Page 136 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

Focusing on Results 125

stone to hit in the next two weeks to help them get back on track or give
them a short-term test to see if they can achieve a different goal. Another
alternative is to pair the person up with a colleague or coach for a next
assignment to see if they can learn how to produce more effectively. You
also can move the person to another role in your organization where they
might be more effective. Doing nothing, however, should not be one of your
choices. Letting poor performance slide without consequences sends your
whole team—and maybe your whole organization—the message that you
are not serious about achieving results.
In the XL case, holding people accountable was indeed a critical issue
for Macia, particularly since her predecessor had not enforced the delivery
of results to a great extent. Even though their past numbers weren’t great,
she couldn’t assume that the existing business leaders weren’t capable of
delivering, since nobody had ever held them to task. She had to give them
a chance.
The first test that Macia laid out was for each of her senior business
leaders to come up with a specific, measurable growth plan that would
collectively move the business to her goal of $3 billion in high-quality pre-
mium revenue within three years. Asking them to work with their teams
and figure out how to grow revenues profitably and without undue risk was
a challenge in and of itself, something that the leaders had not done before.
And as it turned out, a couple of the business leaders did not meet Macia’s
expectations. They did not think creatively enough, spur their teams to
come up with new ideas, collaborate with functional support areas, or re-
ally contribute to Macia’s overall team at the level she wanted. So instead of
waiting, Macia quickly replaced them. As she said, “I saw what we needed
and that some of the people weren’t right for these jobs. I agonized about it
but realized that I can only be as successful as the team around me.”
Macia didn’t just arbitrarily move people aside. While her business lead-
ers were working on their plans, she held a series of candid discussions with
each, talking about what she expected and what they were able to deliver.
And when it became clear that a couple of them couldn’t deliver, she took ac-
tion. She then continued to do this as the direct reports executed their plans,
very much like a short-term, turbocharged version of the performance