As more and more companies move to a flatter, faster and leaner organization model, it’s becoming more common for leaders to find themselves with a new “broad-scope” boss that may have little to no experience or skills in their specific domain. What can YOU do in this scenario? Watch Bobbie LaPorte’s November 13 “Calling the Game” video for three steps you can take to turn a potentially uncomfortable situation into a positive step forward.
Using Your Functional Skills and Domain Knowledge to Navigate a New “Broad-Scope Boss”
Hi, this is Bobbie LaPorte, back with another week of “Calling the Game,” where I share my own experience and insights while giving you valuable tools you can use to call your own game…and plan the best moves for you and your team.
This week, I wanted to talk about a trend I’ve been seeing – specifically, where you get a new boss who has little or no experience in your functional area or domain. It sounds a little odd, but it is happening more and more.
Why? Companies are continuing to make themselves more efficient – and that generally means flatter, faster, leaner. And that increasingly means tapping talented leaders who have broad operational experience that can be applied to revamp processes, build structure, and capitalize on opportunities – despite not having specific functional or domain knowledge in their new areas.
Like…..a general marketer who is asked to run a specific go-to-market function or a successful people ops exec who has been tasked with building the commercial operation for a growing business.
There are many–and growing–examples of this movement to deploy leaders to areas where their general skills are more needed – and relevant – than specific functional/technical expertise.
So, if this happens to you, how do you respond?
Here are three things to consider:
- What experience, skills, and talents does this leader have that you don’t, and how do they fill possible gaps/development areas you’ve identified to advance your career?
- What can this leader learn from you? Remember….your functional skills and domain knowledge will be important to this new leader’s success.
- Use this change as an opportunity to rep your team. Give this new leader what they need to become active advocates and supporters for your team and for you. Remember: self-promotion is about sharing your successes with people who matter.
Look at the positive side of this instead of seeing it as slight to your experience. You definitely have currency in this situation, whether it’s subject matter knowledge, your in-positional perspective on what the department needs, or resources that can be helpful to your new leader’s agenda.
OK, that’s it for this week’s “Calling the Game.” Hope this helps you gear up for a great week and navigate any curveballs that may come your way!