Do you know what a dead-end promotion is?
It’s where someone gets “promoted” only to find that all their predecessors were:
A) fired
B) they resigned before A happened
It’s a promotion you don’t want, nor should it be one you give to someone else.
You can also find yourself in this position when you leave one company for another.
That is why the package offered was so attractive.
You knew there had to be a catch.
A similar situation can occur when you’re dropped in to manage a team or project with problems.
You weren’t told by some smiling but devious boss just how big the problem was.
“On you go Steve or Julie, we know you’ll do a great job.”
If you’ve watched movies like The Bourne Supremacy, you can see that kind of scapegoating in action.
But Pam, the intended victim, was smarter than the plotters, and you can be too.
Having been in this position, I can pass on the following advice.
If it’s a financial problem,
Go through every revenue and expense line until you understand better than anyone else which products have the best and worst margins.
Don’t ask the team you’re managing because nine times out of ten, they won’t know (hence the problem).
If there are unruly team members, take out (not the way Jason Bourne does it) the biggest troublemaker first.
Either they get straightened out, or they go somewhere else.
Move to the next person, and repeat.
If a project is failing, it might be a skills problem.
Get your people the training they need to do the job or, in Bourne speak, to complete the mission.
And that’s where our Ten Days To Trade Show Ready training course can help you or someone who works for you.
If you have a show coming up in the autumn, now is the time to prepare or to instigate training.
You’ll find full details on what it covers here.
Very best,