Solution Saturday: Aspirations Exceed Qualifications
Dear Dan,
I have a team member who aspires to a lofty leadership position. However, the position requires skills and attributes the individual has failed to demonstrate.
I want to keep him positively engaged. He is a major asset to the company, but I don’t want to lead him on or leave him with unmet expectations.
Thank you,
Uneasy about disengagement
Dear Uneasy,
This reminds me of a time I applied for a position where I thought I was qualified but wasn’t. I was so unqualified that I couldn’t see my deficiencies. I was succeeding in my position, but wouldn’t succeed if promoted.
Today, I realize it wouldn’t have helped me or the organization if I had been promoted. Back then, I made up stories about why I wasn’t considered. But the truth is my aspirations exceeded my qualifications.
High aspirations always exceed current qualifications.
I remember the day I was told that I wasn’t being considered. It was a two sentence conversation that took the wind out of my sails.
I didn’t ask, “How might I improve myself so that I might be considered for future opportunities.” I falsely believed I was qualified. I didn’t need to improve. They needed to see how great I already was.
When there’s nothing wrong with us, something’s always wrong with others.
Suggestions:
- Hurt to help. There’s no way around the pain of being told you’re not qualified. Always act in the best interest of your team members, even if it hurts.
- Include, ‘right now’. When telling someone they aren’t qualified, use language about the present, not their future.
- Let them choose their own aspirations. Explain the qualifications with behavioral illustrations. Give opportunities to opt out on their own. (Beware the aspiration for titles vs. desire to serve in greater ways.)
- Would a 360 degree assessment help? When people don’t see themselves, invite others to hold up mirrors. Some of us over-estimate our abilities. That’s not all bad. But, it’s also useful to see ourselves through the lens of others.
- Give added responsibilities. Let them temporarily fulfill some aspects of the position that you feel might be out of their reach. Debrief. The goal is to help them clarify their own aspirations, not convince them they aren’t good enough.
- Do the job before you get the title. Some organizations add “acting” to a job title. Jack Welch said if you get people decisions right half the time you’re doing good. Would a trial run be useful?
- Judge them by who you were when you earned the position, not who you are now. Leaders often forget how much they’ve grown. Might this person deserve an opportunity?
- Don’t make negative comparisons between your team member and other candidates for the position.
- Give voice to your heart. Be candid and optimistic. As you indicate, you don’t want to lead them on. You want them to thrive. You have concerns. You’re on their team. This feels uncomfortable.
- Is there an intermediate position this person would thrive in?
- How do you feel about people rising to a position within your organization and going no further?
- Engage in other activities that fuel energy. Don’t allow this aspect of your relationship to dominate the entire relationship. Step back and remember the good, celebrate successes, and affirm progress.
Personal reflections:
- What are you learning about yourself?
- What might you put in place to mitigate these situations, from an organizational point of view?
- If you could go back a few years, what do you wish you would have done? (I’m not encouraging you to beat yourself up. What are the learnings?)
- What might you be doing that blocks the growth of people on your team? What have you been doing that demonstrates kind candor, courageous transparency, and forward-facing curiosity?
- How might you engage in conversations rather than making pronouncements and declaring unilateral decisions?
When I look back on my experience of aspirations that exceeded qualifications, I wish the people over me would have had a developmental attitude. Perhaps I was too closed to even see it. However, today I realize that my development is my responsibility, not someone else’s.
Best wishes,
Dan
What suggestions might you offer a leader who has a team member with aspirations that exceed qualifications?
*I suspend my 300 word limit on Solution Saturday.
If the person is valuable to organization who has expressed interest/desire to move up, then it would be really helpful to put a development plan in that person’s hands – not just vague statements about “you need to be more engaged with other business units”. The plan should include soft as well as technology skills with specific milestones and periodic check-ins. Coaching would be extremely beneficial – if the leader has that capacity. But not all people in leadership positions have the skills or time to coach. If the organization itself wants to keep talented people, career paths with development plans would be helpful – and asking senior staff who would be interested in becoming a mentor to help grow people in the organization.
I agree that development is the responsibility of the individual. However, if someone has raised their hand in interest, the organization would benefit greatly by providing clear paths and guidelines for promotion. And a pool of senior staff (and mid-level managers, too) who are willing to give some one-on-one coaching to help polish the individual’s rough spots would be a incredible accelerator.
This should be a win-win for individuals who want to step up and contribute at a higher level and for the organization, as they would already have a collection of candidates to choose from that have been groomed to the company’s needs and culture.
Thanks Lezlie. The sense I get from your comment is do everything you can to develop the people who aspire to lead. This makes sense to me.
The question is, “What can we do to help develop people who express aspirations?”
As I type this, another thing comes to mind. Don’t lead people to believe that they will receive the promotion they desire just because they voice their aspirations. It’s an earn it mentality.
In addition, we must acknowledge that not everyone is suited for high level leadership roles, even if they aspire to have them.
Thanks for sharing your insights and getting me thinking.
Thank you for this post. Without a doubt, it is my favorite one in a very long time. And timing is everything! Awesome insights – all around!
Thanks Nat. It’s a great to be of service. Cheers!
Dan, I think traditionally people tended to underestimate their strengths. I see more young people today in this mode of “I should be CEO or king of the world.” Do you think we are seeing a cultural shift?
Thanks Ken. I just read some research in HBR on this. “One of the few major differences that has been found in longitudinal studies between today’s young people and yesterday’s young people is how they agree with the statement “I am an important person.” As Chamorro-Premuzic wrote in the Guardian, “in the 1950s, 12% of high-school students perceived themselves as ‘an important person’ – by the 1990s, 80% did.” Narcissism is, thus, one of the few true differences that we’ve seen between the generations over time.” Millennials Actually are Workaholics
We raised young people to feel they are important. It seems that one consequence is they feel they should be treated as if they are important. That may translate into feelings that they should be given opportunities that older generations feel they haven’t earned.
Dan great and very complete answer.
Two comments:
1. Twice in my CFO career I hired a part time coach with strong organizational and people skills to try to help such a person both see their current limits and grow into a higher role.
2. Our tennis instructor always says that for most of us intermediate level players, our desire to make a great shot exceeds our skill set! Same in true in much of business and life.
Brad
Brad James, author The Business Zoo
Thanks Brad. Sometimes an external person can be helpful. They have to have good perception and the willingness to give honest feedback. Cheers
The hardest thing for me to convey in these situations isn’t the day-today functions of the position they aspire to; it’s the less quantifiable contingency responsibilities that come with the position.
One of the hardest conversations I’ve ever had was with a guy who studied everything the person in the position he wanted did, and he made sure that he was both competent and credentialed to do everything he saw this person do over the course of 18 months. He thought my pause in the conversation would be his certain victory, but I pulled out a few of our contingency plans and described roles and functions he had never seen but would be required to preform in the case of dire business situations or a traditional emergency. To say he found this painfully unfair would be an understatement. he had no idea what it took to convince our body of leadership that he could handle exigent situations, where policy was merely guidelines, and he must secure the best interests of all. He left us a few weeks later.
to this day I still don’t know how to convey the soft skills needed to engender the level of trust needed to occupy some of these higher positions.
Thanks Evets. You really nailed one of the hardest things about addressing these issues. Your experience is helpful. I respect your transparency.
As I read your comment, I thought about something I read. I forget where. When people don’t have soft skills, they need illustrations and most importantly immediate feedback. For example, a person who is harsh probably doesn’t see it. When they do something that’s harsh, they need to be told immediately so they can see it.
This happened to me once. I received feedback that I was pushy. I don’t feel pushy. I’m a pussy cat. It wasn’t until I was told WHEN I did it, that I saw it clearly. It was an eye opener. I learned that candor and kindness need to go together.
Liked the post.
People with high aspirations with potential need to be groomed well. They can be given additional responsibilities to get tested on their current abilities and can be trained further to take the aspired position.
Leaders need to keep good trust and faith on the capabilities rather than rejecting the existing talent and pushing him to look outside for such opportunities.