Page 159 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

144 Just Promoted!

of group dynamics in a historical setting was conducted on the Bay of Pigs
affair. President John F. Kennedy felt that the Bay of Pigs disaster had occurred
partly because of the limitations imposed by a small group of likeminded plan-
ners too insular in their thinking. Consequently, when he faced the Cuban
Missile Crisis, he composed a large and diverse group of experts from gov-
ernment, industry, and academia. The successful strategy they devised was
quite different from the strategies that the president’s inner circle had pro-
posed, and it was the product of lengthy and sometimes heated discussions.
A superior consensus was achieved by a diverse group of problem solvers
intent on an excellent solution.
Union members can be a particular concern if they are more preoccupied
with defending the contract and their position in the union leadership than
with resolving or improving the organization. Fortunately, labor-management
tension has subsided somewhat in the recent past, as each has recognized its
mutual dependency. Labor representatives generally are prepared to help
strengthen the organization and thus help ensure that their jobs are safe within
a viable organization.
You might discuss your preliminary selections with a few key associates
and department members, partly to get some feedback and advice and partly
to bring them into the process of managing the analysis. They can help
you select committee members who will bring talent, energy, and effective
representation.
Next have a series of brief individual or small group meetings with those
selected. In these meetings you can describe the process, the members’ respon-
sibilities, and the time commitments, and you can make sure the members
want to serve. At the same time, select and begin to brief the committee chair
on his or her responsibilities and charter if you do not chair the steering com-
mittee yourself.
The steering committee chair, if you do not chair the committee yourself,
should be someone with both formal and informal authority. He or she must
have the respect of the department’s or team’s most experienced and expert
employees, must be able to work with the most demanding and difficult peo-
ple, and must be capable of moving the individual members toward consen-
sus and implementation. It is a demanding and time-consuming task. The
chair must also be someone with whom you can work, who can help keep the
process on schedule, help committee task groups that are floundering, and
move the process toward completion.