Today's Reading
I remember the day I thought some of that guidance might come—one day about 25 years ago, when the CEO called me into his office unexpectedly.
I had just started my career in management and was working as a sales manager for a software technology start-up in Silicon Valley. It was a great time to be in technology sales and a great time for start-ups—the heart of the dotcom run-up. With Y2K fears at their frenzied peak, breakthrough technologies being developed and productized, and new companies being formed daily in dorm rooms and coffee shops, there was a lot going on in that time and place in the technology world.
In the CEO's office already sat three additional members of his executive team, awaiting my arrival. This was going to be either really good or really bad! One of the executives shared that our company's senior sales leader was leaving to go to another start-up called "Gogle"—that's really what he said...Gogle! He wondered out loud why any person in their right mind would leave our great start-up for that little, oddly named company. (Last I heard that departing leader was living on an island somewhere—his island!)
The executive leaders had called me into the office, hoping I would consider taking over that significant leadership role in our organization. The role meant that I would not only join the senior executive team in leading the sales and support teams, but also take responsibility for all customer relationships across multiple geographies. I was flattered and excited, understandably nervous. Having never led such a large organization with multiple teams before, I asked what I'd need to do to be successful.
Those top executives collectively looked me in the eye and spent the next several hours sharing the specifics of the thoughtful plan they had jointly crafted specifically with my success and the success of the organization in mind. It included taking an assessment geared toward helping determine my strengths and weaknesses as a leader, as well as following a thorough development plan to help me grow in my new role. They had set aside a significant budget for classes and coaching I might need as I learned and crafted my skills as a world-class leader.
And best of all, each of them committed to taking personal interest in my success by setting aside time each week to mentor me. The intent of the mentoring was to provide guidance and a venue for open dialogue, and to help me learn from mistakes they had made or seen in the past. All this came with a generous pay package and an equity position, along with an all-expenses-paid trip with my wife to Tahiti to consider their offer.
I gave them each a big bear hug and left the office excited about what the future would hold.
Unfortunately, it didn't really happen that way.
These senior executives really did call me into the office and offer me the job that day. But there was no personally crafted plan and no assessment to gauge my readiness. There were no resources set aside to help me learn and grow, and definitely no commitment to meet with me and mentor me as I took on this role. The stories of the mistakes they made were never shared, and I was left to figure the job out on my own.
In response to my inquiry regarding how to be successful, one of them said, "It's really not that hard. Your team is selling more than all the other teams. Just have every team do what they do, and we'll be in great shape."
That was the extent of the training and coaching I received. So, armed with that minimal guidance—and that guidance alone—I was left to flounder through my first significant leadership role.
As a result of the lack of direction and support, and my "trial and error" approach to leadership, I made a lot of mistakes as a new leader. I cringe to think that most of those early errors could have been avoided, had I been offered even the most basic guidance. Some of the mistakes I made (and this is just a small sampling) include allowing confusion to reign in my organization by not being clearer about purpose and priorities; failing to admit my mistakes and apologize when I made them; failing to trust the people who worked for me to do their jobs; running truly awful meetings; hiring too fast and firing too slow; and failing to give honest and direct feedback.
But I wasn't all bad. There were two things I did right, early and often throughout my career as a leader, that thankfully prevented even more errors. The first was to actively seek out guidance from leaders I respected. The guidance I received, both on things I should do as a leader and things I shouldn't do, often came in the form of stories. These stories brought the coaching to life, helping me grasp the importance of the guidance and how it might be applied to the teams I was leading. They also planted the seed that would one day grow into an idea for a book—this book.
...
