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Removing Ineffective Leaders

Written by: Robert Whipple

Article Overview: One area where leaders struggle is removing ineffective underlings. This is a highly unpleasant aspect of the job, but it is vital to the health of the organiztion. This article shares some tips on how to accomplish the removal and reposition of leaders.

Removing Ineffective Leaders

High-octane leaders tend to surround themselves with other good leaders. You can see an interesting dance occur whenever a new leader takes over a situation. There is a shakeout period, where the newly appointed leader gets the new team on-board. Some people have to go. They may not be fired outright, but they need to find another activity in the company or retire. This often happens quickly, within hours or days after a new leader is announced. In the political arena, it happens after every election when the incumbent has lost. Normally, by the time a new administration is in its fourth month, the team has stabilized.

Removing Leaders

In a new leadership position, immediately begin assessing the quality of leaders who now report to you. It is common to change some of the leaders in an organization within the first year after assuming a position. How do you decide who stays and who goes? Simply determine if the current leaders have the ability to take the organization where it needs to go.

There are several evaluation tools that can help. One method is to make a checklist of critical leadership traits and identify how each leader measures up.

Most companies have a formal process to evaluate leaders and this is a major source of information. General Electric developed a great process for identifying leaders into 4 categories.

Type 1 leaders - deliver on commitments while consistently displaying the corporate values. These leaders are always moved forward.

Type 2 leaders - fail to meet commitments and don't live by the values. These people have to leave the organization.

Type 3 leaders - fail to make the commitments, but consistently display the values. These leaders are given additional opportunities and training.

Type 4 leaders - make commitments, but do not demonstrate the values. These leaders must be weeded out because they get their results by bullying people or doing unethical things, like cooking the financial books.

(Note: do not confuse this GE leadership terminology with the "Level 5 Leader" as described by Jim Collins in "Good to Great". They are different concepts.)

If you decide to replace a leader, do it with care. This person is in the wrong position and needs to find another job, inside or outside your company, that will allow him to be more successful.

As the supervisor, level with the individual; try to preserve personal dignity, and help him find a better fit. Once an incumbent knows he will be moved, his effectiveness plummets, so take action quickly.

This process is difficult, but it can be rewarding. Incumbent leaders rarely volunteer to leave, even if they are struggling or stressed. If they are failing, they believe the situation is correctable over time. If they have problems with values, they are blind to them. It is not a happy discussion to encourage, or demand, a leader get another job. If you are honestly working to help the person, it will show, and the process can be accomplished with grace.

You can provide joy and relief to a person who is in over his head. The difficult case is the person who thinks he is doing well but isn't. If this occurs, it points to a lack of reality and poor communication. Level with the person in a sensitive way to clear the air while maintaining personal dignity.

After removing a leader, I would follow up with the person a year later to see how things were going. In most cases, the person was happier in their new role and grateful to me for the change.

Your ability to outplace marginal leaders in a win-win scenario is highly dependent on your political skills and negotiation skills, along with your personal credibility in the organization. Look for a fit where this person can make a positive contribution as a leader in a different situation or an individual contributor.

Work with other leaders at your level to uncover these opportunities. Create strong alliances with your peers and superiors. Here are several tips that will help you create the right peer-to-peer relationships.

• Treat your peers and superiors with the same respect and integrity as people in your group. Often that is a challenge because you compete with them for critical resources. The best advice is to always use the golden rule.

• Find ways to help them in ways they recognize. Visualize yourself walking around the office with a bundle of olive branches strapped to your back. Each day see how many olive branches you can give away to people who would squabble with you.

• Whenever possible, be a vocal supporter of their positions in meetings. If you act like an ally, it is more difficult for them to view you as an adversary. If you think of them as the enemy, they will reciprocate.

• Go the extra mile to help them solve problems. Sometimes that means taking problem people off their hands to make a fresh start in your organization. It might mean the loan of equipment or other tangible assets. Be bountiful with your assistance.

• Foster great relationships with the key lieutenants of your peers. They have high influence and will help your cause if they see you as a friend.

• Bond with peers whenever possible in social settings. Get to know their families and their hobbies, etc. The closer you are as friends, the more they will help you at work. The basis of politics is that "friends do things for other friends."

• You will negotiate often with peers for resources. Establish a track record of being fair and looking for the win-win opportunities. Never try to win at the other person's expense. It will always boomerang and you will lose in the end.

• Be visible with your concessions. Demonstrate that you deal with fairness.

• Resist the temptation to "blow in" a peer when they mess up. It may feel good at the time but you have made an enemy. You can never afford an enemy if it can be avoided (and it always can.) Some people go around creating enemies to satisfy their ego, their lust for conquest or just to have fun. They don't last very long. If a peer makes a mistake, it's a great opportunity to help them regain equilibrium, not a time to twist the knife. Kindness pays off.

• Do not engage in e-mail battles. If a peer is less than kind in an e-mail, respond to it with courtesy and maturity. Getting into a food fight over some issue has no place in the adult world, yet you see it all the time. Be bigger than that.

• Don't belittle, berate or embarrass people, even if they do things to deserve it. This is a test of your maturity.

• When you make a mistake or create a political faux pas, admit it immediately and ask for forgiveness. Don't try to hide your blunders.

There are hundreds of other ways to foster cooperation among your peers and superiors. They are just common sense and go back to the Lou Holtz advice to "Do what is Right." Note: the above list is not a set of tactics or manipulation of others. Following them shows your level of integrity and moral fiber. Do these things because they are right. Being effective in this arena helps you move people who are in a misfit situation and create slots for new resources in your organization.

As you bring in new people, you demonstrate your values to everyone. The criteria used to evaluate candidates reflects your style. Outstanding leaders put "leadership ability" at the very top of the list when looking for new people. They understand effective leaders have to leverage themselves through other leaders. This is also an opportunity to demonstrate the value you place on diversity.

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Article Tags: disruption, leadership, performance, Removal, trust



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