Member-only story
What leaders get wrong.
“I really don’t understand him!”
During a recent #CoffeeWithFriends session, a friend was sharing his challenge on motivating a direct report. The direct report is stagnant in his career, is nearing his salary ceiling, is reliable and competent in his job and, more importantly, is capable of doing more. Unfortunately, the direct report is reluctant to do more and, without doing more, will not meet the criteria for promotion.
I shared that the problem is not with the direct report. The problem is that, like most leaders, we assume that the direct report wants a promotion. To leaders, climbing the career ladder is a given. It seldom occurs to us that not everyone aspires to a higher position (with more responsibilities) nor do they even want higher performance bonuses. To some, they are comfortable and happy where they are.
As leaders, we need to have conversations with our direct reports to better understand their career goals. If it is to stay where they are, and if they are delivering what is required, then we should help them excel in their current roles.
We all have different definitions of success. Our duty as leaders is to help our direct reports achieve their goals — not ours.
