Performance Coaching Darcy Gallagher Roleher PDF

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PERFORMANCE COACHING: DARCY GALLAGHER ROLE

Ken Mark wrote this case under the supervision of Professor Jane Howell solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmission without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-mail [email protected]. Copyright © 2011, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation

Version: 2011-03-18

BACKGROUND ON DARCY GALLAGHER

Gallagher graduated from the University of Toronto with a bachelor of commerce degree, majoring in marketing, and joined an export-import firm in Toronto. Because of his excellent process-oriented skills, Gallagher immediately had a positive impact on the business performance in his area of responsibility and was rapidly promoted to a supervisory role. After hearing about Gallagher through his informal network, David Elliott, who was a divisional general manager in The Elmwood Group, enticed Gallagher to move to Ottawa and join the company in the retail operation as the assistant sales manager. In this new role, Gallagher was responsible for developing customer relationship management processes that would enable the retail operation’s business development managers to establish relationships with local area contractors with the goal of building repeat sales business. Gallagher reported to the sales manager who, in turn, reported to Elliott. Both the sales manager and Elliott were impressed with Gallagher’s accomplishments and rated him as an exceptional performer. Gallagher seemed like a natural fit for the assistant sales manager role because of his data-driven decisionmaking, his detail orientation, and his ability to learn and adapt processes to a sales environment. Elliott appreciated these skills because they complemented his own; he had joined The Elmwood Group upon graduating from high school and had worked his way up the ranks to become a divisional general manager. Elliott was not considered a stellar performer, but he was viewed as a loyal and dependable senior manager who consistently delivered results. After three years as assistant sales manager, Gallagher was promoted to sales manager after the incumbent retired. Six months after this promotion, the division’s vice-president announced that Gallagher was moving to Windsor to replace another sales manager. At company functions over that past two years, Gallagher has developed a relationship with the division’s vice-president, Thomas Lockie, Elliot’s immediate superior. Lockie considered Gallagher to be one of the most promising managers he had ever met, and he made a note to track Gallagher’s progress. Gallagher

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viewed his move to Windsor as a fast-track promotion, initiated because the vice-president wanted to groom Gallagher for bigger challenges within the company. Gallagher, who is married to a chartered accountant, had purchased a house in Windsor, and he and his wife had become actively involved in the community, joining the private Essex Golf and Country Club and attending many charity and social events. Gallagher was very comfortable with his personal and professional life in Windsor.

PERFORMANCE COACHING DISCUSSION

Gallagher is 28 years old and has been in his current role as sales manager in Windsor for one year. During his first four years at Elmwood, he received several salary increases, reflecting his exceptional performance ratings. Gallagher was viewed as a rising star by his previous manager and was part of Elmwood’s leadership talent pool. In previous 360-degree reviews, Gallagher gave himself high ratings on virtually every competency, and his former manager matched those ratings on all competencies and even gave Gallagher higher ratings on some. In the past, Gallagher has received vague feedback about his people skills. David Elliott, the general manager who hired Gallagher, once casually told him that “this [interpersonal relations] is something you have to work on,” but Elliott did not elaborate. Gallagher did not take this piece of advice seriously, especially since neither Elliott nor Gallagher believed in the need for “soft skills.” In Gallagher’s mind, Elmwood mainly values strong results, which can more than compensate for a gap on the “soft” side. Gallagher’s new boss moved to Ottawa nine months ago to accept the position of general manager for a division of The Elmwood Group, and has scheduled an annual performance coaching discussion with Gallagher. The general manager asked Gallagher to provide a self assessment of his performance (see Exhibit 1). Role and Responsibilities

As sales manager, Gallagher is the point of contact for large accounts, is responsible for developing and implementing sales plans, and manages a diverse group of employees, including an assistant sales manager, business development managers and onsite support staff such as site accountants. He also works closely with the purchasing team to set and update price plans for key accounts, represents the company at industry or building association functions, and is responsible for staying abreast of key indicator trends such as housing starts. Managing and developing employees constitutes a significant component of Gallagher’s new role (40 per cent). Performance

Gallagher is a top-tier employee with exceptional business performance. He has a systematic approach to problem-solving and looks for root causes. As a business development manager, Gallagher’s accomplishments include developing and implementing a customer relationship management system. However, Gallagher’s direct reports are not pleased with his leadership. After three months at the Windsor location, two of his direct reports asked for transfers to other locations, citing job-related stress. Gallagher

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considered their departures as “desirable turnover” since in his view they had some difficulties in living up to his high performance expectations. In another instance, two business development managers quietly complained to him that they were missing their children’s hockey tournament to deal with a thorny client issue over the weekend. In Gallagher’s view, he was an effective delegator who empowered his people to do their jobs. After the most recent round of 360-degree feedback, Gallagher was seen walking around in a bad mood. His direct reports had rated him below expectations whereas his self ratings were high. In Gallagher’s mind, this was just an unfortunate misunderstanding. Gallagher believes that his direct reports, some of whom were peers before his promotion to Windsor, have banded together to undermine his career progress and are jealous of his success. INDIVIDUAL ROLE PREPARATION

Although you graduated with a marketing degree from the University of Toronto, you have since taken an interest in sales, climbing the ranks at The Elmwood Group (Elmwood). You do not hesitate to show displeasure through the use of facial expressions. Some people have asked you to make more of an effort to contain your emotions, but you believe there is nothing to be gained from timidity. To make an omelette, you’ve got to break a few eggs, right? The paradox you face is that while you feel a need to freely dispense advice, you are unable to stomach negative feedback, no matter how constructive it may be. According to your managers, you’ve always performed well, and that’s good enough for you. You like to trust your gut, offering unsolicited advice on a whim. You’ve been told by your former sales manager that you have a “hard edge,” and you have tried to soften it by cracking jokes, especially when you have to ask your employees (whom you see as subordinates, not colleagues) to come into work on weekends. You think of yourself as a three-star general in command of a highly efficient, highly obedient force, and you developed this mental model of an authority figure by watching interviews with business executives on CNN. Your new general manager has asked you for a self-assessment of your performance. You’ve provided it (see Exhibit 1), but you don’t see the point of this exercise since, in your own opinion, you are clearly head and shoulders above your peers. If something critical is said during the upcoming discussion of your selfassessment, you may look at the new general manager with a look of incredulity. You will say something like, “Why am I listening to this?” You don’t believe you need to change. And you believe that as long as Thomas Lockie, the company’s vice-president (and your personal mentor), believes you’re alright, then you are alright. As Gallagher, prepare your objectives and your approach for the upcoming performance coaching discussion with your boss. Adopt Gallagher’s personality, motivators, and beliefs to credibly portray this role. Gallagher is a confident person who would be highly employable elsewhere and would not hesitate to leave Elmwood if his ego were bruised.

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Exhibit 1 DARCY GALLAGHER’S SELF-ASSESSMENT BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE General Subject Running the Business

Competency

Description

1. Business Innovator

Understands developments within own industry. Looks at innovative ways of doing things. Puts new ideas into action.

2. Organizes for Alignment

Level Attained

-

Job Requirement

=

Gap

10

10

0

Aligns individual, departmental, company and corporate objectives.

5

5

0

3. Technologically Inclined

Understands and uses different technologies and tools to increase productivity and improve efficiency of projects.

5

5

0

Finance

4. Financial Acumen

Understands and manages financial objectives of job; can plan and implement cost-efficient initiatives.

10

5

5

Marketing & Sales

5. Puts Customers First

Strives to create the most value for the customer (internal and external) that results in mutual long-term success.

10

10

0

6. Keen Competitive Awareness

Able to identify current and potential competitors, and understand their ability to impact our business.

10

10

0

10

10

0

10

10

0

Human Capital

7. Human Capital

8. Leadership Development

Hires and assigns personnel in their area of responsibility to maximize their effectiveness; Effectively develops personnel to maximize their personal growth and contribution to the organization. Invests considerable time and resources into planning for the development of the best people for the key roles in the organization (including own role).

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Exhibit 2 (continued) LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES & SKILLS General Subject Focused Drive

Emotional Intelligence

Trusted Influence

Competency

Leadership Skills

-

Job Requirement

=

Gap

1. Focus

10

5

5

2. Drive

Is motivated to consistently reach high levels of performance.

10

5

5

3. Understanding Others

The ability to use insight and empathy to understand the emotions and thoughts of others.

10

10

0

4. Emotional Maturity

The ability to control emotions and cope with stress in a way that instills confidence and motivates others.

10

10

0

10

10

0

10

5

5

10

10

0

10

10

0

5. Commitment

7. Innovation

8. Big Picture Thinking Systems Thinking

Level Attained

The ability to identify an important goal or vision and to concentrate efforts that support that goal or vision.

6. Empowerment

Conceptual Thinking

Description

The ability to earn respect and trust by keeping commitments, leading by example and recognizing the contributions of others. The ability to help others reach higher levels of performance through trust, delegation, participation and coaching. The ability to generate new ideas, products and processes by challenging traditional beliefs and thinking “outside the box”. The ability to identify and consider the overall impact of a decision or action on other departments, the company or the organization.

9. Process Thinking

The ability to design, improve or connect critical work processes to increase performance.

10

5

5

10. Mental Discipline

The ability to follow a logical thought process to a successful conclusion.

10

5

5

11. Leading Change

The skill of successfully leading others in times of internal or external change.

5

5

0

12. Coaching/ Mentoring

The ability to utilize a comfortable coaching style to improve performance.

10

10

0

13. Communication (Written, Oral, Listening)

The skill of communicating and relating to a broad range of people internally and externally.

5

5

0

14. Negotiation

The skill of arriving at and reaching understandings and agreements with a broad range of people internally and externally.

10

10

0

15. Problem Solving

The ability to recognize and systematically resolve complex problems.

10

5

5...