How to Handle the Stretch for Maximum Learning

Carol was recently named head of HR for a large company after successfully running a line business. She was known as a terrific developer of people, and so the CEO of the company, hoping to enhance the reputation of HR, decided that Carol was the perfect candidate for the top HR position, even though other HR professionals may have been more qualified, based on their broader HR experience. The CEO was aware that this assignment would be a stretch for Carol, but he also knew that development and talent acquisition were the two major issues facing the company; so he appointed Carol. We’ve been working with her to help make this transition go smoothly, and in one of our sessions together, Carol observed that she had learned three things about the assignment:

1. To trust her instincts because she didn’t know enough to rely only on her experience

2. To assess whom she could and couldn’t trust on her team

3. To determine how fast she should move to change things versus accept the status quo

Carol has the right idea. Her first point about trusting instincts is a leadership lesson we’ve emphasized earlier, but it’s especially relevant here. In the midst of confusion and uncertainty because of your lack of knowledge and skills, trusting your gut is critical. This is a challenge for many executives who have always trusted their experience or the data. In a stretch assignment, you don’t have this luxury. Relying on your instincts involves a certain amount of self-reflection rather than external analysis. You need to contemplate what seems like the right decision or course of action, even though you don’t have hard evidence to back up this feeling. Remind yourself that your instincts have served you well in the past; you wouldn’t be in a stretch assignment unless you had made some good intuitive choices. We’re not suggesting that you should rely on your instincts for every decision, but use them when you simply have no other way of knowing what to do.

Her second point about team trust acknowledges that instinct will only take you so far; there are times when you must rely on experts who have greater experience and expertise in an area than you do. This means you have to interact with your team members—make the time to talk to them, listen to them, and get to know them—so you can figure out whom you can lean on when necessary. Certain people you won’t be able to trust; in these instances, you must set limits. In many instances, we’ve seen a new appointee to a stretch position undermined by team members who are pursuing their own agendas; they’re taking advantage of the team leader’s vulnerability and waste valuable time on pet projects or even sabotage his efforts. If you can’t trust people in your stretch assignment, monitor their activities closely and don’t depend on them to deliver for you.

Carol’s third learning is developing a sense of how quickly you can step in and start making changes. This is a complex issue, in that you don’t know enough to be sure what changes are warranted, at least initially. The temptation when you don’t know something is to rely on the status quo. Of course, if you just follow the footsteps of others or rely on past performance when you know change is necessary, you’ll still fail. Here it helps if you have a network within the organization with whom you can discuss contemplated changes and the advisability of implementing now rather than later. Someone who knows the politics of the organization can help you assess the impact and can coach you through the difficult decisions that usually come with change. Carol is reaching out to as broad and diverse a set of advisers as possible, sometimes obtaining conflicting advice, which then helps her clarify her own instincts.

I discovered the advantage of not being an expert, in the sense that you can sometimes see the essence of problems and the position at hand in a new way. I had to learn to collate a sample of input when I could certainly not rely on one single expert. I would basically collect opinions, and I learned to formulate ideas this way to make decision making even better.

Thomas Ebeling, CEO, Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Finally, we would add one other approach for handling this passage effectively: Be aware of where you are as a leader now, where you need to go, and how you might bridge this gap.

A stretch assignment is a great opportunity to develop what you’re missing. The very nature of a stretch is that you’re going to be doing things you haven’t done before. If you’re conscious of the skills, knowledge, and values you’re missing, you can focus on acquiring at least some of what you lack. If you don’t know what your development needs are, then learning is a hit-or-miss endeavor. Your boss or a coach can help you become more aware of the gap.