WILDCAT ONE NEWSLETTER

TROUBLESHOOTER NEWSLETTER: WINTER 06

Welcome to Wildcat One's Troubleshooter newsletter. In this edition:

TRADE SECRETS - CAREER MANAGEMENT

How do you keep and incentivise key people who won't necessarily make it to the top?

  1. Be honest and constructive in your feedback about where your people are now and the likelihood of them getting to where they want to be

  2. Draw up a realistic development programme of what is achievable over an agreed timescale – this may not simply be a case of upward progression

  3. Set goals and targets and regularly review progress against these

  4. Expectation management at an early stage is important - be realistic about what aspirations are really achievable in relation to timescale, skill sets and opportunity. Few organisations can guarantee definitive career paths now, so people may have to be more flexible in achieving their aspirations

  5. Don't assume that all your managers want to be MD - some may think it's expected of them but won't actually want to make the sacrifices involved

  6. Consider whether executive coaching could have a role to play in career management, i.e. helping to identify and develop necessary skills, whilst exploring aspirations and how (else) these might be achieved

  7. Could your organisation recognise career progression in other ways? Sometimes the route to senior management is seen as the default option because there are no apparent alternatives for recognising the individual’s value.

  8. Don't let tradition and convention cloud your creativity - competition for talent is intense, so your thinking should be too

  9. It is usually much more expensive to bring new talent into the organisation than it is to retain those you already have – especially at more senior levels. Common sense suggests it’s about realising the value of the investment you’ve already made, although honesty is the best policy if you’re to avoid disillusionment and ‘present in body but not in mind’ syndrome

NEWS DIGEST

Meekest and Mightiest make worst leaders

Too much assertiveness - or not enough - are the traits most likely to stop someone from becoming a great leader, according to Stanford Graduate School of Business. Organizational behaviour experts Frank Flynn and Daniel Ames found the social costs of in-your-face management - hurt feelings and damaged relationships - were seen to override the positive aspects of the Mighty's ability to get the job done. Conversely, the inability of the Meek to move projects along and achieve goals was what stuck in people’s minds, not their ability to preserve social harmony. Moderate assertiveness is best, plus plenty of charisma, intelligence, drive and conscientiousness. “The analogy we use is that assertiveness is like salt in a sauce: Too much spoils the dish, but too little is equally distracting,” Flynn says.. »

Wildcat's view: Although the culture of an organisation has much to do with overall management styles, this does seem like common sense. Whilst some work environments are not for the ‘shrinking violet’, there is no excuse for steamroller management. On the other hand, weak and wet is unlikely to get results. A fair and balanced approach is generally best - oh, as well as all that leadership stuff!

Silence derails mission-critical projects

Fact-free planning, skirting around priorities and being afraid to admit to problems are three of the five critical failures that undermine major business initiatives. The Silence Fails study by US training company VitalSmarts and professional services firm The Concours Group found that conversations about five key issues were routinely avoided, leading to failure in 85% of product launches, restructures, IT projects and other initiatives. 'Project chicken' and 'absent without leave sponsors' - unchallenged lack of support from leaders and team members - were the other two stumbling blocks. "Most senior leaders don't realise the full impact of not addressing these often overlooked human elements until it's too late," said study co-sponsor Andy Shimberg.»

Wildcat's view: There is nothing more deafening than a loaded silence. The metaphor that springs to mind is that of everyone trying to ignore the elephant in the middle of the room. Avoidance of key priorities and failing to highlight problems, for whatever reason, can have a serious impact on the ultimate success of a project. Additionally, promising projects can be completely stalled by the sponsor who goes AWOL and the project leader who fails to give a lead – perhaps ‘project chicken’ alludes to the headless variety.

Rehearsing the world of work in 2016

Businesses that adopt a flexible approach to information ownership and where and when work takes place will be best placed to cope with organisational change over the next ten years, according to the Orange Future Enterprise coalition. The telecoms-backed think tank said business change was happening at its fastest rate since the industrial revolution and would create four distinct future scenarios, dubbed 'Disciples of the Cloud', 'Electronic Cottages', 'Replicants' and 'Mutual Worlds', where businesses operate as cooperatives of independent contractors and intellectual property is owned by workers. "The challenge is asserting some control so businesses can use the situation to their advantage," said OFEc founder Robert Ainger.»

Wildcat's view: I think we probably all know ‘disciples of the clouds’ types! Seriously though, scenario planning is a powerful technique for organisations - helping them to envision potential futures, the implications for their industries/businesses and how they might respond to the potential challenges and opportunities alike. The flexibility inherent in this process also helps counter the dreaded ‘planners droop’ - often the result of more traditional long range planning approaches, which become out of date quickly in fast moving, complex business environments.

WILDCAT ONE NEWS

Coaching Section Added to Wildcat One Website

Wildcat One has significant expertise in coaching. Find out more in our new section.

Avert merger disaster by ensuring all the pieces fit
The Scotsman, 18 October 2006
A staggering 70 per cent of mergers and acquisitions typically fail to deliver the synergies and shareholder value they promised - an alarming and expensive margin of error which is attributed variously to poor systems integration, clashing egos, flawed intentions, insufficient planning and bad - or non- existent - communication.

Leap of Faith into Soft Skills Development (PDF)
Scotland on Sunday, 8 August 2006

Managers are getting in touch with their feelings to get ahead according to executive coaching specialist Wildcat One.

Without clear objectives it can all end in tears (PDF)
Press and Journal, 23 February 2006

"Roughly two-thirds of mergers and acquisitions historically fail to achieve the benefits they expected - and that's a big margin of error," says Pat Tomlin, director of M & A integration specialist and troubleshooting consultancy Wildcat One.

View from the icecap

Wildcat One was delighted to support Karen Darke's successful attempt to become the first paralysed woman to ski across the Greenland icecap. Our pictures are from her amazing journey, which involved a 600km marathon on a special "sit-ski" in temperatures of -30°C and below.

First Camp, Through the Tent Flaps

Across the Ice, Icy Landscapes

From left to right. Top: First Camp, Through the Tent Flaps
Bottom: Across the Ice, Icy Landscapes

AND FINALLY…

More tea..?

Too much tea is crippling the nation's productivity, according to new research. A staggering 53% of respondents to printing group Lexmark's survey admitted spending more time making a brew than on business. In fact the average British worker wastes nearly a quarter (22%) of the working day making tea, gossiping and planning for their next holiday. Other distractions include surfing the internet (51%) and looking for a new job (11%). As a result, a fifth of British office workers now say they work just as productively at home. Smashing. Cuppa, anyone..? »