How many times have we been called in to finish something we didn’t start? Maybe you’ve just been hired into a new organization, or you’ve just been promoted into a new role, or even – you’ve just been elected to serve as President of the United States.
Cleaning up a mess, especially when you weren’t involved in the steps leading up to the mess (or didn’t necessarily agree with the actions that led to the mess) is a tricky situation for anyone. But, it happens all the time. The challenge is, how do you quickly ramp up, figure out what needs to be done, and accomplish your goals in the most responsible and ethical way? What kinds of things do you have to consider, weigh out, and ultimately implement, in order to fix a politically-charged, complex problem?
Part of what President Obama talked about in his speech last night, which marked the end of the Iraqi War (or “Operation Iraqi Freedom”), was “the US troops’ completion of their mission”. This got me thinking, how can you truly determine when something is “officially completed”, especially when you weren’t involved in setting up the original parameters for success and/or failure?
In a human capital capacity, as a new team member, team leader, or even CEO, how do you carry programs and projects forward to completion when you weren’t the one to initiate them? Take Leadership Development programs for example, the importance of these are growing by the minute. Most of us in L&D roles, are likely to be focused on High-Potential programs as we work to identify and grow our organizations’ future leaders. Many of these programs we may not have created ourselves, however we are ultimately responsible for their successful implementation and results. An effective team member or leader focuses on ways to achieve reasonable success in light of the legacy problems they have encountered.
President Obama also touched on the theme of “transitioning responsibility and accountability to the Iraqi people”, as a result of US Combat Troops withdrawing from Iraq. From a human capital perspective, we’re quite familiar with this change management process. Typically, this involves processes incorporating elements of knowledge transfer, coaching and targeted development in order to prepare the new organization (or leadership structure) to assume authority and achieve effectiveness.
There are always great leadership lessons to be learned from our presidents. Last night’s speech from President Obama highlighted important development lessons as well. Sometimes, it is less important to look back and focus on why you’re in the situation you’re in, and instead “turn the page” and be future-focused in order to develop pragmatic solutions to the legacy problems you’ve inherited. Part of turning the page however, is providing support to the new organization during times of transition.
Let’s apply these lessons to our own human capital practices, remembering that at the end of the day, talent development is always important as long as you can complete your mission and have measurable results that have a positive impact on the organization.
Interested in hearing other important leadership and talent management lessons from the public sector? Don’t forget to register for our upcoming 2nd Annual Government Talent Management Summit.
