The Leading Edge: Preventing a Key Leader from Career Derailment

This post originally appeared on the John Maxwell team blog.

By Michael Todd Bauer, certified John Maxwell team coach, speaker and trainer.

John was a Vice President of Finance with years of exceptional vision and achievement working in a small firm, until about six months ago, when the organization made another leap in growth and his responsibilities doubled. He could produce results while his department remained small, but as the organization grew so did his need to supervise a larger team, and he started to experience difficulties as a leader. With an attitude that he could do it all himself, he frequently excluded talented team members from rising to the challenges they faced. He had difficulties delegating projects and was regularly frustrated, which began to make him volatile and disrespectful. His direct reports began to leave the company.

We know that executive coaching works best when you have someone who is open to personal and professional growth and who learns to embrace change.

I frequently get phone calls from individuals who are in senior leadership roles and are frustrated by the behaviors of another executive or manager. The phone calls are very similar in tone. Here are the most common concerns I hear:

He is too insensitive or abrasive.

She is overambitious or competitive.

He is volatile, unpredictable, angry and folds when stressed.

She is unable to adapt to the changing pace of our company.

He is unable to manage conflict in a constructive manner.

She is overly dependent on one skill or her natural talent.

He frequently leaves staff waiting because of unfulfilled promises.

She frequently undermines her staff.

He operates as if everyone in the building can read his mind.

She’s not willing to listen or to personally grow herself.

A simple definition of derailment is when a leader doesn’t reach his or her full potential and the leader’s behaviors start to impact their organization.

Leaders who experience derailment frequently have limited self-awareness. They lack the ability to influence and therefore act from a position of authority, and they can be inflexible while they refuse to change behaviors.

The question is: How do you approach a key underperforming employee?

The choices often are to terminate the person, send them to an employee assistance specialist, or to provide executive coaching. We know that there are potentially staggering costs when you terminate a key person including exit costs, as well as recruiting, hiring, and training costs. A cascade of changes within the organization can create disruption and dissatisfaction at multiple levels, causing a number of employees to leave along with the leader.

Together, John and I agreed on the importance of having a solid assessment with multiple components. We developed a plan that included a thorough life and career assessment that explored his personal and work history, his values, attitudes, aspirations, and long-term goals. Our plan included a day where I could shadow him and observe his interactions with his direct reports and with senior leadership. I included structured interviews and sought honest feedback from his colleagues. Finally, our plan included having John complete a set of computer-based business inventories.

John and I spent multiple sessions breaking down all the information gathered. We identified his key strengths and explored the places where the derailment seemed to begin. We clarified his motivations for making changes as well as any resistances to it. We developed a blueprint for action that detailed his goals and objectives for the next 12 months. Finally, we looked for change partners; individuals that were willing and able to be supportive to him.

Through executive coaching, John discovered that he could handle increased responsibilities as the organization expanded. Executive coaching, however, can often lead to unexpected changes. After delving deep into his own ambitions, John discovered new career dreams and decided to leave the organization to follow them. Today, he is thriving in his own business and he continues to invest in his growth to prevent derailment in his future.

About Michael:

Michael Todd Bauer is the president of Creative Leading LLC and a Certified Independent Executive Coach, Trainer and Speaker with the John Maxwell Team. He is passionate about assisting individuals and organizations who are struggling to meet their strategic goals because of ineffective leadership and unhealthy cultures.

“My goal is to help individuals and organizations reframe and redefine leadership so that they can transform their organizations into dynamic, exciting places to create amazing results.”