Monday January 30, 2012
How can you tell if your leadership position may be in jeopardy or you may be at risk of losing that position? There are four signs that typically show up when someone’s role is danger of being eliminated or replaced.
First, you may begin to notice that you are being excluded from things where you once were included. For example, there may be project teams or strategic planning meetings you once were normally a part of and now you aren’t invited to these meetings or perhaps finding out about them after the fact.
Next, you may start to notice some of your responsibilities are decreasing; not your typical job responsibilities but the extra tasks or project teams you once led are no longer being assigned to you. An example of this may be that someone else is leading an annual strategic review team or a new business development team that you once led.
Another sign that your leadership role may be at risk is you are not getting as much exposure as you once received. Perhaps you once were your boss’s back-up when he or she was out of the office and now that responsibility is given to someone else. Or, maybe you are no longer attending higher level meetings in place of your boss as much as you once were or being called on to present to senior leadership teams as much as you once were. These are all subtle yet important signs which you should take note of.
The fourth and most obvious sign that your role may be in jeopardy is a decrease in your performance rating. This is usually the very last sign and often happens after the other items already noted have been occurring, which is why you want to pay attention and notice when things begin to change. Ultimately you want to try to address the first three items before the last sign of the decreased performance rating appears.
If you notice these signs and are concerned that your role is in jeopardy, you will want to take some actions that either help you improve your performance in your current role or perhaps look for a new role.
Next week’s blog post will address how to approach these situations and take control of your own destiny if your role is at risk.
