Setting People Up for Success

Earlier in my career I had a branch manager in my group that was a top performer.  He had good control of his branch, trained his team well & was respected by his staff, his customers & his peers.  Eventually I had a position open that would be a promotion to Regional Manager & Joe was my first choice.  He accepted when I offered him the position.  

Joe struggled right out of the gates but I was not alarmed as that sometimes happens when someone assumes new responsibilities.  It became evident that it was more than adjusting though.  I worked with him regularly but the results didn't improve.  One day I was listening to talk radio & the discussion focused on Dyslexia.  I saw many of the behaviors in Joe that they pointed out & turned around & went directly to his office to gently discussed the issue.  Joe was relieved that I figured it out.  He felt stressed & overwhelmed.  Over the years he mastered his prior role & with hard work and perseverance became a success but, this was too much.   I asked him why he hadn't discussed his frustrations with me & he indicated that he didn't want to let me down.  When asked what he would like to do he volunteered to go back to his prior position and remained there, happy and successful for years.

The lesson learned is to pay attention to people and openly communicate in order to best serve them.