Find the Right Manager
Suppose that you will not be allowed to hire any new people for the next five years. Would you rethink how you lead the people you have now? If no new blood was allowed to enter your organization, could you continue to grow and prosper? You bet!
If you face a true moratorium on hiring, I believe you would begin discovering some diamonds in the rough. You will be amazed at the untapped potential in your people if you look at them through different eyes and fully own the long reach you have into their lives.
Your top performers might look at management positions as a way to move up in the organization. There's no doubt that top performers deserve to be rewarded. But, moving them into management positions might not be the best thing for the individual or the organization. The mistaken notion is that managers are overpaid and under worked. That's why team members often refer to promotions as, "retiring into management."
You might not have a managerial candidate chomping at the bit, even though you need a manager. In that case, you need to go out looking. Henry Ford said, "Asking who ought to be the boss is like asking who ought to be the tenor in the quartet. Obviously, the man who can sing tenor." To determine who has the most potential based upon peer respect, go directly to team members and ask, "To whom do you take your problems if your manager isn't around?"
You’re likely to discover that you have a highly respected and well-qualified individual right under your nose--someone who is already demonstrating good coaching and people building abilities.
Your leadership development process should include the following three steps:
Present the realities of managing: Sit down with anyone who is a potential leader and make it clear that managing is not easy. In fact, it is much harder and more challenging than anything he or she has done. If you teach the lesson well, many candidates for management positions will excuse themselves and reconsider the position in which they’ve found success.
Provide opportunities to show management capabilities: If the candidate still thinks that she or he has leadership potential, make temporary assignments that will place the candidate in a typical management situation. Make sure the assignment simulates a challenge that real leaders must regularly deal with. The way he or she handles the assignment will demonstrate the candidate's management capabilities to both of you.
Evaluate progress: If your company has a management development program, your candidate is likely to be enrolled by now. Evaluate his or her progress in regularly scheduled review sessions. Have the potential manager complete a manager's evaluation checklist that you work out together. More than anything else, keep monitoring his or her continuing interest in making the move to management.
"A person out of place in his or her vocation is only half a person."
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