How to Manage an Eager Report Who’s Not Ready to Lead

Brief 

Leaders who have ambitious reports who are not yet qualified for promotion must manage both their expectations and those of their employees and offer honest feedback on where they’re excelling and need improvement, writes Ed Batista. “While it’s your responsibility to learn how to deliver critical feedback in a way that’s less likely to evoke a defensive response, this is also a valuable opportunity to assess your employee’s ability to hear criticism and take responsibility for setbacks, which is a significant indicator of future success,” Batista writes.

Insight

A theme in my practice is the leader with an ambitious employee who’s anxious to be promoted, sometimes to the point of urgency.

Most of these people share a set of common characteristics: very high expectations for their professional accomplishments, a nagging sense that they’re “behind” in some way, and an idealized vision of the happiness (or relief) they’ll experience when they achieve their goal.

But their talents and capabilities can differ substantially, of course. Some of them are already operating at an elite level, and their ambition is entirely justified. Others are just as obviously not at an elite level, and their ambition is sadly misguided.

But most of them fall somewhere in the middle–they show substantial potential, but they haven’t yet clearly demonstrated that they merit a bigger role, a new title, or increased compensation.

In my work with leaders facing this challenge, I encourage them to bear those common characteristics in mind while tailoring their approach to suit the employee’s current and potential contributions. If you’re in a similar situation, what might this look like?

Managing Expectations (1)

With an obvious elite performer, the leader’s task is to manage their expectations–but not in the way you might think. Conventional expectation management entails counseling patience, but that’s not what I mean here.