Page 223 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

208 Just Promoted!

when concrete suggestions were made, Judy wouldn’t commit if she wasn’t
willing to begin implementing the idea within a short period of time. She
always publicly credited the employee for the original idea. These actions
resulted in employees’ feeling valued, capable, and responsible for making
things better. The overall effect was to reduce feelings of frustration stemming
from poor communication.
Linda was selected as the western regional sales director for a thriving IT
consulting organization. With five district sales managers reporting to her, she
commanded a total workforce of 85 over a seven-state region. On composite
measures for sales, productivity, and net profit, the region ranked last of six.
Linda was hand selected by the national sales director following six years as a
highly regarded account rep and district manager headquartered in the Sun-
belt. Linda confronted some difficult practices when she assumed her new
responsibility.

■ Sales goals were dictated by her predecessor and forced downward to
district managers and account reps, with little, if any, opportunity for
feedback or negotiation. These people had become cynical about the
goal-setting process and regularly undershot their goals. Goals were gen-
erally not reasonable.
■ Communication within the region was poor. There was a strong feeling
of “checking up” versus ‘‘checking in” with the account reps and district
managers. This resulted in many inaccurate judgments about people and
their dedication. Face-to-face contact was infrequent and usually prob-
lem or crisis driven.
■ The performance management process was poorly administered. Recog-
nition and reward was sporadic and based on loose criteria that the
account reps felt were arbitrary and unfairly subjective.
■ There was little sharing of “best practices” from person to person. If
an account rep developed a new approach or a unique selling proposi-
tion, little was done to spread the technique or build on it with others
in the region.

Within several days of her arrival as regional sales director, Linda began
to implement a strategy of rapid information gathering and relationship build-
ing. Her diagnosis was already under way, as were her efforts to establish her
presence and credibility. Linda knew of two very experienced district man-