Just One Hat To Get Ahead

While the Mad Hatter of Alice in Wonderland fame was just a slightly crazy dude who was totally into tea parties, it seems that quite a few of us are being driven mad by the sheer amount of hats we need to wear at work.

The irony is, with just a few tweaks to our organisation’s strategy, it doesn’t have to be that way.

Google the phrase “wearing too many hats at work”, and you come back with more than 71 million results. I think it’s fair to say that it’s a popular topic.

I’ve also seen it in my own experience - the chaos that can ensue when clients responsible for the management makeup of their organisations don’t upgrade their thinking.

It’s enough to make a consultant weep!

Take, for example, the organisation that was hobbled with an outdated hierarchical organisational structure and leadership.

They operated in a volatile ICT environment - can you imagine what happened when they added an 18-month dose of COVID 19 and stirred gently? Boom!

If they had done one thing differently, it would have made the majority of their problems disappear - get rid of their leaders’ multiple hats!

For years their strategy to grow management had been to promote or hire people who were experts in their field of technology - essentially, subject matter experts - as new managers.

And then they left them to get on with things.

Without the upskilling required these new managers were caught in a loop - highly skilled at what they used to do, or what their team was responsible for, but short on the key skills of relationships, management and leadership.

You can imagine what then happened in a crisis - leaders retreated to their safe (expert) space, muscled in on the downline action, micro managed and turned inward to protect their patch rather than embrace opportunity.

Have you ever seen two teams of 8 year old kids playing Aussie rules football? Like flies round fertiliser, every single one of them is chasing the ball and no one has an eye on strategy, no one is in defence and no one is planning the next move should their team gain possession.

Everyone is swarming around the volatility, while business as usual is suffering and becomes under-resourced. It’s an entirely unsustainable way of working.

Welcome to task based leadership!

The subject matter expert turned manager is suddenly wearing too many hats. While they are trying to establish themselves in a new position and master a new discipline, new set of skills and new way of working, they’re using their old tried and tested way of positioning themselves because they don’t yet have any other credibility currency to use. If they can’t rest on their subject matter laurels, and they’re not yet adept at leadership how do they show up as a leader? So they try to wear both hats simultaneously and end up doing neither well. 

Compare this to another approach. By all means appoint the same person with the same credentials but change the focus. Make it clear to both HR and candidates that you are recruiting for a Strategy and People leader. Design your role description, KPIs and recruitment decisions around that critical difference. Provide support, up skilling and clear expectations from the outset, and you will see a quantum change in how your management team grows and matures. Having to wear only one hat unburdens your leaders, creates focus, and concentrates energy.

The support and skilling aspect post-recruitment is crucial, so don’t lose momentum when the new recruit is in the chair. A crisis won’t help them to suddenly ‘step up’. If they’re not skilled for it now, then they’re not ready for it when it inevitably happens.

In his book ‘The E-Myth Revisited’, Michael Gerber sets out the challenges for small business owners who need to be technician, manager and entrepreneur, and guides them how to navigate that pathway. However, even while they need to adopt all three roles, they’re never required to perform them concurrently.

Larger organisations have the luxury of discrete roles for individuals, and while crossover knowledge, skills and experience are a useful common ground for teams and leaders, those leaders should be encouraged to develop away from the technical and towards key leadership skills.

Even before you recruit, set your expectations for new leaders, and make them clear to all. For existing leaders, assess the knowledge and experience gaps. Upskill them to close those gaps, and provide ongoing support to help them have a continually higher strategic view.

When you’re operating in the Wonderland of COVID-normal 21st century, give your leaders the privilege of wearing just one high quality piece of headgear.

If there is just one take-away for you, it’s this; challenge your senior leaders to avoid the short term, low value, quick result SME option. Instead, insist that all managers and supervisors - including you - wear one hat – leader.