything they intend, but because of something within ourselves.

In many startups, the people who come together initially form that inner ring. Everyone feels vital and powerful. However, as the organization become bigger and bigger, a new inner ring will assert itself, and many of those present at the start will suddenly feel less important — outsiders, perhaps even outcasts.

In 1944, C.S. Lewis, author of the Narnia series as well as a professor of medieval and Renaissance English, gave the Memorial Lecture at King’s College, University of London, in which he challenged the notion that sex is the strongest of human drives and instead argued for the desire to join the inner ring.

“This desire is one of the great permanent mainsprings of human action,” he wrote. “Unless you take measures to prevent it, this desire is going to be one of the chief motives of your life, from the first day on which you enter your profession until the day when you are too old to care.”

Many of us belong to inner rings. We probably have not thought about its impact on others. And if we have, our attitude might be of scorn, since the inner ring is not a beach party but a place of dedicated hard work; others should just deal with their envy or lust.

But thinking about this subtle interplay, and how to invite others to feel less apart from the inner ring, might make sense if you want more support for your efforts. 

Slowing down and talking to others is a simple act, even if it is hard to do. For those of us outside the inner ring — and we are probably part of some inner rings and outside others in our organizations — we should deal with our feelings. Or, if it’s so disconcerting, move physically so the inner group’s presence is less obvious, even if that means switching to another department or organization.

Lewis warned that inner rings can be hazardous for us: “A thing may be morally neutral and yet the desire for that thing may be dangerous.” Indeed, he goes further: “Of all the passions, the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things.” Ouch!

In regard to whether or not you will one day attain the inner ring that haunts you, Lewis was more jaundiced, because he was dealing with your psyche: “As long as you are governed by that desire, you will never get what you want. You are trying to peel an onion: if you succeed there will be nothing left. Until you conquer the fear of being an outsider, an outsider you will remain.”

This is, of course, about power and ambition. It’s about making a mark, helping to improve your organization. You probably don’t want to be in the inner ring for status and prestige or to lollygag but to be able to make things happen in a better way. The inner ring is just a gateway for those noble impulses. It pays, of course, to examine those desires, to ensure they are noble, however.

I referred to power and ambition, motives that are not always positive. Indeed, you may believe some of the current inner ring are only out for themselves. Are you more selfless? But as well, will your ambition just lead to frustration since, even if you become an insider, “until you conquer the fear of being an outsider, an outsider you will remain”?

My opinion: I put that "being an outsider quote" into my inspirational quotes.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/management/article-the-danger-of-striving-for-the-inner-ring/

Apr. 14, 2018 "How to avoid pitfalls of bad promotions":  Today I found this article by Harvey Schachter in the Globe and Mail:

A key reason for bad management in organizations is that we pick the wrong people to promote to supervisory positions.

At times, it comes from the wrong motives. Bosses pick pals, or at least people whom they feel comfortable with. Often the individuals who make them the most comfortable are those who kowtow to them. Sometimes bosses get suckered in: How often have you watched some flim-flam artist slickly court a boss and gain a step ahead?

But sometimes promotion mistakes come from the right impulses and what seems like solid evidence. After all, it seems logical to promote those who are excellent at their job. But that doesn’t mean they will be excellent at the next post, particularly when they move from being an individual contributor, adept at working alone, to being responsible for others and expected to inspire and co-ordinate others.

This isn’t new. Laurence J. Peter penned a devastating organizational critique in 1969 – the Peter Principle − arguing everyone ultimately is promoted to the level of their incompetence. They do well at one role and are promoted until they hit something they can’t do well, where they remain. The book was smart, provocative and funny, but overdone. Some people are, after all, very effective until the day they retire.

But management requires certain skills that not everyone has. In fact, many people are highly successful but lack managerial skills, notably collaboration. We’ve known that for a while but too often forget; a recent study offers some helpful proof as a reminder.

The study looked at salespeople in more than 200 firms, good targets because their performance can be tracked by their sales output and that of the teams they lead. The first finding may seem obvious, but it is still important: High-performing sales workers are more likely to be promoted. So, the instinct is indeed to promote current success.

 “But that prior sales performance negatively predicts managerial performance,” academics Alan Benson, Danielle Li, and Kelly Shue warn in their study. Statistically, if a manager’s prepromotion sales were double somebody else’s, their team would experience a 7.5-per-cent decline in sales performance of each of the new subordinates.

The study was able to measure how much the salespeople collaborated with their colleagues in achieving their sales goals, calculated by the number of colleagues with whom the salesperson shared credit on a transaction. The salespeople who were more collaborative and were promoted were better managers. Doubling collaboration experience suggests a 15.7-per-cent improvement in the value added by the new manager.

It may not be as easy to calculate this in other fields but no doubt you have seen the phenomenon at work. Beyond collaboration can be the tendency of star performers named to management to try to micromanage subordinates, because they can do the job better than others. It drives subordinates nutty, weakening engagement.

Another subtle factor can be the time frame by which new managers approach their work. Elliott Jaques, a social scientist who focused on hierarchy, highlighted that at each level, a manager will be faced by some decisions that extend to a longer time frame than the level immediately lower – somebody running an assembly line might be only concerned with decisions that have an impact a few weeks out, while the CEO’s pivotal decision might extend 20 years into the future.

Some people are promoted and can’t adjust to the needed time frame. In journalism, for example, many star reporters excel because they are phenomenal in what they achieve in one shift; in management, they might still only think about today, not the next week or year. That ability to adjust time frames should be a consideration in promotions.

Consultant Suzi McAlpine on her blog says that before you leap into promoting your best accountant, salesperson or lawyer into a leadership role, ask these questions:

 Are they a great coach? 

Are they a “we before I” player? 

Are they a great communicator? 

Are they already leading others, colleagues turning to them for advice? 

Do they emulate the values of the organization and are trustworthy? 

Finally: Do they want to lead other people?

She stresses the people you promote have to be performing well in their current role but need not be the top performers. And that’s the key point. They need to be stars at other factors, such as collaboration, communication and leadership.

Cannonballs

• Could a company satisfy customers better at its call centre by offering the choice of no music vs. music when put on hold – even, in a Spotify world, choice of genre?
• A study of CEOs in the public sector, focusing on British hospitals, found essentially they have no impact on hospital performance. The study allowed a chance to evaluate CEOs who switched hospitals of different calibre to gauge resulting performance.
• Launching a new product? Ask what possibly could go wrong, suggests consultant John Dodds. Often the worst happens – and it’s totally predictable.
• https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/management/article-why-promotions-go-awry/