Page 246 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

Settling into Your Renewing Organization 231

4. Their reports from sales trips suggested customer interest in a single
low-technology, low-priced product. She suspected the salespeople were
not confident or knowledgeable enough to sell the more complex or
higher-priced products.

At the six-month mark, Suzanne began a round of monthly assessments
with her direct reports. All were frustrated that neither the sales information
system nor the sales activity reports were automated. Similarly, they felt the
proposals and contracts were not standardized enough and required too much
effort to complete.
One salesperson, who had formerly been in operations, confessed his dis-
comfort with the sales lead process. Another admitted not having enough leads
but placed the blame on the excessive time required to generate contract
renewals, product descriptions, and managing the industry trade show. They
had few complaints about Suzanne’s own style, except that each felt she was
blind to other’s lack of accomplishments.
These impressions had become increasingly clear to Suzanne, as her level
of discomfort increased. Her six-month self-appraisal was an opportunity for
her to turn her heretofore vague discomfort into clearly stated accomplish-
ments and disappointments, to be objective about the disappointments, and
to begin the problem-solving process. Clearly stated as problems, she proac-
tively addressed the problems and avoided getting blindsided by them later on.
Her instincts to formally assess her performance were correct. Her boss
and the operations managers were already aware of the problems in Suzanne’s
department, especially the lack of information about sales activity and the lack
of new proposals and contracts. Suzanne’s formal self-appraisal allowed her
to surface these problems with her boss and solve them before he came to her
with some ultimatums. Indeed, this six-month assessment may have saved her
job. She demonstrated to her boss that she was aware of the problems and was
managing them, which allowed her to solicit his help and the help of the oper-
ations managers in solving the problems.
At the six-month mark and especially as you near the end of your first year,
review your performance, highlight your successes, and spotlight the areas
that need improvement. Self-awareness is a core element of emotional intelli-
gence. An employee’s candor and proactive identification of challenges and
areas for improvement will build the boss’s confidence in the employee. This