In February 2017, a purchasing manager for General Motors Company (GM) needed to come up with a sourcing proposal to source e-boost modules, which were required to support the enhanced 2020 Chevrolet Bolt Electric Vehicle and the new 2020 Chevrolet Bolt Autonomous Vehicle. GM had four possible international suppliers to choose from. Each supplier had its pros and cons in terms of price, product development capability, and the architectural nature of the braking system. GM wanted to be a disrupter to the autonomous vehicle industry. Its top priorities were public safety and defect-free quality. In order to continue to maintain the market leadership position, GM wanted to retain the intellectual property of the e-boost modules. Which supplier would best meet the needs of the company?
Aspiring to be innovative and agile, today companies of all shapes and sizes want to recruit entrepreneurial managers. But most firms lack a scientific way to separate the true entrepreneurs from other candidates. To address that problem, Butler compared the psychological testing results of over 4,000 successful entrepreneurs and of some 1,800 business leaders who described themselves as general managers but not as entrepreneurs. His analysis uncovered three factors that differentiate entrepreneurs: "thriving in uncertainty," a "passion for ownership," and unique "skill at persuasion." In this article Butler dives deep into the skills, mindset, and traits of entrepreneurs, explaining what the stereotypes about them often miss. For instance, they aren't always more creative or in love with risk, but they are deeply inquisitive, open to new experiences, and comfortable with the unpredictable. He also offers evidence-based, practical advice for interviews and resume screening that hiring managers can use to identify entrepreneurial leaders.
Nearly all areas of business--not just sales and human resources--call for interpersonal savvy. Relational know-how comprises a greater variety of aptitudes than many executives think. Some people can "talk a dog off a meat truck," as the saying goes. Others are great at resolving interpersonal conflicts. Some have a knack for translating high-level concepts for the masses. And others thrive when they're managing a team. Because people do their best work when it most closely matches their interests, the authors contend, managers can increase productivity by taking into account employees' relational interests and skills when making personnel choices and project assignments. After analyzing the psychological tests of more than 7,000 business professionals, the authors identified four dimensions of relational work: influence, interpersonal facilitation, relational creativity, and team leadership. This article explains each one and offers practical advice to managers--how to build a well-balanced team, for instance, and how to gauge the relational skills of potential employees during interviews. Understanding these four dimensions will help you get optimal performance from your employees, appropriately reward their work, and assist them in setting career goals. It will also help you make better choices when it comes to your own career development. To get started, try the authors' free online assessment tool, which measures both your orientation toward relational work in general and your interest level in each of its four dimensions.
We've all worked with highly competent people who are held back by a seemingly fatal personality flaw. At best, people with these "bad habits" create their own glass ceilings, which limit their success and their contributions to the company. At worst, they destroy their own careers. The authors suggest concrete tactics they have used to help people recognize and correct the following six behavior patterns: The hero, who always pushes himself--and subordinates--too hard to do too much for too long. The meritocrat, who believes that the best ideas can and will be determined objectively and ignores the politics inherent in most situations. The bulldozer, who runs roughshod over others in a quest for power. The pessimist, who always worries about what could go wrong. The rebel, who automatically fights against authority and convention. And the home run hitter, who tries to do too much too soon--he swings for the fences before he's learned to hit singles. Helping people break through their self-created glass ceilings is the ultimate win-win scenario: both the individual and the organization are rewarded. Using the tactics introduced in this article, managers can help their brilliantly flawed performers become spectacular achievers.
Hiring good people is tough, but keeping them can be even tougher. The professionals streaming out of today's MBA programs are so well educated and achievement oriented that they could do well in virtually any job. But will they stay? According to noted career experts Timothy Butler and James Waldroop, only if their jobs fit their deeply embedded life interests--that is, their long-held, emotionally driven passions. Butler and Waldroop identify the eight different life interests of people drawn to business careers and introduce the concept of job sculpting, the art of matching people to jobs that resonate with the activities that make them truly happy. Managers don't need special training to job sculpt, but they do need to listen more carefully when employees describe what they like and dislike about their jobs. Once managers and employees have discussed deeply embedded life interests--ideally, during employee performance reviews--they can work together to customize future work assignments. In some cases, that may mean simply adding another assignment to existing responsibilities. In other cases, it may require moving that employee to a new position altogether. Skills can be stretched in many directions, but if they are not going in the right direction--one that is congruent with deeply embedded life interests--employees are at risk of becoming dissatisfied and uncommitted. And in an economy where a company's most important asset is the knowledge, energy, and loyalty of its people, that's a large risk to take.
How do you deal with the talented manager whose perfectionism paralyzes his direct reports? Or the high-performing expert who disdains teamwork under any circumstances? What about the sensitive manager who avoids confrontation of any kind? Do you ignore the behaviors? Get rid of the managers? James Waldroop and Timothy Butler suggest that you coach them. They have found that coaching--helping change the behaviors that threaten to derail a valued manager--is often the best way to help that manager succeed. Executives increasingly recognize that it is people management skills that are the key both to their personal success and to the success of their business. And being an effective coach is a crucial part of successful people management.