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A Delta psychologist
first conferred with
Bob's boss about the
issues of concern and
the urgency of the
situation. The
psychologist then met
with Bob for an
orientation and to
solicit thoughts on his
career purpose, the
current circumstances
and the issues raised by
his boss.
It was determined that
the critical "change"
issues were as follows:
(1) become a more
effective coach and
mentor to field
professionals and
relinquish control of
decisions that they
should be making
independently and (2)
become more supportive
and responsive in
executing new programs
(to which he and his
peers agree).
While the boss was clear
on the issues, Bob was
rather vague. He did
know that he was not
viewed positively by his
corporate peers and his
boss' peers, and that
his job might be in
jeopardy. However, he
was unsure about the
bases of their negative
perceptions.
To help Bob get needed
insight, he was
interviewed further and
given various
assessments to
understand his
leadership attitudes and
preferences. A
competencies based (360°
feedback) assessment was
also completed. The 360°
assessment included
interviews with selected
people who provided
real-time input to
complement ratings on
his leadership and
communication skills.
These assessment
vehicles enabled Bob to
gain the following
insights about himself:
(1) excess needs to
control events and
maintain his status as
the key decision-maker,
and extreme fear of
being cited for
mistakes, made him
reluctant to develop and
empower his people, and
(2) guardedness and
difficulty engaging in
conflictual discussions
with peers resulted in a
tendency to withhold
dissenting opinions, nod
his head in agreement
and then (passively)
resist following through
to execute new programs.
Related competency
weaknesses on the 360°
assessment were feedback
and coaching, welcoming
change, handling
disagreement and
accountability.
Having accepted the
above insights after a
few sessions to work
through defensiveness
and chagrin, Bob began
to discover more
effective strategies and
benefits for changing
his practices. He next
set goals and developed
action plans to turn
things around and shared
his action strategies
with his boss. Bob also
asked his boss to be
more timely and direct
in providing
progress-related
feedback, and to support
him in allowing his
people to make mistakes
and learn from them.
Action plans were
constructed to help Bob
overcome emotional
obstacles and achieve
both his improvement and
business goals. For
example, more field time
coaching his people, and
negotiating (and
managing) their
preferred levels of
autonomy and learning
needs, helped Bob to get
over his controlling
tendencies and fears of
being blamed for
mistakes. This strategy
also enabled him to
increase his status due
to increased customer
and staff satisfaction
and overall production. |
