Fuentes Friday Edition #0069

Hi Friends,

Here is your end-of-the-week insight into what I see going on in the business world, what I’m thinking about, and what I’m learning about. Forward anything that you feel inspired to share. One last thing—we will be moving Fuentes Fridays exclusively to LinkedIn at the end of the month. Make sure you subscribe here.

Important Note!

This month is the last month I’ll be sending Fuentes Fridays to your inbox, so be sure you subscribe to it on LinkedIn so you don’t miss anything. The posts on LinkedIn foster a lot more conversation that I think you’ll enjoy. 

What I’m Hearing From Sales Leaders/Professionals

While last week was all about positivity, this week was about confronting shortcomings. Specifically, shortcomings in hiring and promotion. Multiple conversations have been around the wrong person in the wrong seat. 

How does this happen? And why does it happen to very smart leaders? 

In most cases that I have encountered, it has happened because the process is wrong or search criteria is off. We have discussed in this space the five-to-seven-step (depending on the role) Maestro hiring process (if you need the playbook, DM me or email sales@maestrogroup.co). You can use a very similar process when considering an internal promotion. 

What I have not really delved into is search criteria. Often, I see organizations looking for the wrong things in candidates, and thus they end up with the wrong person in the wrong seat. Or alternatively, they are looking for ALL the things and they end up passing on candidates that would be exceptional. 

So, If you are going to start your search, make sure you are spending time thinking about the traits and behaviors that would make someone successful; then think about the experience. Experience can be important and, in some cases, it is essential—but the ability to learn quickly, communicate effectively, execute a process, and work efficiently is likely more valuable, then an experienced Forrest Gump.

“Forrest Gump professional” is the term I use for professionals who are really likeable and have gained industry experience by having the trait of being really likeable. They are actually not very good at the foundational elements of their job, and the success they have had has been influenced by external factors (product, team, etc.). 

Great, but the above does not address the specific issues my clients and I were discussing this week—wrong person/wrong seat. 

In the situations where it was the wrong seat, we looked for alternative seats within the company, e.g., moving them down from leader to individual contributor. Can this work? Yes. This happened to me, and I was able to have an impact in the organization and eventually learn enough to get back to leader. 

For the clients where another seat was not available, I suggested having a “kind” conversation and being honest that the employee was not meeting expectations and laying out what needed to be done. I also told them to not let the employee agree to it on the spot. I said to give them a day or two to think about it and then come back with their answer on whether they could fully commit to meeting the expectations. 

As for the wrong person situations, the advice here was much more situational. The impact to the team, fundraising, clients, etc., must be considered when weighing what to do with the wrong person. If you are in one these sticky situations, please reach out. I’m happy to be your thought partner.

Potpourri (shoutout to Jeopardy!) is a category that covers a variety of topics.