derailment factors

8/4/2019 Derailment Factors

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© 2002 TataCorporation

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Derailment Factors

What to watch out for?



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Agenda

Introduction to Derailment Factors

Derailment Factors andcharacteristics

YOUR Next Steps



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What are Derailment Factors?

Derailment factors are personal characteristics that, if exhibited in the workplace, are likely to result in failure as a professional

They are exhibited by both

leaders as well as by individual performers



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Derailment Factor Categories include:

Lack of Adaptability

Lack of Self Awareness

Lack of Work/Life Balance

Lack of Self Control

Lack of Interpersonal Acumen

Lack of Independence

Lack of Trustworthiness

Lack of Strategic Perspective

Lack of Backbone

Lack of Organizational Acumen



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Adaptability

• Characteristics

•Unable to grasp quickly what should bedone next

•Not able or not willing to adapt tochange

•Closed to learning

•Lacks resiliency

•Demonstrates consistently negative,pessimistic outlook

Ask Yourself:

–How often is your first response “No, it

won’t work” or “We’ve always done it this

way”?

–How long did it take you to bounce back from your last setback?

–How do you react to changing requirements?

–When’s the last time you developed new

skills?

–Would your colleagues describe you as

positive or as negative?

Tips:

Leverage your existing network to gain multiple perspectives on a situation.

Anticipate change.

Be aware of situations where you find yourself with a negative or pessimistic outlook.

Put a development plan in place and implement it.



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Lack of Self Awareness

• Characteristics

•Is not aware of his or her impact onothers; lacks empathy

•Fails to seek or respond to personal

feedback.•Lacks self-insight and self-knowledge.

Ask Yourself:

–What is your reaction when a teammate is struggling?

–How do your colleagues interact with you? Do they worry about bringing you bad news?

–How do you respond to criticism? Is denial your first reaction?

–Do you listen to your colleagues?

–What are your strengths and what are your weaknesses?

Tips:

Ask for feedback from your colleagues and learn from the feedback.

Listen and paraphrase back in your own words to make sure you understand.

Thank the person providing you the feedback!


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Lack of Work Life Balance

• Characteristics

•Is stressed and overextended;

•strong candidate for burnout.

•Fails to manage one’s time effectively.

•Has difficulty establishing boundariesbetween work and personal life.

Ask Yourself:

–Do you deliver on your commitments?

–Do you find time to de-stress?

–Do you stay focused? i.e., at work

are you focused on work and during your personal time are you focused on your personal activities?

–What are your boundaries between work and life?

Tips:

Create a list of work and, competing, personal tasks.

Separate your work and personal tasks.

Complete a Time Management class.



Lack of Self Control

• Characteristics

•Uses offensive or bad language.

•Does not modulate actionsappropriately

•Prone to inappropriateoutbursts and loss of temper.

•Over reacts to disappointments orsetbacks.

Ask Yourself:

–How many times during the last year have you used offensive or bad language at work? Why? What triggered it?

–Have you lost your temper? How did your colleagues react?

–How do you respond to disappointment? Do you dwell on it? Do you make sure everyone within 100 ft of you is aware of

your disappointment?

Tips:

Be aware if you are likely to use offensive language or lose your temper. What are other ways that you can act or present your side?

Take an Emotional Intelligence class.



Lack of Interpersonal Acumen

• Characteristics•Uses caustic, sarcastic, or belittling tonein conversations.

•Uses abrasive, intimidating/bullyingstyle.

•Does not cooperate with others.

•Behaves inappropriately in socialsituations.

•Is overly ambitious -- seen as self-promoting.

Ask Yourself:

–Do I ever become sarcastic or try to belittle my colleagues?

–Do I ever bully them?

–Do I seek win/win solutions or is me

winning more important to me?

–Is the success of the team important to me? Do I help my teammates succeed? Do my teammates seek out my advice?

–When talking about my team accomplishments, how often do I use “I” vs. “we”? Tips:

Pay attention to others’ reactions and body language.

Use more “we” than “I”.

Decrease use of a coercive style



Lack of Independence

• Characteristics

•Is over-reliant on the sponsorshipof powerful others; not seen asindependent.

•Relies too heavily on one coretalent or technical/functional skill.

Ask Yourself:

– When’s the last time you developed

a new skill?

–How many managers have you worked for?

–How transferable are your skills?

–How many mentors do you have?

Tips:

Work on a project outside of your core skills.

Grow your skills, as appropriate, for your area of responsibility.

Expand your network.



Lack of Trustworthiness

• Characteristics

•Betrays trust.

•Says one thing and does another.

•Fails to keep promises andcommitments.

Ask Yourself:

– Do you trust your teammates? Do they trust you?

–Do you deliver on all your commitments? Are you open and

honest about your status? –Do you hoard information?

–Do you spread gossip?

–Do you lie or exaggerate?

Tips:

Follow through!

Stay true!



Lack of Strategic Perspective

• Characteristics

•Does not think strategically and broadly

•Has difficulty making the transition froma functional/technical specialist mindset

to a managerial or broad functionalleader mindset.

•Is consistently over involved in the workof people he or she leads;

•micro manages.

Ask Yourself:

– Do you understand and support your

BU’s strategy and how does your

department play a role in that strategy?

– Are you in the forest or are you buried in the trees?

–Do you rely on your team to do their work or are you buried in their daily activities? Do you give them time to accomplish their tasks?

–What is the strategy for your team in 1 yr? 3 yrs? 5 yrs?

Tips:

Change your mindset from a “doer” to a “leader”.

Find a mentor (s).

Learn and understand your function and Tata strategy.



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Lack of Backbone

• Characteristics

•Does not take a stand oncontroversial or unpopular businessissues.

•Handles difficult business situationspoorly.

•Does not confront mediocre or poor

performance.

Ask Yourself:

– Are you willing to take an unpopular stand? Or do you prefer to be uninvolved?

–Do you share your concerns?

–Would you speak out if you witnessed non-ethical behavior?

–Have you addressed mediocre or poor performance from a colleague or an employee?

–Do you give up?

Tips:

Step out of your comfort zone.

Address controversial and unpopular issues.

Provide and accept candid feedback.



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Lack of Organizational Acumen

• Characteristics•Fails to take into account organizationalrealities.

•Cannot navigate complex organizationalwaters.

•Shares sensitive information andopinions with inappropriate people.

•Is ineffective in, or avoids workingwithin, a multicultural or diverse

environment.

Ask Yourself:

–Do you know the names/roles ofyour up line management team?

–Have you volunteered to participatein shadowing opportunities?

–How do you deal with bureaucracy?

–Have you shared sensitiveinformation?

–Do you work effectively withmulticultural teams?

Tips:

Do not compromise sensitive information.

Volunteer to work on a project where you are exposed to multicultural and diverse employees.

Work on a cross –Tata project with members from various geographies.



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Derailment Factors: Traps

Failing to quickly address legitimatecriticism of your behavior

Making promises or commitments

you cannot keep Not voicing your honest concerns Assuming leadership responsibilities

you could easily delegate

Procrastinating to avoid toughsituations

Assuming you cannot fightbureaucratic procedures



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Next Steps

• Reflect on each derailment behavior.•Does it apply to you?

•Does one resonate more than others?

• Ask for feedback now and throughout

your career from your managers, yourbest friend, your mentor!

• Push the comfort zone!

• Ask yourself--

•What do I need to improve on?

•What actions can I start taking today?



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Closing Thoughts

Be True to Yourself

Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts becomeyour words;

Be careful of your words, for your words become yourdeeds;

Be careful of your deeds, for your deeds become yourhabits;

Be careful of your habits, for your habits become yourcharacter;

Be careful of your character for your character becomesyour destiny.

–(Anonymous Poem)



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What derailment behavior

are you going to work ontoday?

derailment factors

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