Turning managers into directors

One of the great challenges for any CEO or Board Chair is turning good managers into effective directors. Its certainly one of the most common reasons I have been asked to work with senior managers over the last year. What are the problems and how can coaching help?

The first problem is turning good specialists into people able to think and act strategically.

In an age of increasing specialisation in fields including law, finance and marketing, people progress because of their specialist knowledge. They become more focused, and this behaviour is often reinforced by the way people’s efforts are recognised and rewarded.

The big picture

Yet a good board needs people who, whilst having in depth experience also understand the big picture and who can think strategically about the business, its marketplace and wider social and regulatory issues. So, there is an inherent tension between what managers need to be good at and what directors must bring to the boardroom.

Clearly training can help. It can inform senior managers and potential directors about the legal and financial responsibilities of the board and can help ensure effective scrutiny and oversight. Training can also help people to understand the latest trends in strategic thinking and better understand the other aspects of the business and the market.

Indeed, for larger companies I would strongly encourage some of these elements to be in training programmes for all managers, not just people identified as potential directors. If boards are to become more diverse then the pathway needs to be open at an earlier stage than just below board level. This approach also needs to be taken when rewarding people, to send the right signal throughout the organisation.

Training is not enough

However, training is not enough. In my experience coachees who are new to boards quickly grasp the essentials, but there’s a deeper underlying problem. It revolves around how they see themselves and their new role. Many have measured their career to date by their own endeavours. This next step requires something different, a change in perspective. From my coaching experience I would highlight three areas by way of example.

New perspectives

The first is switching from ‘me’ to ‘us’ when approaching issues. This requires a detachment from their work to date and their individual executive role. It requires an ability to think as a member of a board, and to contribute jointly.

The second change follows the first and is about moving away from ‘doing’ to ‘leading’.  What do I mean by this? The role of director is not to ask ‘what can I do about this’. Instead, the key is to understand the problem in the round and then to identify what the whole organisation needs to achieve to overcome that problem. By setting that direction the individual may well have a role to play, but clearly, they cannot do it all themselves. Indeed, their value lies in enabling everyone in the organisation to play their part. 

Stepping back isn’t easy. I struggled when first becoming a Minister of State in the Coalition Government in 2010. Having been self-employed prior to Westminster, I was very hands-on and so I had to learn that as Minister my role was to set the direction, enabling civil servants to implement.

The third change in perspective requires a specialist to think in the round, to understand the big picture – the context within which the organisation operates. This will be an economic context, but also a legal, financial and social context. Increasingly it is also an environmental context.

Coaching works

CEOs and their human resources team need to recognise that if there is to be a better flow of potential directors they can directly affect this by tackling the underlying culture. Rewards and training are important, but to change mindsets it will require something more tailored for each individual.

This is where executive coaching comes in. It provides a tailored, confidential environment in which the senior manager can explore the problems they may be having in making this transition and identify the changes they need to make. I have coached several senior managers in this situation, and they have all said that the nature of a coaching conversation enables them to achieve a new perspective. It may not work for everyone, but its increasingly recognised as an effective tool.

I have coached or mentored several senior business leaders on this issue and would be pleased to see if I can help you. Go to ‘How I coach’ for more about my approach and my contact details.