Groom a Successor, Gain a Promotion

03/05/07

Understudies are like travel agents. It can be tough to get where you’re going without one. If your boss says you won’t move up until you’ve groomed a replacement,and many bosses say or think just that, here are some tips to help you ensure your own promotion by leaving your job in good hands.

Choose the Best Person
Usually, your potential successors will have different levels of ability, or as one manager put it, “There’ll be something wrong with all of them.” Odds are you’ll have to pick the one whose skills need the least improving.

Besides looking closely at skills and job knowledge, however, understudy candidates should have several less tangible qualities:

Ambition. Which members of your group seem most eager to get ahead? Workers who are ambitious and want to improve their lot are a better choice than those content to stay put.

Willingness to accept constructive criticism. Which staffers bristle when you show them how to do something faster or more efficiently? Folks who reject new ideas or different opinions may have trouble developing the perspective that your job demands.

Curiosity. Effective understudies want to know why, not just how. They look past the obvious, challenge tradition, ask for details, and think “outside the box.”

Ability to handle peer pressure. Understudies are easy targets for sniping from resentful coworkers. They may be called a boss’s pet, brown noser, or worse. Whomever you tap for the job must be confident enough to take such barbs in stride.

There’s one more factor to consider, too: Your first choice may not want the job. If that’s the case, don’t push it. Pick a candidate who’ll welcome the opportunity, not someone who needs to be sold on it.

Don’t Create a Clone
Give your replacement the leeway to develop his or her own management style. Resist the urge to be overly authoritarian or prescriptive about the “best” way to do your job. Emphasize results over methods.

Understudies tend to flourish when they’re allowed to make mistakes. At times you may want to jump in and help out or do a task yourself, but doing a job wrong the first time often teaches people more than doing it right with your help. Besides, your understudy might invent a better way to do something than “the way we’ve always done it.”

Delegation—Your Best Development Tool
Once you’ve chosen the best available candidate, start to teach that person the scope and nature of your job. The best way to do that? Delegate authority.

Effective delegation calls for discretion and judgment, however. Seasoned managers will delegate to understudies in four different degrees, depending on the decision’s impact and the person’s experience.

Research and recommend:Gathers information and suggests alternatives; you make the final choice.
Act after your approval: Decides what to do, pending your OK.
Inform you after the fact: Takes action and tells you afterward.
Decide and proceed: Has full authority to act without involving you.

Informal Contacts: The Power behind the Throne
In addition to prudent and meaningful delegation, one of the best things you can do before passing the torch to an understudy is to share information about the workings of your informal organization. Introduce your anointed one to your private network of well connected people who can expedite work, cut through red tape, or pull strings with certain higher managers.