Page 271 - Just Promoted A 12 Month Road Map for Success in Your New Leadership Role

256 Just Promoted!

these people had provided emotional support, help with babysitting
and child rearing, and other types of daily assistance that had made
life easier for Bob and Linda’s dual-career family.
■ As if the relocation by itself were not difficult enough, Bob’s diffi-
culties on the job made things worse. He was not developing the
momentum needed to change the organization. The jump from
director of a small, smoothly functioning research group to vice
president of a much larger, more troubled group was proving to be a
bit much to handle. Never professionally trained in leadership, he
was not familiar with the formal planning, financial management,
and human resources systems necessary to effectively direct such a
large organization.
The organization was elusive for Bob. Direct reports gave him verbal
assurances, but they rarely committed things to paper. Thus, he had no
clear information about project planning, product development time-
lines, product strengths and weaknesses, or possible problems that
might require more time or more money to solve. He couldn’t nail his
direct reports down. He couldn’t get them to make commitments
backed by full accountability. Everything “depends,” nothing was firm.
He felt controlled, manipulated, and impotent.
He felt he was failing, and he shared his frustration with his boss.
In his disappointment in his own performance, he began to press. He
was less approachable, had a shorter fuse, found himself getting angry
more often. He felt manipulated by his employees and resented it. He
brought that resentment home with him, and he felt he was more short
tempered with his children.
The part of the job he most resented was managing and leading oth-
ers. As vice president, responsible for a division of over $50 million, he
found he was giving most of his time to others—planning, monitoring,
and troubleshooting the work of others, overseeing the work of the
organization. He had no time for the science he enjoyed, no time to “do
his own work.” He was finding that managing a large organization under
stress required that 100 percent of the time he would pay attention to
the work of others, something he wasn’t finding very satisfying.