Butts in seats….
Does being a long-term employee automatically make a person a “shoe in” for an upper level management position? The short answer….NO.
It blows my mind how many long term employees I speak to who say they “deserve” THE seat because they’ve been there so long and know everything about everything. If they knew everything about everything why were they not in the seat sooner? Why did they get passed over time and time again? I’ll tell you why. They were not ready. Or they are not the right person for the role.
What’s even more mind blowing is when an owner puts someone in a seat because they are a last resort. That tells me a lot about the current condition of the business and even more about the engagement from above.
Listen. If you’re an owner and you are not engaged in your business, or you leave it to someone else to run, then you better have sensational communication skills or a really amazing plan that is easy to follow and leaves no room for “artistic impression”. And if you are an employee who has been repeatedly passed over for promotions and finally get that seat because there is nobody better, then you really need to look in the mirror and decide if this is what you really want to do. I’m just being real here. No fluff. No smoke.
I’ll speak to the employee first.
Being in a position for a long time does not make a leader. It makes an employee who has been in a position for a long time. I’m not saying that there aren’t anomalies out there, shining stars that just haven’t had a chance, but they are few and far between. If you truly want to become a good leader and own that position, then learn from those before you and hone your skills. Better yourself. Make it impossible for the ownership team to not notice you. And for heavens sake - apply for the position. Don’t just sit there expecting it to fall into your lap and then get disappointed when it doesn’t. And furthermore, be the consummate team player. Even if you don’t get the position. Take a day or two to settle yourself, determine if you want to stay on, and if you do, buy in and bear down. There is nothing more frustrating for a new manager than having an existing employee, with their nose out of joint, acting out and trying to make things even more difficult for them. Get on with it. You’ll look better in the end and be happier too.
To the owners out there who promote for the sake of promoting because you need someone in the seat.
What are you doing? Do you not have a contingency plan for your business? Are you that disassociated from it? If so, what are you doing and why are you doing it? Get involved or get out. Know your people. Know where you want your business to go. Having the wrong person in the wrong seat is a disaster waiting to happen. Sooner or later it will rear it’s ugly head and you have no one to blame but yourself. It’s your business! You own it, good, bad, or otherwise.
Strategic planning and knowing who you are in business is absolutely critical. It is the difference between being successful and happy versus struggling and angry. Strategic plans take time, days in fact, if they are done right. You cannot sit down in a day and develop a definitive, workable plan. That’s impossible. Strategic plans involve delving into previous years operations, competitive analysis, people planning, succession planning, and above all knowing WHO you are and where you want to go. I mean really know it. You don’t need long-winded, multi-sentence, core value statements. You need to know why you are doing what you are doing. Once you have this figured out, then and only then, do you start formulating what you want to see in each seat. You create your vision and build your team around that purpose. They will drive it if you give them the road map and have the right person behind the wheel.
The train is leaving the station. You cannot be half way on.