Developing High-Performance Managers
The Problem:
In high-pressure environments, success is more a matter of finely tuned psychological skills than of well developed technical skills. Both are important, but technical ability alone will never cut it. Psychological skills typically develop with time and experience (often defined as maturity).
Putting young and relatively inexperienced performers into high-pressure management roles requires them to perform without the benefit of experience and self-knowledge.
How do you speed up the learning/maturity curve?
The Model:
1. Profile success in a performance environment.
2. Increase self-awareness about performance strengths and weaknesses within that environment.
3. Place in challenging, “stretch” experiences/assignments.
4. Provide on-going coaching, support, and performance debriefing.
Winning Mind speeds up the development/learning process by profiling what it takes to be successful in any high performance environment and benchmarking individual strengths & weaknesses against that profile. We show managers how to play to strengths and improve their ability to:
— Perform more effectively in situations that take them beyond their comfort zone;
— Decrease mistakes made in high pressure situations; and
— Recognize and develop the areas where they need additional management/leadership skills.
Managers are given advanced warning (awareness) about the types of situations that will prove problematic and coached about how to handle them. The same information (plus coaching advice) is presented to internal trainers/mentors, who then apply it to the development process and in performance debriefings with managers.
— Coaches know which developmental targets to emphasize.
— They are given a “heads-up” about what mistakes to look for.
— They receive intervention suggestions to use with each candidate.
The Winning Mind Advantage
— We target the critical factors related to success in high-pressure performance environments.
— We design customized profiles for the specific components of success for each organization.
— We have years of experience working with top performers and coaches in the most highly competitive operating environments in the world.
An Example:
A comfort or willingness to step up and take control of situations or people is a success factor in virtually every management/leadership environment. Winning Mind profiles just how much of this factor is required for success in a particular environment and under what conditions.
New managers are then benchmarked against that profile with several possible outcomes:
1. Manager X has the right stuff for success in your environment. She benefits from understanding and gaining awareness about the types of situations that demand more or less of this trait. She goes into his work knowing that this is a strength and how to play to it.
2. Manager X is not comfortable stepping up and taking control when necessary. His style is more laid-back and hands-off. This information (insight) becomes a target area for development. Training is provided to advance requisite management skill. The manager then goes into work on the lookout for situations where this vulnerability is most probable and is now ready to respond accordingly.
3. Manager X shows a vulnerability because he has too much of a good thing. He is likely to take control in virtually every situation, even when not appropriate. He benefits from the awareness that this strength is likely to become a weakness and is provided with coaching that makes him more likely to step back and turn control over to others. He goes into work recognizing the relevant “danger signs,” understanding that he must guard against this tendency to over-control and micromanage.
For more information about developing high performance managers using TAIS, please contact us at info@winningmind.com.