Blind Spot #9 Not Building the Bench

Today’s blind spot is failure to build the bench. We’re so focused on what does it take to succeed at my job. I want to be the best that I can be, so I am recognised, I feel good about myself, but I’m also putting myself in line for promotion. We all know that. We as leaders do that, and so do our people.

Here’s a problem with the bench. 63% of our executives are going to be retiring in the next 10 years, and we have about 80odd percent of the millennials coming in who are going to be managers. So, in the next 10 years, we’re going to have a massive people change within our executive ranks. The question is, are you ready?

Here’s the blind spot. Write down the names of your management and your names and alongside write down who would take their job if they were to resign tomorrow. What happens if they resign tomorrow? Who would take their place? Who would be competent enough? If you don’t know or you don’t have good answers, you have a blind spot. I think you should be able to write down every executive’s name and then who would take their spot. Here are some of the things that we want to make sure we’re looking for at each role within our company. What are the skills, experiences, and results somebody must have to succeed at their current role? Once they know that, then they also would by default, because you’re doing it for every role … If I was career pathing to the next role, I would also be able to see in a published manner what are the skills, experiences, and results it would take to succeed at any given role.

So, if I was here, and I absolutely wanted this job, it’s not objective. It’s not subjective. I would say I want the experiences necessary here. I would ask my leader, “Could you delegate? Could you coach? Could you train me, yes, on how to be great here, but also how to be ready for this job, because, when that job comes open, I want you to feel good about it that I have those skills, those experiences, and therefore probably, I will have the results.”

When you do that, you’ll find that your people will fly. They want to be part of the organisation, and, therefore, you will always flourish regardless of who leaves today or tomorrow.

If you want to know more about these blind spots, how to uncover them and what to do about them or you are interested in having a free assessment of your business then get in touch.

Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce