Manager turnaround
by Miki SaxonI received an email last weekend that I want to share with you; obviously, the names and any identifying information have been changed.
Hi Miki, I’m at my wits end and writing you is pretty much my last resort. We’ve been out of touch for several years, so I don’t know if you remember me, but it was really you who taught me how to manage when I first became a manager way back in ’99 and I’ve followed and built on that ever since, plus the info in your blog has given me yet more insights over the last 18 months.
I believe that it’s those skills, or MAP as you now call it, that helped me build my reputation as a manager whose group (department, now) always had the lowest turnover in every company I’ve worked for, and the main reason I was hired into my current position as director of engr. But I don’t think I can stay.
My wife is aghast at the idea, and I’m not happy about it, but I’ve been here nearly a year, and things aren’t improving. The company is fantastic and well positioned and the CEO and other sr execs are great, but as I said to my wife, I’m really being forced to quit over religious differences-my boss thinks she’s God and I don’t (forgive me, I’m trying to keep my sense of humor).
I made sure that culture was a main component in all the interviews with my boss and everyone else, including the CEO and it seemed to be a perfect match.
When I asked Jeana, the engr vp, why the last director left, she said that turnover was extremely high and that director wasn’t able to reverse it. She said that my reputation for being able to both hire and keep a stable organization was a large part of my attraction. It was subtle, but in all our discussions she made it sound as if my predecessor was to blame for the turnover.
As I’m sure you’ve already figured out, the problem is Jeana, who doesn’t walk her talk. In a large nutshell, here’s a sample of the kind of stuff she does.
- She makes casual comments to my developers that are actually disparaging in one way or another and then says she was only joking when I call her on it.
- She’s an engr by training and makes suggestions that make no sense, but because she’s the vp everyone thinks they should listen to her.
- She doesn’t discuss, she states, and I’m supposed to agree because she “knows.”
- She’s read lots of books on culture and leadership, is always quoting them, but doesn’t seem to realize that she’s not practicing them.
Now, I’ve believed in open communication since the days when you first instilled it in my then-company’s culture and practiced it and seen it in action since, so I applied it in every way I knew to get her to recognize the problems she’s causing and that she need’s to walk what she talks.
But no matter what I say, or what examples I offer, she merely explains that I don’t understand, but with patience and her as an example my own management skills will increase to the point that I can accomplish what I was brought in to do. Jeana says that’s been the problem with all the directors since she was promoted, none of us have been willing to follow her lead and improve our skills, so she’s forced to do both jobs, director and vp. I’ve asked around, and it seems that this “god” complex started with her promotion.
So, that’s it, Miki, I still like her, but what else can I do? I have a bit of rope left and am more than willing to try anything you dream up.
Yours with high hopes,
Ben
I remembered Ben vividly and on the one hand was delighted to be back in touch with him, but on the other, being the “last resort” for anything is daunting, to say the least, particularly in the case of a manager this talented.
I immediately called and we arrange a time to talk; strategizing something this complicated isn’t fit for an email exchange.
Continued tomorrow…
