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continued from page 1
Challenges of a technician in a leadership role
On the left side of this gradient the focus on is the person and on the right side of the gradient the focus is
on developing others. From the list on the previous page it should be obvious that "Technicians" are great in
technical roles but struggle as leaders and can leave a wake of damage. When these business people get out
of their comfort zone the previously listed challenges will be amplified drastically as will the stress they feel
and radiate. Such as when the business environment gets competitive and margins decrease. Those that
make the transition from "Technician" to "Leader" work through the challenges because of a sincere passion
to be a leader and builder of people. They usually have a coach or mentor to minimize the learning curve and
mistakes. They know they don't know what they don't know so look to invest in their leadership
development. It's just like needing a Sherpa to climb a new mountain. Destiny is not a matter of chance, it
is a matter of choice. William Jennings Bryan.
Obviously people are what a growing company eventually will need to continue to grow. Systems and
processes needed for employees are a distraction at best for technicians. They tend to be very black and
white in how they view things. Very different from the creative perspective needed for the evolution to keep
an company relevant for it's customers. Top Sales reps usually take a situation that looks less than ideal and
build a valued solution. Technicians dismiss or discourage the effort (as not a obvious win) until it becomes
reality and then will take credit for it. Technician managers usually have high turnover and low productivity.
We observed an above average sales rep get promoted to sales manager of a major company and terminate
all but one in her district with in 2 months of being promoted. She didn't hit quota for over 3 years and
ended up leaving. Slash and burn is the label for this management style. What were the cost to the company
from that promotion.
Technicians attract a couple of types of employees. People like themselves, entrepreneurs (technicians
going into management) that want few controls and high risk reward. Or diamonds in the rough, people that
need a start somewhere so they can get experience and move into the big leagues. Both are huge risks. The
entrepreneur will soon decide their "manager" is not as good as they are and start to figure out if they can
take over or find a better fit. The diamond in the rough will put up with the technicians just long enough to
get enough experience to get a real job in a real company with a future. This Ole saying is a believe of most
technicians: "I'll put wood in the fire place as soon as heat comes out of it" or "I'll put more wood in the
fireplace as soon as more heat comes out." Lets analyze those thoughts. The technician will not invest any
more of his or her money or other resources (company or personal) unless you (employee) invest your time,
knowledge, skills and experience and produce results there by increasing my (technician) income. The
employee will be rewarded for this risk and investment by the salary continuation program. The
compensation package is usually far below industry standards. If the employee were so talented that they
could develop their own resources and invest their time to produce sales wouldn't they be working for a
leader that would invest in them. The "Master Leader" sees talent as an investment and is willing to invest
appropriately for the experience ahead of time because they know their vision is solid they just need the
talent to make it happen.
The interesting thing about most "technicians" is how predictable and how uncoachable they are
unfortunately. The most interesting thing of all is that technicians will read this and think we are talking
about them specifically. I suppose that's like your kids believing they are the only ones going through the
experiences of the growing years and parents amazement for how much easier it could be if they just learned
from their parents experience and yet they don't. For most technicians not working towards Master Leaders
there is not a thing anyone can do. They will fly their business right into the ground and you can only hope
they survive and learn from the experience. You would not believe how often we see this happen.
"Technicians" that do not make that transition and find their productivity decreasing have a couple of
reactions. Some will try to grow and evolve only to realize that the work and financial challenges they
experienced to get to the first plateau are nothing compared to the investment needed for the next. When
they first make the decision to grow they act very open minded and committed. We hear things like "What
ever it takes, even if I have to change!" Then the realization of the needed investment hits them and they
recoil drastically. They are usually not willing to risk what they can't believe they have already achieved.
They also do not want to let go of their perspective that got them where they are. Usually the recoil is with
significant emotion. They now are in the same boat with the "technicians" that choose the path of trying to
hold on to the business and their role as it is. At this point we hear things like "this business has worked for
years, this doesn't make sense". Their distrust, stress and tension levels increase and their self-reflection
decreases. These traits tend to build a toxic culture that causes atrophy.
We see these traits in department managers, sales managers all the way up to core team members. They
loose their best people and retain the least capable because they are not marketable. Watching this happen
is like watching someone try to hold onto sand. The tighter they hold on the more it seems to slip away.
The customers change, technology changes, competition changes and they are usually totally oblivious to it.
They are so busy trying to protect what they have from all those they don't trust. This may shed some light
on why so many businesses and managers fail.
Why go into this much depth about technicians? They are our target market. The percentage that are
coachable, sincerely want to learn and are willing to invest in themselves are the people we want to coach.
The easy part of business are the systems and processes, we have developed and implemented them for
years. The tough part is identifying the potential Master Leaders but we believe they are a worthy market.
Some do make the transition to Master Leader!
What does the Master Leader perspective look like?
| Technician |
| No relevant skills |
| Technician |
| Leader |
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| Daley Group, LLC A Daley Global Enterprises Company |