Executive Tools
- Executive Summary
- Self Assessment Checklist
Expert Practices Articles
- Management Development Overview
- Principles of Development
- Creating Individual Developmental Plans
- Ten Steps to a 9+ Management Team
- Developing a Second-in-Command
- How to Conduct Developmental One-to-Ones
- Coaching Resistors and Mediocre Performers
- Developing the CEO Position
- Managing the Managerial Work Mix
- Better Teams Through Better Meetings
- Avoiding the Developmental Potholes
Case Histories
Tools & Analysis
- One-to-One Rating Form
- Self Assessment Checklist
Book List: Management Development
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CEO Best Practice: Management Development
Executive Summary
- Management Development Overview
- Principles of Development
- Creating Individual Developmental Plans
- Ten Steps to a 9+ Management Team
- Developing a Second-in-Command
- How to Conduct Developmental One-to-Ones
- Coaching Resistors and Mediocre Performers
- Developing the CEO Position
- Managing the Managerial Work Mix
- Better Teams Through Better Meetings
- Avoiding the Developmental Potholes
Management Development Overview
Making people development a strategic priority offers a number
of benefits, including:
- Ability to attract and retain talent
- Improved "CEO return on investment"
- Increased ability to adapt to change
- Competitive advantage that compounds itself every year
Change is running rampant through everyone's industry and marketplace.
The companies with strong management teams will face the change
and thrive on it. They will use it to differentiate themselves and
gain a position of market leadership, while other companies struggle
to keep up.
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Principles of Development
Thomson identifies the fundamental principles of management development
that apply to companies of all shapes and sizes:
- People development is the CEO's job.
- Management development must be a priority.
- People development must become part of the culture.
- Growing people requires change.
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Creating Individual Developmental Plans
Growing your managers requires a customized developmental plan
for each manager. Thomson outlines five essential steps for creating
individual developmental plans:
- Introduce the idea of a developmental plan.
- Identify the developmental priorities.
- Create the action plan.
- Conduct monthly progress meetings.
- Have your key managers engage in this process with their people.
To help implement the plan:
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Ten Steps to a 9+ Management Team
To survive and thrive in a digital world, says TEC speaker and
team building expert Lawrence King, you need a top-notch management
team. He offers a ten-step process for developing a world-class
management team:
- Profile the winning team.
- Assess your current team.
- Identify your role on the team.
- Identify your personal barriers to building a 9+ team.
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Developing a Second-in-Command
When done properly, says TEC speaker Steve Coffey, bringing on
a #2 person can provide a host of benefits to the CEO, set the stage
for a stronger management team and help propel the business to a
new level of growth. The process, however, is fraught with potential
pitfalls. Before hiring or promoting anyone to a position of second
in command, ask:
- How will the company be different with a #2 in place?
- What is not happening that would be improved with a #2?
- What, specifically, do I expect from a #2?
- What will a new executive provide that the current management
team doesn't? Why?
- How will my life be different with a #2? What will change for
me personally?
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How to Conduct Developmental One-to-Ones
A former Vistage chair, King firmly believes in the power of one-to-ones
as developmental tools. Accordingly, he strongly recommends that
CEOs meet with each direct report for a monthly one-to-one meeting.
To conduct effective one-to-ones with your direct reports, King
recommends a four-step process:
- Schedule your one-to-one meetings in indelible ink. Schedule
one hour per month of quality, protected time with each direct
report. Set up the meetings six months to a year out and write
them in indelible ink.
- Work the executive's agenda, not yours. Direct reports must
prepare an agenda for each one-to-one that:
- Contains four to eight items
- Focuses at least 25 percent on strategy and long-term developmental
issues
- Contains at least one opportunity
- Listen, listen, listen. In the one-to-one, let the direct report
do 80 percent of the talking. With an 80/20 split, the direct
report will perceive the "air time" as just about equal.
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Coaching Resistors and Mediocre Performers
To help turn mediocre managers into quality performers, King recommends
the following steps:
- Create a 90-day developmental plan with the under-performing
manager.
- Meet with the manager on a weekly basis to review progress.
- Provide feedback, coaching and mentoring as needed.
- Provide praise and recognition for improved performance.
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Developing the CEO Position
"The best candidates combine solid business thinking, personal
integrity, an ability to analyze problems and who also want to work
with others," says Zaepfel. "They should be able to speak
for your customers so the focus stays on doing everything possible
to give people what they want now and in the future."
Other advice:
- Look for a track record. "Broaden your candidate search
to include at least one CEO or senior executive who have expanded
their own business by at least two or three times," Zaepfel
says.
- Appeal to a candidate's sense of challenge. The challenge of
serving on a board and helping a business grow isn't so very different
from building your own business. Seek out people who respond enthusiastically
to the intellectual challenge of bringing a company to a higher
level of achievement and success.
- Choose someone who's confidential by profession. Attorneys,
accountants and recruiters are frequently a wise choice as advisory
board candidates -- both because of their experience and knowledge,
and because they're bound by their positions to confidentiality.
- To locate potential board members who are "the right fit,"
the TEC experts suggest the following guidelines:
- Match strategic goals with strategic individuals. Are your expansion
plans likely to involve new initiatives in human resources, technology
issues, raising capital, etc.? Knowing your long-range goals helps
guide you toward the type of people with experience and knowledge
in these areas.
- Don't be afraid to ask for help. If your own search doesn't
prove fruitful, consider going to a professional recruiter. They'll
conduct an assessment of your company and suggest candidates who
will likely make a good match.
- Good talent doesn't come cheap. You don't want to choose someone
who's in it just for the money, but remember that men and women
with proven experience and skills expect to be reasonably compensated
for their time and efforts on your behalf.
- One director can lead to another. So you've landed an outstanding
individual to serve on your board. "The next logical step
is asking this person for other recommendations," Lapides
says. "A valuable board member brings his or her own network
of contacts and is likely to know others who specialize in areas
you're interested in."
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Managing the Managerial Work Mix
Three factors play an essential role in managerial success:
- Have the right person in the right job.
- Make sure the manager/leader understands the key elements of
the job.
- Make sure the manager/leader does the right work.
What is the right kind of work for a manager/leader? According
to TEC speaker Bill Scherer, all managers and supervisors engage
in three different kinds of work:
- Administrative work. The paper-processing, approving and checking
that comes with the job.
- Operating work. Activities that relate directly to the work
the supervisor oversees.
- Managing work. This includes five broad categories:
- Planning
- Leading
- Organizing
- Controlling
- Motivating
The key to success is making sure your manager/leaders spend an
appropriate amount of time in each area. Although he hasn't found
the perfect formula for allocating time between operating and managing
work, Scherer offers the following guidelines:
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Better Teams Through Better Meetings
According to King, meetings offer a powerful tool for developing
your management team. You can dramatically increase the quality
of your meetings by understanding four fundamental principles:
- Quality. Go for quality, not quantity. If you can't identify
a specific outcome from a meeting and why it adds value, cancel
the meeting.
- Structure. Never conduct a meeting without some type of structure.
Meetings without structure give meetings a bad name.
- Ownership. In successful meetings, someone takes ownership
for the process and the outcome.
- Variety. To keep meetings fresh and interesting, break up the
routine every once in a while. Use techniques such as brainstorming,
role-play and breakout groups to raise energy levels and promote
creativity.
To turn your management team meetings into crisp, fast-paced sessions
that accomplish meaningful outcomes, King recommends the following
steps:
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Avoiding the Developmental Potholes
To avoid derailing your management development efforts, watch out
for these common mistakes:
- Failure to communicate expectations.
- Failure to make people development a priority.
- Unrealistic expectations.
- Inappropriate leadership style.
- Failure to get buy-in.
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