Passing on the Knowledge

Passing on the Knowledge

As we looked at the cost of a poor promotion, I shared stories about a few different rock star employees I had worked with over the years. One of them had been an assembly line lead for nearly four decades but refused even to consider taking the next step into a supervisory or management role. Another was as knowledgeable as anyone I ever knew about every piece of equipment in the department he worked in but struggled mightily when he moved into a team lead role for that same department. I realize both examples were from a manufacturing environment, but I’m willing to bet you can picture similar examples in any industry you’re currently in!

At some point in our leadership journey, we’ll all face the reality that not every outstanding performer on our teams will be interested in climbing the company ladder. And as hard as accepting that will sometimes be, our challenge then becomes helping them be the best they can be right where they are AND providing them with the tools they’ll need to pass their expertise on to the team members coming behind them. While some folks may not be interested in chasing or accepting promotions, that doesn’t mean they’re not a critical part of our succession planning process!

While I still fancy myself as a decent carpenter, and I could probably teach you how to operate a 250-ton stamping press to make the blanks that get rolled into tubes for inside a muffler, Cindy and I have been very intentional about not giving the perception that we’re the people to teach the technical skills necessary in any industry. In most cases, you’ll have experts in-house who can do that. And even if that’s not the case, I’m doubtful I have the time at this point in my life to be the technical expert you need. But we have helped the experts in the organizations we’re working with become incredibly effective at passing on what they’ve worked so long to learn. There have been a few cases where those folks have been supervisors or managers who had already completed our Emerging Leader Development course. Still, the most significant need for this has been with those without interest in those positions.

Either way, our approach to Developing Effective Trainers combines much of what we provide to help leaders communicate more effectively with the concepts I detailed before for having tough conversations. We add a healthy dose of the necessary steps for earning influence and buy-in, so anyone receiving the training is actually willing to listen without having their lives threatened!

For more on this, you're welcome to reach out to us directly at [e-mail] to get a 45 Day Trial Access to our COMPLETE Leading At The Next Level program or you can check out Wes's first book, What's KILLING Your Profitability? (It ALL Boils Down to Leadership!) that was a #1 Best Seller on Amazon!