June 2024 Newsletter
Burning Questions from the C-Suite
From a Right Hand (RH): The CEO is criticizing one of my employees. What should I do?
Nothing kicks us into defensive mode faster than a boss complaining about our direct reports. It’s hard to keep calm when people we're responsible for get called out. We insist the boss doesn’t have a complete picture or argue that our employee normally performs better. We are righteous and indignant, even as we fret that maybe it’s our fault the employee is in the crosshairs in the first place.
Defensiveness is not helpful in Right Hand Relationships. Here’s why.
If the CEO encounters resistance every time she shares her observations with you, she’ll stop bringing real issues to the RH. It won’t be worth the effort. If she can’t get you to pay attention without a fight, she’ll fix problems herself without involving you, or worse, ask someone other than you to fix things. Either way, she’ll no longer be working hand-in-hand with the Right Hand who is supposed to be her closest partner. Justified or not, your defensiveness will have introduced a rift.
As a RH, you might be saying, But what if I think her criticism is unfair? Don’t I have a right and obligation to stand up for employees?
Nope. You have a right and obligation to stand up for the business. Someone you know and respect and who is invested in the success of the business just told you they think something is wrong.
The most helpful reaction is curiosity. What is the CEO seeing that you’re not? Most critiques—even the ones that seem like a personal attack—have a kernel of truth at their core. The faster you as a Right Hand can extract that kernel, the faster the personal attacks and broad generalizations go away. It may seem counterintuitive, but you will defuse criticism of your employees faster by genuinely listening than you ever will by disagreeing. And you’ll probably learn something valuable.
Here’s a game plan for what to do instead of getting defensive:
1. Ignore the personal nature of the critique. DO NOT RESPOND to the insecurity, righteous indignation, discouragement, or whatever emotion you feel rising inside. Stop thinking about whether your boss is right or wrong to make the critique and realize that most critique is made when somebody is frustrated, so it doesn’t get said well. Get good at not reacting to unfair characterizations spoken in the heat of the moment.
2. Ask questions to discover specific failures. If the CEO says your maintenance lead is doing a terrible job, find out exactly what that means. Has the work been finished late three weeks in a row? Was equipment returned to use before it was operational? What specific performance standard wasn’t met? Actionable issues are often masked in criticism of motivation or personality—that guy just doesn’t care or she’s not smart enough to do this job. These statements are useful clues to help you uncover the core issue, if you can avoid getting distracted by the unfairness of them. Ask questions like, “What would that employee do if they cared more?” or “What kind of person would do well at this job?” or even the simple, “Tell me more.” Be a sleuth. Figure out as quickly as possible if there’s something important to pay attention to here. Caution: This doesn’t work unless you are actually curious, so don’t fake it.
3. Restate the issue. Once you identify the perceived performance problem—even if you don’t agree it is an actual performance problem—summarize it out loud to make sure you’ve understood. Calm restatement usually defuses emotion. The CEO sees you care about the business and his concerns. He already has a ton of confidence in your ability to solve problems, so once he’s satisfied you understand, he’ll feel tremendous relief that you’re now on the case. He’ll be glad that he’s no longer the only one who sees the thing, and he’ll be more willing to let you address the situation in whatever way you think best.
4. Thank the CEO for the critique, and state your intentions. Thank you for bringing this to my attention and then one of the following sentences, whatever is true for the situation:
I agree there’s a problem here. I’ll work on this and report back to you on my progress.
I need time to think about this. I’ll come to our next meeting with my ideas.
I’m not sure I agree with you on this. Would you be open to hearing my perspective?
Famous Right Hands (Political Edition)
It’s election season in the United States right now. For some of us, this may be good; for others, not so much. Whatever your political opinions, election season provides an interesting study in Right Hand Relationships.
Pairs of leaders abound in political systems. Our state is electing a Governor and Lieutenant Governor this year. The U.S. is electing a President and a Vice President. Local municipalities usually have both a Mayor and a City Manager. Here are some observations about government Right Hand Relationships that could be relevant for business:
Governments have formalized the requirement for an “heir and a spare.” Succession planning is built into the system. How would our businesses fare if we had to step away tomorrow? Does every leader have a RH?
In the public sector, top leader and RH jobs are both documented. Everybody knows who is responsible for what. Would our businesses benefit from more clarity in this regard?
A political top pair is hired and graded as a team, usually elected or appointed together. If one leader fails, the other is considered a failure too. If one succeeds, both do. Do we grade CEO and RH as a team? Do we acknowledge the symbiosis of those roles when it comes to performance?
What else have you noticed about Right Hand Relationships in government? Reply and tell us your thoughts.
Quote to Consider
‘Understand that energy, not time, is your most valuable resource.”
-From Mary Ostafi, as quoted in the Ask a Chief of Staff newsletter, Issue 43, May 28, 2024, www.askachiefofstaff.com
Book Recommendation
Leading from the Middle: A Playbook for Managers to Influence Up, Down, and Across the Organization by Scott Mautz. Though this book is targeted at middle managers rather than C-Suite Right Hands, there is so much wisdom in its pages. C-Suite Right Hands are managing from the middle in that they have to succeed both up and down the hierarchy. The book has an excellent section on mindset plus practical tips for interacting with boss, peers, and direct reports.
What Can We Do for You?
We help companies Get the Right Hand Right so they're ready for top leadership transition in 1- 3 years:
Structure the Right Hand role for success
Onboard a new Right Hand
Teach an aspiring Right Hand the job
Performance-manage a struggling Right Hand
Create phased leadership succession plan