A CONVERSATION WITH JOHN BEESON, AUTHOR OF THE UNWRITTEN RULES: THE SIX SKILLS YOU NEED TO GET PROMOTED TO THE EXECUTIVE LEVEL

(Jossey-Bass, October 2010)

 John Beeson is Principal of Beeson Consulting

• Why did you write The Unwritten Rules?

In my 30-plus years of succession planning and talent development work at top-tier companies, I routinely observe two distressing phenomena. On one hand virtually every company I work with bemoans its lack of talent to fill the executive-level positions that need to be filled at an increasing rate. On the other, I see talented managers who are frustrated by their inability to get ahead with their careers and confused about what they need to work on to advance. I find this disconnect concerning.

I’ve also observed that there is a relatively short list of factors that companies actually use in deciding whom to promote to the executive level. By revealing them in the book, my goal is to enable aspiring managers to take greater ownership of their careers. When they know what skills to focus on, they can be much more targeted in their personal development efforts. Further, I’m hoping to prompt companies to be more explicit in articulating the factors they use in making executive promotion and placement decisions (as opposed to the “nice to have’s” that don’t usually tip the balance) and provide their managers with direct and constructive feedback about where they stand in terms of those factors—the starting point for their development. Often, the feedback that aspiring managers hear doesn’t fully reflect what their bosses are thinking.  I believe we can achieve a win-win on both sides: talented managers who have greater control over their career success and companies that are more efficient at executive development and maximizing their talent.  Both are especially important in a lean economy. 

• Why do so many talented managers and business people get stuck in careers or jobs that they find frustrating?

While talented managers get lots of feedback—about how they are performing in their current jobs, how they did in leading a project, and so forth, they rarely get the feedback that really counts—feedback about how they are viewed by those who make executive placement decisions. Without knowing where you stand in terms of their companies’ criteria for advancement to the executive level, you’re pretty much in the dark about the skills you need to develop and demonstrate. Seeing peers get promoted and executive positions filled from outside only adds to the frustration. To address this situation companies need to get over their inhibitions about providing constructive feedback. These inhibitions stem from several sources: the fact that the leadership skills required for executive success are somewhat subjective; the difficulties that most companies face in gathering together the right group of executives to discuss and identify a manager’s key strengths and development needs; and fear of de-motivating or losing a strong performer.

• Is The Unwritten Rules really relevant in a downturn economy?  Aren't we in an era when people just want to keep their jobs, let alone move up?

Although the pace of promotion in many organizations has slowed due to the recession, many people lose sight of the fact that promotional opportunities will rebound when the economy strengthens and Baby Boom-era executives are in a position to retire. My recommendation is that managers who aspire to the C-suite level use this time to prepare themselves to be “first off the bench” when the promotional landscape opens up. This is actually the perfect time to pay attention to messages about ways to improve your career prospects.

• What, in a nutshell, are the unwritten rules?

The “unwritten rules” are the often poorly-articulated factors that companies use to decide who does and doesn’t get promoted to the executive or C-suite level. They include the “non-negotiables,” the capabilities you need to display to even be considered as a candidate—such as ethics, integrity and a strong desire to lead—and the de-selection factors that prevent an otherwise high-performing manager from being a serious candidate, for example, putting one’s self interest above that of the company good or a narrow, parochial perspective on the business. Finally, there are the core selection factors: the skills that, when all the discussion is over, are most critical in decisions about who advances to the executive level.

• You mention that there are six skills needed to get ahead.  What are they?

In most companies those who make executive-level decisions look for evidence of your skills related to five fundamental tasks of executive management—plus one capability, executive presence, that helps build confidence in your ability to succeed at that level.

The first factor relates to your strategic skills: your ability to think strategically, to establish a sense of direction and priorities, and to engage others behind that vision of the future. The second skill: building a strong management team to leverage your efforts—with an emphasis on identifying and attracting strong players onto you team. The third skill is managing priorities but doing so in a way that you don’t get unduly sucked into the minute details. Exhibiting the capacity for innovation and change is the fourth skill. That involves the ability to depart from the status quo and lead large-scale change when circumstances require it. The fifth skill is the ability to work across organizational boundaries. Many managers suffer from a misunderstanding of this skill. It’s not being a team player for the sake of being a collaborative. It’s the ability to work with and through others—based on an understanding of how the organization works—to get things done.

The sixth skill, executive presence, is the most visceral of the six. It relates to your ability to establish your credibility as a leader quickly and serves as a “preview of coming attractions” about your ability to operate successfully at the executive. Beyond dress and carriage, executive presence involves projecting a sense that you can take control of difficult and unpredictable situations, make tough decisions in a timely way, and hold your own with other talented and strong-willed members of the executive team.

• Why are performance reviews so tricky - hard for managers to give and hard for employees to make sense of?

Normal performance reviews are typically a poor source for the feedback that really counts. Most managers focus their feedback on how you are performing in your current job—as opposed to whether you are displaying the skills needed to move up to the C-suite level.  Strategic skills or the ability to drive innovation and change, tend to be somewhat subjective and thus open to interpretation by different executives. Your manager may not feel comfortable that his or her view of your leadership skills is shared by upper level management. If that’s the case, your manager will usually shy away from direct feedback and steer the review back to the elements of your performance in your current job which are easier to substantiate.

• What do people who really want to move up in the rungs to the C-Suite - but find their journey stalled - do wrong?

First, managers who aspire to the executive level fall into the all-too-natural trap of believing that strong results in their current job and at their current level will guarantee advancement. They miss the fact that the requirements for success at more senior levels are different from succeeding at their current level. One example of a senior skill is being able to delegate and still manage implementation—without getting unduly stuck in the details of execution. Many managers at the middle level of the organization succeed by being intimately involved in virtually every activity or decision. That’s fine at the middle management level, but those who make executive-level promotion decisions know it can be a constraining factor at higher levels.

Another mistake is not being skilled at “teasing out” feedback about what you need to develop and display to breed confidence in you on the part of senior-level decision makers. Feedback, if it is forthcoming at all, tends to be highly couched or coded. I’ve seen managers get feedback that they need to improve their “personal leadership” or “communication” skills. The people who give this feedback may be thinking – but not saying – that you’re too wedded to the status quo or lack the ability to resolve conflict with peers. So, managers looking to move up need to learn to solicit specific feedback and get to the core issues.

• What do people who make it to the top generally do right?

They understand that C-suite jobs require different skills, and they’re aggressive about managing their careers to develop and display them. They’re able to distinguish between the “must have” skills and the “nice to haves,” and they devote their energies accordingly. For example, most managers know that it’s important to build a strong management team in order to succeed. However, those who ultimately succeed understand that the key lever in building a team is talent, and they devote time and attention to bringing in strong players who, collectively, build a strong team. While they may devote effort to other team-building activities, they never lose sight of the fact that attracting talented staff is the primary lever of building a strong team.

Winners are also conscious of the need to expand their perspective on their industry and the business and learn how the organization really works. This allows them to increase their strategic thinking ability and establishes a foundation for getting things done across organizational lines, which is critically important to getting ahead.

• Is there an "unspoken truth" about getting ahead in big corporations?

Your career planning needs to factor in what I call “demonstration opportunities”: jobs or other assignments that allow you to display the required skills.  In virtually every company I work with, producing predictable results in your current job and at your current level is a baseline requirement for advancement, the “table stakes” just to be under consideration. The trick for the manager who aspires to get ahead is finding ways to breed confidence on the part of those who make C-suite level placement decisions. This means finding ways to determine the promotional criteria these decision makers use and also figuring out how to display your skills to those senior people so they feel comfortable putting you into an executive position. Having your boss vouch for your skills isn’t enough. You need to identify opportunities to demonstrate your skills directly to those more senior-level decision makers or to people within the organization whose opinions they trust.

• Do companies do the best job they can developing the leaders of tomorrow?  If not, why?

Although most companies say they are interested in developing leadership strength for the future, I find that most focus on the wrong things to achieve that objective. Too many companies invest their developmental dollars in splashy, “one-size-fits-all” management training programs—although study after study indicates that management training in the narrow classroom sense is rarely an important development experience for executives. Further, most companies do a poor job communicating the reasons why managers do and don’t get promoted to the executive level (what I call the “unwritten rules”), so aspiring managers don’t know where to devote their developmental efforts. Finally, few companies encourage the breadth of career experience – job assignments in different functions and business units, for instance – that broadens a manager’s perspective on the business and the organization.

• Whose fault is it that so many people find that their career progress is lagging - employees themselves, or managers?

I’ll point the finger at both. Companies need to do a better job of articulating those factors that really make a difference when it comes to deciding who does and doesn’t get placed in C-suite positions. Companies need to have the courage to sit down with their managers and let them know where they stand: what skills they have demonstrated and the abilities they need to display in order to get ahead. They also need to ensure the manager is given the space and opportunity to develop and display the required skills. If not, they need to help move the manager into a position where he or she can.

At the same time, the aspiring manager has to be proactive and skilled in seeking out feedback about how they’re perceived in terms of their company’s unwritten rules of advancement. Assuming you’re successful at that, you need to be open to the feedback and respond accordingly. I see too many managers respond defensively. Whether the feedback is accurate or not is beside the point. How you are viewed by senior executives who make C-suite decisions will determine whether or not you advance to the executive level. So, if you’re successful in getting this feedback, the ball is in your court to respond to it.

• What if you want to move up, but lack some of those skills?

Some companies have executive-level positions where the leader is responsible for a relatively small team focused on a technical area, for example corporate tax or government relations. If you conclude that you are not capable of developing the full range of executive selection factors described in The Unwritten Rules, set your sights on these kinds of positions where there is a premium on your technical skills and experience.

• What is the most important piece of advice you can give to someone who yearns for a leadership position, but doesn't quite know how to get there?

First, understand that succeeding at the executive level calls for a set of skills very different from those that lead to success at the manager level. Work hard to “tease out” the skills that are most critical in making executive placement decisions in your organization and, most importantly, get a sense of how you are viewed by your company’s senior leaders in terms of those skills. Beyond developing those capabilities, find ways to demonstrate your skills to those who make executive-level promotional decisions so that they become confident about your ability to succeed at that level.

• Your book has so many interesting anecdotes.  What do you think the most important one is - the one with the best lessons for readers?

There are some anecdotes about managers who received candid feedback about “chinks in their armor” in terms of key executive skills and then showed the ability to respond aggressively and effectively to the feedback. For example, Craig Gallagher received some tough messages that weakness on his team was seen as an obstacle to his organization’s future growth. Fred Henderson learned that his difficulties in working effectively with peers across his new company were creating a real vulnerability to his continued success. Both Craig and Fred dug deep to internalize this feedback and worked hard to shore up their deficiencies, and both succeeded as a result.