Which Managers To Pack For The Journey
There is a mythical beast in the corporate management structure that HR professionals call “the net exporter of talent” -- an extraordinary manager who helps place their top talent into other areas of the company.
Corporate Bigfoot.
Minus the blurry pictures.
In my experience, the only consistent “net exporters of talent” are the ones who do it unintentionally.
Managers. Hoard. Talent.
Which sucks for talent.
[And this where I get scared because my answer is so obvious that I’m convinced that everyone reading this will immediately stop after the next sentence and jump straight to the comment section: “Oh yeah, our talent management framework totally did that years ago with a platform we call Intellicare... or Performango... or Feedbackio 360…. and it uses a technology only we know about that we call ‘machine learning’ which is actually just voodoo.”]
The answer-- if you’re talent: hoard managers.
[Quick commercial break from the 1980s: “It’s you Dad! I learned it from watching you!”]
If you’re an employee, I don’t mean “collect mentors like they’re Pokemon.” In fact, what follows isn’t even aimed at you. You have more important things to focus on.
This piece is aimed at managers… somewhat… but more so at those (like myself) who influence or set talent policies at large companies.
The Third Path
The most powerful tool in the Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) toolkit is sponsorship. If you’re unfamiliar with D&I sponsorship, it’s when a person in power makes it their mission to help land bigger, better opportunities for their junior charge. It's the rather brilliant use of privilege against privilege.
All I’m doing here is applying sponsorship at scale for more than just up-and-coming diverse talent.
Here’s how it would work.
When Employee1 has outperformed for 2 years in a role, their manager-- cleverly named Manager1-- would need to sponsor them into a new role… outside Manager1’s org.
“That just sounds like a rotation program Hood.”
[Stay with me.]
Manager1 wouldn’t just be looking to place Employee1 into a bigger, better opportunity. They would be recruiter-in-chief for Employee1’s second sponsor… Manager2!
“Rooooootaaaaation!”
[Fine, I’ll call it that. Stay with me.]
Manager1 and Manager2 (who is clearly NOT in Manager1’s org) would then co-manage Employee1’s next rotation in Manager2’s org. Instead of the usual weekly one-on-ones, all three would get together to discuss performance and look for ways to help/coach Employee1.
As that second rotation began to end, both Manager1 and Manager2 would look for… you guessed it-- Manager3… who, again, would not be in either managers’ org.
The threesome would become a foursome and this would continue until everyone stopped calling it a rotation and simply called it a career. A journey of learning and connection, broadening and deepening-- facilitated by the institution. Because “the institution” isn’t one of us looking out for their employee. It’s all of us looking out for them.
[Cue that song from the Lion King]
All joking aside, we are loyal to our managers because our companies don’t yet offer a path to be loyal to them.
We can change that.
A structured program like the one above would go a long way. Which is the right metaphor, given that our work lives are some of the longest, hardest journeys we’ll take. And if we’re going to walk that much, why do it alone?
Oh the Places You’ll Go (A blog within a blog about which managers to hoard)
There's this great Tolstoy quote: “All happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
My business version is "All great managers are alike. Keep the rest to yourself."
First rule of business fight club.
So… there are a million types of managers out there, but only about 10 kinds you'll want to pick up for your journey.
The Water Bottle -- the one who taught you the absolute basics for staying alive in business: client centricity and a commercial mindset.
The Neck-Pillow -- the one that helped you deal with all the unavoidable pains in the neck. The one who taught you about fiscal discipline and risk management.
Headphones -- the one who let you get into your zone. So you could quiet the talk, talk, talk and just deliver, deliver, deliver.
The Eye-Mask -- the one that taught you about work-life balance, how to say no and how to narrow your focus to what matters most. The one you model yourself on when you ask the hardest questions of the toughest people so you can be precious with your time.
Nutritious Snacks -- the one that fed you just enough that you didn't make the worst mistake of the almost-successful: taking more food without having digested what you already had on your plate.
The Spare Socks -- the one who made you versatile, that stretched you in ways that you didn’t think possible. This analogy might seem random unless like me you believe everything the internet says because... there is nothing so versatile as spare socks.
Tissues -- the one that taught you the power of connection; who saw you as a person-- perhaps broken-- but accepted and valued you. The one that led through empathy and compassion. The servant leader.
Trash Bag -- the one who taught you how to deal with trash -- the unnecessary pains.
Chargers -- the one who kept you excited. The one who taught you the power of the art of the possible. Who encouraged your curiosity and imagination and made innovation real.
Entertainment -- the one who made it all fun and clearly picked the wrong profession.
Final Thoughts -- Before I Get the Call from HR
Large organizations like banks are generally deeply hierarchical and as such, have a single-sponsor problem Employees either stick to their managers for life or they jump from manager to manager to manager. The former boxes them into the role where they first made a great impression while the latter has them proving and re-proving the basics with each new manager.
There is a third way. I call it “manager hoarding” because I’m not smart enough to call it a Sponsorship Network.
Our employees need that third path.
They need a substantive institutional commitment to their development.
And let's be honest, it's in every company’s best interest to build a new path to loyalty because when leaders leave, it's not followers who follow. It’s other leaders. The ambitious. The execution-focused. The institutionally-under-served.
Most people aren’t looking for whatever they say they’re looking for during an interview. And they’re not really interested in switching companies.
They’re looking for Bigfoot.
It’s not “Oh… the places they want to go.” It’s how they want to get there. Together.
LinkedIn Tease:
If you have kids, you’ve probably read them (or gifted them) “Oh the Places You'll Go” by Dr. Seuss. It was in every college dorm room that I can remember.
Two quick confessions.
1. If I’d had more time and I knew how to rhyme, I’d have written this blog in Seuss. But I don’t, so I won’t… which will save you a moant.. so please don’t make much of a Feuss.
2. When I first sat down to write the blog a couple of nights ago, I experienced writer’s block. So instead of writing the main piece, I googled “something you pick up on a journey.” The first link was a piece by Alyssa Perrott (who I do not know) called “10 Essentials You'll Need to Survive Any Long Journey.” I borrowed the 10 headings in her travel guide and wrote the blog-within-a-blog about which managers to hoard. It unblocked the rest of the piece... so thank you Alyssa!