I frequently get calls similar to the following. (If I’ve told this story in the past forgive me, but it illustrates my point with great clarity.)

A CEO I know called to rant about having to terminate her marketing VP.

When I asked why she said that in addition to being dissatisfied with his work she’d found out that his degree was in history, not marketing, as he claimed. She said that if she’d known about the degree she would never have hired him.

This was strange, since I know the VP, his resume simply says “BA University of X” and he has over ten years of experience.

When I asked why she did hire him she said that he’d been in marketing his whole career, had a reputation for doing very creative work, knew her industry and market and his references were fantastic. She ended the description by saying that if she’d know his BA was in history, not marketing, she never would have hired him.

When I suggested that maybe something else was going on, she vehemently told me that if he had a marketing degree he would know what he was doing.

Think about it, here’s a guy known for his creativity, with a great reputation in marketing, excellent references, knows the industry and market, but can’t perform because his ten-year-old degree wasn’t in marketing—I don’t think so.

The key change here is one of culture and management—the culture the CEO created and her management of him—not a decade-old college major fudged by omission. And note that she didn’t think it important enough to explore in the interviews.

Managers at all levels often call dismayed that a supposedly top performer isn’t living up to advanced billing and wondering what they should do.

My response is almost always the same, what differs is how I say it based on what I think that person can hear.

Bluntly or subtly I suggest they learn what they can about the environments where the person performed so well and how he was managed, then consult the mirror to find the differences.

Sometimes they even listen.

Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zedbee/103147140/

In a comment Monday Denis asked, “What do the people you hire tell about your leadership style?”

The short answer has been around a long time in one form or another.

Good leaders (managers) hire people smarter than themselves and don’t feel threatened by people who are better at given tasks.

The people you hire tell more about who you are than just your leadership style; they are a reflection of  your MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) and your confidence.

No matter what the reality, the more insecure a leader/manager feels the weaker the people he hires.

At lower levels, you find that those less willing to delegate rarely hire people with skills similar to their own.

Just as your friends reflect your thoughts, attitudes, beliefs and prejudices, so do those you hire. If you want to know who someone is, just look at who they hang with and who they hire, but not who they date and marry.

All bets are off when love/lust enters the picture.

Your comments—priceless

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Image credit: sxc.hu