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FEBRUARY 27, 2006
By Jack and Suzy Welch Knowing When To Fold 'Em Feel you've reached the limit? Then look for a new job. No sense playing the victim You make the case that leaders should be candid. But what would you advise a middle manager whose leaders place challenging questions in the "parking lot" and tend to stunt (or end) the careers of people who keep asking them? -- Anonymous, Minneapolis Before answering, can we ask you an awful question? With all due respect, is the problem possibly you? Now and again, leaders ignore "challenging questions" because they're more annoying than constructive, and the people asking them are, too. If that's you, and you have the self-awareness to accept that unpleasant fact, our only suggestion is to redirect your energies toward real work, or you'll be in the "parking lot" before long. But let's assume that's not you, and that your questions are meaningful, if maybe a bit irritating. In that case, you're in one of two situations, neither of them optimal but both actionable. It could be you have a boss problem. That is, your boss is something of a jerk and can't handle open dialogue, particularly if it is potentially contentious. In that case, if you like your job well enough, your best bet is to wait it out for a while. In time, most good organizations identify stultifying idea-blockers and move them elsewhere or out. On the other hand, you could have a culture problem. Maybe the leadership in general does not relish constructive curiosity. In that case, you have a question to ask yourself: Does your job have enough upside to live with this overarching downside? About 12 years ago a friend of ours became marketing director of a consulting firm. Since then the firm has fared pretty well, but its three partners have remained steadfastly opaque. Employees never know what the partners are thinking about the firm's direction or how they rate each person's performance. The result: a sense of constant anxiety and confusion. Our friend, however, has no plans to give up the good money and the short commute. The work is interesting enough, he says, and he likes most of his colleagues. Yes, the leadership's lack of candor drives him nuts ("intermittently," as he puts it), and he feels that it has significantly hindered the firm's growth. But, he says, "I've traded an O.K. quality of work for a great quality of life." Like our friend, you can make peace with your situation. Or if you know you have reached your limit, you can look for another job. To hang around and complain under your breath is a fast track toward probably the worst workplace hell imaginable: victimhood. People with this self-infliction conceive of themselves as vanquished heroes. Their bosses see them as energy-sapping boors. Do not go there! Only you know what choice you will ultimately make. Just be sure you make it -- one way or another. For four years I ran a single store in a large national retail chain, but I was recently promoted to oversee multiple stores. I am finding, however, that I still worry more about the performance of my old store than what's going on at all my stores. -- Jerry Martellaro, Huntington Station, N.Y. You've nailed it, and bravo for that. Most people in your position don't have the self-confidence to realize they have fallen into one of the most common traps of moving up, namely, taking on a new job with enthusiasm but keeping one foot in the old. With your promotion, two people got new jobs: you and your replacement. As a leader, your task is to unleash the innovative ideas you both have. Neither of you can do that if you are spending your energy "going home" all the time. Instead, get to know your expanded world and raise the bar for all your stores. How? Start by thinking of your stores as labs. Yes, they all do roughly the same thing, but certainly some of them have methods or procedures that are more effective. Your job is to spot those best practices. You want everyone in all your stores talking about each other's best ideas and and improving them. That will add more value than looking over someone's shoulder. Transparency is another great tool to raise the bar. Make sure to share the comparative metrics of every store, ranked from best to worst. Such clarity works wonders. It's motivating for top-performing stores and signals to poor performers exactly where they can look for more effective approaches. A final way to raise the bar and avoid the "foot-in-the-old" trap is to conduct regular, rigorous performance evaluations. That allows you to reward managers who demonstrate the values you have laid out, coach your middle group, and weed out underperformers. The outcome: higher standards for all. Your new job is bigger than your old one. More important, it is different. You've got a lot to do, but it doesn't include what you used to do. Leave that to your replacement, who can get busy reinventing the "perfect situation" you left behind.  Jack and Suzy Welch are the authors of the international best-seller Winning (HarperCollins, 2005). They are eager to hear about your career dilemmas and challenges at work and look forward to answering your questions in future columns. Please e-mail them at thewelchway@businessweek.com.
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