.
Positioning Yourself
forSuccess
In the previous two chapters, we’ve looked at the emotional and interper-
sonal skills you’ll have to draw on to genuinely motivate your employees.
But leadership is about more than having followers; you need somewhere
to go. What does success look like for you—and for your team? How will
you defi ne that ultimate objective? As a manager, you need to think criti-
cally about your relationship to your organization’s overall strategy and the
opportunities you and your team stand to take advantage of.
In this chapter, we’ll talk about shifting your mindset to think differ-
ently about success in your new role. You’ll also learn about how to connect
your own objectives and your team’s goals with the organization’s strategy,
and how to identify and mitigate the risks that may stand in your way.
Redefi ning success
As you transition from individual contributor to manager, you’ll view prob-
lems and measure success in new ways. Your personal performance is no
56Develop a Leader Mindset
longer the be-all and end-all: your primary responsibility now is getting
things done through others. From this perspective, success is built on:
• Clearly defi ning expectations for your team members
• Meeting your team’s targets and objectives
• Furthering the company’s objectives through your group’s
achievements
• Honing your direct reports’ skills and managing their tasks
effectively
In other words, you succeed only when your group succeeds. Over time,
you’ll learn to fi nd your team’s accomplishments as satisfying as your own
used to be. But it may take some time to achieve this sense of satisfaction,
because you’re further removed from the actual work than you were. As a
result, your relationship to the outcome may feel distant, ambiguous, or
even unrecognized. Coaching an employee may take months or even years
to truly pay off. No one outside your team may ever see your amazing tech-
nique for running meetings. And when it comes to your unit’s accomplish-
ments, you’ll rarely get the same instant gratifi cation you got in the past
with a successful outcome that was clearly your doing.
How can you still feel gratifi cation under these changed conditions?
Many managers learn to enjoy:
• Seeing and helping other people succeed and thrive in the
workplace
• Discovering that they can be effective coaches who bring out the
best in others
• Seeing themselves adapt to their new identity and master new
responsibilities
• Developing compelling strategies and plans to achieve business
targets
• Celebrating the success of your team when they meet their
commitments
Positioning Yourself for Success57
Understanding your organization’s strategy
As part of managing your team, you need to understand how you fi t into
the bigger picture. Your organization has an overarching plan for develop-
ing its competitive advantage, likely served by a series of cascading goals
for business units and individuals. In chapter 15, “Strategy: A Primer,”
you’ll learn more about how such strategies are created, but for now it’s
only important to consider the expectations for your performance. As a
manager, you work through your employees to support the company’s over-
all plan; your own strategies and goals must align with the priorities set
from above. So as you make your own plans, clarify what you’re supposed
to be delivering and how you’re supposed to do it.
Step 1: Gather information about your strategic objectives
In addition to reviewing any strategy documentation that your team, di-
vision, or organization may have, begin with a “listening tour”—a series
of conversations with key fi gures in your organization that will help you
clarify its strategic objectives. It’s obviously important to interview your
boss, but you also want to understand the perspectives of other leaders in
your group or organization.
But don’t just look up for answers. Consider coworkers below or lateral
to you. You also want to hear from people with insight who may not have
positional power to act on their ideas, but they will have a good read on
what’s really going on. Who’s been at the company for a long time? Who’s
worked closely with the current leadership? Who recently transferred from
a company that went through a similar change process? For example, a
peer in R&D might have niche knowledge about how technology in your
fi eld is likely to evolve, while someone in market research may have the
most up-to-date information about how your customer base is evolving.
Use the sample language in the box “Defi ning strategic objectives” as a
template for these conversations.
As you conduct these conversations, press for clarity and specifi city. “I
hear you saying that innovation is a priority for my team. Where would you
like to see us focus?” If open-ended questions aren’t getting you answers,
58Develop a Leader Mindset
Defi ning strategic objectives
YOUR ORGANIZATION
• “What are the company’s major strategic objectives right now?”
• “What are the major needs/challenges/opportunities we’re facing
over the next six months? Year? In the long term?”
• “I’m hearing that     is our primary priority right now, and that
long term we’re preparing for     . Am I reading the landscape
right? What am I missing?”
YOUR TEAM
• “How do you see my team fi tting into this picture?”
• “What are your top priorities for my group? What are the big
needs/challenges/opportunities you’d like to see us tackle in the
next six months? Year? In the long term?”
• “I’d like to see my team do       and      . What are your
thoughts?”
YOU
• “What role would you like to see me play in carrying out this
strategy?”
• “What are the major needs/challenges/opportunities you’d like to
see me take on in the next six months? Year? In the long term?”
• “I think I’d be most useful doing      and     . What are your
thoughts?”
• (With your boss or key peers) “What are your major objectives
right now within the organization? How can I support them?”
Positioning Yourself for Success59
offer limited choices: “I think there’s a lot of opportunity to innovate with
the way we conduct client relations and with our inventory technology.
Where would you like us to focus?”
Refl ecting on your conversations, note the gaps and contradictions
in what you’re hearing. Do different people emphasize different strategic
goals? Is your supervisor tasking you with projects that don’t match the
priorities she’s defi ned? If you can, press to fi gure out where these inconsis-
tencies are coming from: “How do you see this special assignment support-
ing the overall direction you’ve sketched for my department?”
Step 2: Analyze risk in your strategic objectives
Once you’ve identifi ed the goals and opportunities in front of you, also
review all the information you’ve gathered and ask where the biggest
risks are:
• What are the major sources of uncertainty in your team’s future?
• What external risks can you identify? Think about categories like
funding; competition and confl ict with other units in the com-
pany; the status of your patrons or protectors within the company;
and potential reorganization.
• What internal risks can you identify? Think about upcoming per-
sonnel changes, team dynamics, and offi ce politics.
Filter everything you’re learning through a more personal question, as
well: What will it take for you to be successful in your role? This isn’t van-
ity on your part. Now that you’re a leader, your bosses expect you to be a
strategic thinker, and that means learning to evaluate the risks and oppor-
tunities that you personally must navigate. Ask yourself these questions:
• What are the major sources of uncertainty in your own future?
• What professional risks to your success can you identify? Think
about categories like your professional goals; your experience,
training, and accreditation; your network, especially within
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