Executives: Afraid of flying? No. Afraid of failure? YES!!
While flying to New York City to teach Employee Relations at the NYC Cornell extension site, I sat next to Jim, a VP of Operations at a manufacturing company.* We struck up a conversation and when he found out that I was an Executive Coach, he shared his experience with a coach he had worked with.
As we got deeper into his experience, and I shared some of my clients’ experiences, anonymously, of course, we talked about the theme that seemed to haunt every executive. Often, these executives are fearless when it comes to getting the job done; fearless when they have to tell people what to do and how to do it; fearless when it comes to process, task or result. What is it, then, that often keeps them up at night and can impede their advancement and/or their success? It’s almost always some kind of fear and it’s often the fear of failure.
Jim is a bright, energetic, articulate and strong manager. He understands what needs to be done and how to get the results he wants. And, like many executives, that aspect of his job is considered to be the part that’s all-important. But what some fail to see is that the strategic relationships they build are equally important to their results, their success and probably their career. Being a bully, impatient, judgmental, sarcastic and demanding may “get the job done” but not done well. Under those circumstances, the manager creates a group of individual performers watching their backs rather than a team that’s holding out a hand to help others. They create an atmosphere of puppetry rather than purpose; a group of drones instead of creative problem solvers.
If managers assess themselves only on task completion and not on building coaching and collaborative relationships, then they are failing, and fooling themselves, in the long run. No management position, no matter the level, is responsible for only half the job; no manager was hired to do only half the job description. If you want to be a success, then you must measure yourself on the task AND your relationships; your process and your communication; your system strategy and your strategic alliances. If you’re really afraid of failing, take another look at your job and see if “completing the task” is the only way you can be successful!
* Name and circumstances are changed to protect the identity of my traveling companion.
BLOG RX: Are you working under the delusion that task completion is the only measure of success? Think again and take an honest assessment of your professional criteria. You can look like a success for getting the job done but still fail in the important areas of communication and team building. To avoid failure, and its fear, take the focus off yourself, help others to flourish and you can’t help but be successful yourself.