Welcome to our summer reading list for 2024. The team at Third Factor has once again come together to recommend their top reads from the past year. Whether you want fiction, non-fiction, or even a cookbook filled with new recipes to try, you’re sure to find something new and interesting on this list.
This year, we’ve included a special recommendation from our new AI coaching companion, PJ. What does a virtual 3×4 Coaching expert recommend you read this summer? Scroll down to find out.
Ask will teach you how to read other people’s minds. Okay, maybe not literally – but author Jeff Wetzler shows convincingly that, with the right questions and the right approach to listening, we can get incredibly good at knowing what others are thinking. The book opens with a sobering look at how bad we are at intuiting others’ thoughts and feelings, and how easy it is to stay on the surface without ever benefitting from the thoughts and opinions that others truly hold, but may be reluctant to share. Wetzler lays out a highly practical framework for curiosity, packed with great questions and tips for listening. As someone who speaks for a living, I am always looking to get better at listening – and this has been an incredibly helpful book.
I highly recommend “Hidden Potential” by Adam Grant, especially for its take on team dynamics. The book shows that team success isn’t just about picking the most skilled people but about building the glue that holds everyone together. This resonated with my experience with Canada’s National Basketball Team. Their World Cup success wasn’t just about talent but their unity and teamwork, leading to their first Olympic qualification in over 20 years. Grant’s insights reflect what I’ve seen firsthand in sports.
Alexis Ullerick, Program Logistics and Materials Lead
I heard Pooka Lakshmin speaking about “faux self-care” on the Ezra Klein podcast and was very intrigued so I picked-up her book. It’s very thoughtfully written with examples from Lakshmin’s clinical practice and her own experiences. She points out that self-care shouldn’t be something to add to your to-do list but behaviour changes in your everyday life. She breaks down the four key elements of self-care: boundaries, self-compassion, getting to know yourself, and asserting your power. She even explains how the more we practice these concepts the more we can impact change on a larger scale. I am already working on incorporating tips from the book, and I feel off the hook for not being into meditation or yoga.
Christopher Gentile, Director Strategic Partnerships & Accounts
As someone who isn’t a big fiction-reader (but loves history!), The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is an epic novel that blends history, adventure and human emotion into a masterpiece. It’s set against the backdrop of World War II and follows the journey of Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay, two cousins, as they move from Europe to navigate the world of 1930s America. Joe Kavalier, a talented artist and escape artist, escapes Nazi-occupied Prague to seek refuge in New York City, where he teams up with his cousin Sam Clay, an ambitious writer, to create the iconic superhero “The Escapist.” As they rise to fame, they encounter love, loss and challenges while facing their own personal struggles, relationships and identities. Chabon does an excellent job bringing the streets of New York City to life, as the layers of complexity to each character makes for a beautifully crafted and captivating story of friendship, creativity and strength in the face of adversity. It’s a fun, nostalgic and uplifting read for summertime.
A senior executive at Stripe and former senior executive at Google, Johnson has made an impact in some of the biggest and fastest growing companies in the world. The book is full of incredibly practical advice and tools. More importantly, it helps leaders understand how to deliver on a key challenge: leading with both empathy and accountability. If you get the audio version, as an added bonus, the author personally reads the book, which in my experience, truly makes the words come to life.
“Leaders Eat Last” by Simon Sinek is an essential read for anyone aspiring to become a better leader in their organization. Sinek explores the core principles of leadership that build trust, foster collaboration, and drive innovation within teams. By creating a culture where employees feel valued and empowered, the book offers actionable insights that can transform your leadership style and significantly improve team dynamics and performance. Embrace these principles to inspire and lead your organization toward sustained success.
“Demon Copperhead” is a compelling novel that reimagines Charles Dickens’ “David Copperfield” in modern Appalachia, following a resilient and sharp-witted kid named Demon navigating tough times, poverty, and additiction. It’s a powerful story about overcoming adversity and offers deep insights into human resilience and empathy.
This is a book about the practice of paying attention and refining our sensitivity to tune in to the more subtle notes. This is not a book you read and put on a shelf. You can pick it up any time as it is dripping with wisdom, for life, art and creativity. I love everything about this book, from the person who suggested it and bought it for me through to the texture of the creative cover and silky pages in between. Rubin suggests that living in discovery is at all times preferrable to living through assumptions. I like that perspective.
With summer just around the corner and my daughter’s wedding fast approaching, I’m diving into the Love and Lemons Cookbook for some culinary inspiration. This cookbook is a treasure trove of effortless and delicious vegetarian recipes, perfect for the special occasion at our cottage. With many vegetarians among our guests, I want to ensure that the weekend is filled with delightful and satisfying meals. If anyone has favorite meatless recipes to share, I would love to hear them! Let’s make this celebration as tasty as it is memorable.
For a deep dive into the psychology of change and how to guide others through it, “Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization” by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey is a fantastic choice. It explores why people resist change, even when it’s in their best interest, and offers practical steps for identifying and overcoming those internal barriers. It’s particularly insightful for coaches working with individuals facing significant personal or professional transitions.
“Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt is a delightful read. This heartwarming and immensely readable novel explores the power of connecting with other living creatures and its impact on our lives. With a clever storyline and a touch of mystery, it’s perfect for a feel-good summer read. If you enjoyed “A Man Called Ove,” you’ll love this book.
Many websites use affiliate links to make money when you buy something from Amazon – we don’t. Feel free to follow the links provided or pick up the book you want from your favourite local bookseller. As our business continues to grow, we are very excited to welcome Chris Gentile to the team as Director, Strategic Partnerships & Accounts.
Chris joins us from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, where he managed client relationships for customized executive education programs – many of which were delivered in partnership with Third Factor. Before Queen’s, Chris oversaw strategic partnerships at EF Education First, a private education firm focused on developing professionals through educational travel.
Chris holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto, and a certificate in Adult Learning & Development from the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education (OISE) at UofT.
Chris has shown a true passion for helping organizations develop their workforce for the future and working with thought-leaders to develop innovative solutions that drive lasting change. We’re excited to see him continue to build on his success with Third Factor. In the midst of rapid expansion and a shift to a remote-first environment, retail consulting and technology company, Orium, partnered with Third Factor to give its leaders a framework and skills to lead with its values.
Twenty-four of Orium’s leaders participated in a total of three days of training, leading to an uplift in engagement among leaders and their teams, and enabling the organization to navigate the pressure that comes with doubling in size.
Click here to read the case study.
New manager development programs are often a surprising “problem child” in the Learning & Development portfolio.
The recent Association for Talent Development (ATD) report sponsored by Third Factor, “New Manager Development: Building a Foundation for the Future,” highlights a critical gap: while 70% of organizations have new manager development programs, most fail to realize their full potential with 77% reporting only moderate success or worse.
Successful
Unsuccessful
No program
Helping new managers transition from individual contributor to people leadership roles is vitally important for the performance of not only those managers but everyone that reports to them as well. But with the large population of managers in most organizations, Learning & Development (L&D) is often tasked to execute these programs at scale and on a shoestring budget. Add in the time pressures on new managers, and it can feel near impossible to deliver impactful leadership development programs for this audience.
We know how challenging this mandate can be, so we’ve collected some practical strategies from leading organizations that we partner with to help get the value out of your investment in new manager development.
Leadership at the Helm: Building Top-Down Support
The ATD report underscores the importance of senior leadership in new manager development. Most of the organizations surveyed indicated that a lack of either resources, senior leadership support, and/or prioritization were challenges to training new managers. So how do you build that critical support at the top of the house?
01.
Pick your moment and leverage business needs to advance new manager training.
02.
Enlist your partners to sell your vision for new manager training internally.
03.
Get senior leaders directly involved in training to underscore its importance.
First, pick your moment. When organizations make significant investments in new manager development, it typically comes at a time when there is a clear business need – for example, a new strategy, a culture transformation, declining engagement scores, or high turnover. Use these windows of opportunity to demonstrate how Learning & Development can help turn conceptual business plans into real action by driving the right behaviors in managers.
Second, enlist your partners. You need every tool in your arsenal to build the strongest business case to senior leaders for investing in new manager development. Involve HR or internal business partners as well as your third-party vendors to help demonstrate to senior leaders the value and expected outcomes of these programs. Hearing directly from your leadership team about a strategic transformation they are driving from transactional to advisory services, for example, will enable your vendors to design programs that directly support those needs.
Finally, start small and get senior leaders directly involved. One L&D team that we work with is driving a multi-year rollout of a two-day in-person program to help managers build coaching skills – a significant investment of time and resources. But it all started with just one session focused on the C-Suite team. Through that firsthand experience, the CEO and his team became passionate champions of the program. They not only committed to funding a broad program rollout, but the CEO now speaks directly to every cohort of managers that goes through the program. His involvement sends a strong message about his commitment to manager development and also reinforces the connections between the content and their business priorities.
Balancing Learning Formats
Training a large population of new managers can be costly. For many organizations, it’s just not feasible to offer in-person experiential learning programs to all new managers.
In fact, the ATD report notes that asynchronous learning channels are the most common offering made available to new managers. We often hear from L&D leaders about the benefits of asynchronous learning for creating custom learning pathways and offering flexible programs that work around the busy schedules of new managers. Yet there is always a desire to incorporate some of the benefits of live, in-person learning experiences as well.
Increasingly, organizations are looking at blended learning formats to provide the scale and cost effectiveness of asynchronous learning but with some of the human connection and energy of live or in-person programs.
A financial services company that we partner with offers an asynchronous program that enables managers to learn coaching skills through a series of self-paced videos. But to enhance the experience through peer support and live discussions, managers are placed into learning cohorts that proceed through the program as a community. A live virtual kickoff provides context about the program, introduces managers to others in their cohort and builds energy around the learning journey they are about to start on. Midway through the program, cohorts reconvene for a live application lab to work through any questions and challenges as they start applying the skills in their work environment. And upon completion of the program, managers have access to 1:1 coaching and a library of resources to support ongoing skill development and application.
“The most successful new manager development programs that we see always place a strong focus on practical application.”
Whether asynchronous, in-person, or a blended format, the most successful new manager development programs that we see always place a strong focus on practical application. New managers are often completely underwater balancing their priorities of delivering results while also developing their people.
In fact, time constraints on new managers were the most common challenge cited in ATD’s report. Most new managers simply don’t have the time, energy, or interest to dive deep into theories on motivation and performance. Instead, they need a few practical tools that they can implement immediately, opportunities to practice new skills, and strategies to focus on actions that will have the greatest impact so that they see immediate results and build confidence.
Measuring What Matters: The Art of Success Metrics
You’ve heard it a million times – “how are we measuring the impact of this program?” When it comes to reallocating investment or cutting costs, new manager development programs are an easy target if they can’t demonstrate impact. Effective metrics not only demonstrate program effectiveness but also ensure the program remains relevant, impactful, and aligned with evolving business priorities.
ATD’s report highlights a similar issue: 87% of respondents cite a lack of metrics to track the program’s results as a challenge to new manager training. While most organizations do assess program effectiveness, many focus on participant satisfaction and use informal conversations rather than quantitative or outcomes-based measures. So how can you incorporate impactful metrics without creating an overly complex science project?
Most important is systematizing and quantifying participant feedback with a short, standard feedback form for every participant to complete. In our experience, taking a few minutes to do this at the end of sessions before participants return to their other work is the best way to drive response rates and specific feedback. In addition to participant satisfaction, include one or two questions tied to target outcomes – for example, participants’ confidence in their ability to apply the skills in their daily work.
With a basic feedback system in place, start looking at longer-term metrics and impacts. A large energy organization that we work with administers a final survey approximately three months after leadership development programs on how participants are applying their learnings and the resulting business impact of those actions. These concrete examples offer powerful impact stories that are highlighted to the company’s most senior leaders.
Another financial services organization surveyed the direct reports of program participants and found that more than 85% noticed an improvement in their leaders after completing the manager development program – a metric that helped build ongoing support and expansion of the program.
Transforming Insights into Impact
As the ATD report highlights, new manager development programs are a critical aspect of the L&D portfolio and yet there are very real challenges to making them effective and impactful. These strategies offer a blueprint to help ensure the investment in these programs delivers real value for the business and for your people.
Seizing the Opportunity in Wealth Management
Wealth management is undergoing an epochal change with an $84.4-trillion wealth transfer at stake. The hearts, minds and wallets of the next generation will go to firms that can:
Level up field coaching and enable advisors to have new and more uncomfortable conversations
Up-skill advisors to manage bigger teams with a diverse range of experience
Become exceptional matchmakers using psychometric data to create winning advisory teams
In this webinar, Third Factor CEO, Dane Jensen, will outline how to make the move from investment advice to "Personal CFO" using examples from our work with some of North America's leading wealth management firms and based on the whitepaper he co-authored with Third Factor Principal Trainer, Garry Watanabe..
You should attend if:
You're responsible for leadership development or change management within a wealth management organization
You need new ideas for up-skilling advisors to engage in new conversations and navigate the changing industry landscape
You're looking for innovative solutions to enhance the succession planning process
You want to learn more about how top wealth management firms are navigating the fundamental shift in client preferences
Seizing the Opportunity in Wealth Management
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About the presenter:Dane Jensen is the CEO of Third Factor, the author of The Power of Pressure: Why Pressure Isn't The Problem, It's The Solution, an acclaimed speaker, an instructor at Queen's University and the University of North Carolina, and a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review.
Sitting across the table in an office in central Manhattan, a top financial advisor with one of the world’s largest wealth management firms didn’t mince words: “The investment business is dead. I want to be my clients’ life coach and personal CFO.”
It was a provocation, but one that gets at the heart of the epochal shift happening in wealth management. For the affluent and high net worth segments, what was formerly a transactional business rooted in investment tips is rapidly shifting to an advisory business rooted in planning for a life well-lived.
The stakes are well understood: firms that can make this shift at scale faster and better than their peers will emerge as winners in a once-in-a-lifetime $84.4-trillion intergenerational wealth transfer. Those who can’t make the shift will be forced to compete with increasingly capable, low-cost transactional platforms.
Having different conversations
At the heart of the transition is equipping financial advisors with the skills, technology and resources to have different conversations with their clients.
"The top advisors are doing something totally different," shared one manager. "No one wants your opinion on "which stocks should I buy right now?" Instead, success increasingly hinges on an ability to execute four categories of conversation – which tend to be progressively less comfortable for advisors:
Conversation 1: Help clients articulate financial goals
e.g. "I want to retire in 30 years with a $200k annual income" – and then develop a plan to reach those goals that leverages the full balance sheet – cash management, investments, and debt. In almost all firms, these conversations are supported by planning tools that advisors have access to but the comfort level with discussing cash management and debt is often not as high as with investments.
01
Conversation 2: Surface potential derailers
e.g. "what if you are incapacitated and unable to work?" – and help mitigate them by using insurance and other risk management tools. These conversations can be risky themselves. As one executive struggling to get advisor uptake on insurance put it: "advisors often don’t want to get caught in a conversation that creates more fear than hope."
Estate planning, tax, and financial literacy skills for the next generation. Beyond the unique expertise required to navigate these areas, these conversations can be infused with inter-family tension, especially when a prized asset like a cottage hangs in the balance. No client wants the transfer of their wealth to result in rifts amongst their children. As a result, advisors are sometimes hesitant to insert themselves into what feels like a fraught discussion.
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Conversation 4: How to lead a life well lived
The best advisors provide access to expertise and experiences that support clients in living long, meaningful, healthy lives that allow them to enjoy the benefits of their financial freedom.
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Taking stock of the list above can be overwhelming. “What is most different from three years ago,” shared one advisor, “is the amount of things you need to know – from planning, to asset management, legal, mortgages, insurance, and so on.” And sitting above the array of new technical and product expertise is a heightened level of conversational skills required to build client relationships in which individuals feel safe to discuss highly personal matters – hopes and fears that they often have not shared even with their family or close friends.
Better conversations at scale
In every wealth management organization, there are high performing advisor teams already having these conversations with their clients. The challenge is doing it consistently and at scale. Even planning conversations, the first and most straightforward of the four categories above, are not yet happening with consistency. As of 2023, JD Power reports that only 57% of full-service wealth management clients say they have a financial plan in place. So how do we scale excellence? Our experience points to three key leverage points for seizing the opportunity:
01.
Level up field coaching to both role model the new kinds of conversations we want advisors to be having with their clients, and to surface and overcome barriers to the adoption of new products and technology.
02.
Equip advisors with the leadership skills to manage bigger teams.
03.
Become exceptional matchmakers to team up advisors with complimentary businesses and skill sets.
Hey look, a one-pager.
We’ve put these ideas in a handy one-page document you can take to go.
LEVELING UP FIELD COACHING – FROM DASHBOARDS TO BEHAVIOR CHANGE
Just as client conversations are shifting from transactional to advisory, so too must internal coaching. In their conversations with advisors, field managers are the critical role model for the types of curious, developmental conversations we want advisors to have with clients.
Historically, field coaching has been dashboard driven – focused on identifying and rewarding high performers and highlighting areas of under-performance to those lagging. As advisors are asked to have new and more uncomfortable conversations with clients that touch on planning for death or disability, surfacing hopes and fears, and shaping legacy – simply highlighting metrics and asking for ‘more’ is not sufficient.
Similarly, driving technology adoption at scale in wealth management is not like rolling out a new, mandatory operating model at McDonald’s. As one consultant put it: “this is an incentive-based business, not a rules-based business.” Field leadership plays a crucial role in helping advisors see the value in new technology and understanding the role it can play in enabling their success, and that of their clients.
To drive new conversations and speed adoption of new technology, field managers need the coaching tools to go beyond dashboard metrics to get at the underlying drivers and blocks of behavior change.
This requires equipping field managers with:
Strong relationship building skills – in the high autonomy environment of wealth management, the strength of the relationship determines the level of influence.
A deeper understanding of what drives behavior change (or resistance) – managers need to have a mental model of where resistance comes from and how to overcome it. This is what allows them to be curious rather than judgmental in the face of push-back and dig deep to understand the block they need to remove to change behavior.
Exceptional questioning, listening and curiosity skills – finally, helping field leaders strengthen their ability to have discovery conversations that seek to understand advisors’ hopes and fears rather than ‘objection handle’ their concerns. Again, this provides role modeling for the types of client conversations we aspire to have.
In our experience, building these skills is best accomplished by identifying an initial cadre of field managers who have both the interest and capacity to become stronger coaches – and investing disproportionately in their development. The results driven by this group can serve as a strong incentive for other managers, and the individuals targeted can serve as internal champions. For example, in one organization we work with, 17 branch managers were nominated by their regional directors to receive extra training and 1:1 support from a master coach for a 12-month period.
EQUIPPING ADVISORS TO LEAD BIGGER TEAMS
A survey of the conversations advisors are being asked to navigate makes it clear that no one has the skills to do it alone. World-class advisory is a team sport and organizations need to support advisors in building larger teams with a diverse range of expertise that cuts across debt, insurance, estate planning and more – with the client service, risk, and back-office functions to support it all running smoothly.
“Advisors all want a team – but they don’t want to manage a team.”
From the advisors’ perspective, downward pressure on fees means they need bigger teams to serve more clients in order to make the same compensation. And bigger practices are more highly valued when the time comes for an advisor to sell their business down the road. It seems like a win-win. And yet, as a seasoned coach to financial advisors put it, “advisors all want a team – but they don’t want to manage a team.” Most advisors pride themselves on their subject-matter expertise and their relationship and selling skills. Managing a team and dealing with the administrative burden from growing headcount is rarely aligned with their areas of core competence. And while some of these responsibilities can be delegated to an office manager, ultimately the leader is responsible for building a compelling vision and team culture that attracts and retains top talent.
More consistent success with creating bigger teams requires that organizations help advisors build people leadership skills. High performing advisors will not get committed to doing things they don’t feel competent at. Training for advisors must go beyond product, sales and client service skills to encompass setting them up for success with ever-growing teams.
BECOMING EXPERT MATCHMAKERS TO TEAM UP ADVISORS
Finally, beyond equipping individual advisors to grow their teams, firms must become experts at developing a repeatable model for combining the practices of individual advisors into teams with multiple advisors.
“Advisors with different backgrounds and skills produce the best performance when teamed up, but those differences can also produce tremendous friction.”
Research by McKinsey has shown conclusively that “team-based wealth management advisors outperform sole practitioners on almost every metric.” Specifically, teams in which the advisors bring a diversity of skills and backgrounds produce the best advisor team performance.
Beyond performance, teaming up advisors also provides more redundancy, allowing advisors to live more balanced lives, and aids in succession planning – a critical priority as a generational shift occurs over the coming 10-15 years.
Accessing these benefits is easier said than done. Advisors with different backgrounds and skills produce the best performance when teamed up, but those differences can also produce tremendous friction and lead to combustion that is both costly and demotivating.
To access the advantages of team performance, wealth management organizations need to bring science to the art of matchmaking to achieve a higher hit rate and fewer blow-ups. This requires:
Using psychometric data, not just business data, to identify strong teams – two practices may look like an obvious match based on their client lists but be unworkable due to the personalities of the advisors. Using psychometric tools gives organizations a clearer, data-driven view of whose distinct styles will be complimentary vs. combustible.
Having tough interpersonal conversations up front – using the same psychometric data, organizations can increase eventual success rates by having tough, data-driven conversations up-front that surface and plan for likely sources of conflict based on each advisor’s unique style.
Building the skill of collaboration – collaborating with someone different than you is a learnable skill that can be improved with practice. Providing advisors with up-front models for working through conflict and effectively working together can head off potential derailers down the road.
There has never been a moment of so much opportunity and risk in the wealth management industry. The firms who can pair a team-based structure with high quality field coaching and technology that enables advisors to confidently broaden the conversations they have with clients are those who stand to gain from volatility and win the hearts, minds, and wallets of the next generation.
Take this whitepaper to go
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About the authors
Dane Jensen
Dane is the CEO of Third Factor, an acclaimed speaker, instructor at the University of North Carolina, and a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review. Learn more
Garry Watanabe
Garry Watanabe is an expert on coaching and performance psychology with a wealth of experience working under the peak of pressure in both business and sport. Learn more
Roughly one quarter of organizations say their new manager training programs are extremely or highly successful, but an equal number report their programs as only slightly successful or not successful at all.
Key reasons for investing in training for new managers include better individual performance (85%), continuity of organizational culture and values (69%), and better team performance (62%).
Top focus areas for new manager training include communication skills (93%), providing feedback (92%), and performance management (91%).
91% say their new managers just don’t have enough time to invest in development programs.
Third Factor has partnered with the Association for Talent Development (ATD) on exciting new research that reveals how organizations approach training for new managers. The report draws on a sample of 287 organizations seeks to understand why organizations do or don’t invest in training for new managers, how new manager training is approached, and the common trends in the most successful new manager development programs.
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, the importance of new manager training is highlighted by a notable statistic: 70% of organizations have a development program for new managers, and among those without, 54% plan to introduce one within the next two years. This trend underscores a growing recognition of the crucial role new managers play in organizational success. However, transitioning from an individual contributor to a managerial role is a journey filled with challenges. Managers must not only manage tasks but also lead people, a shift that requires a fundamentally different skill set and mindset.
Successful new manager training programs can be hard to come by
While about a quarter of organizations consider their programs extremely or highly successful, another quarter view them as only slightly or not at all successful. This suggests a broad spectrum in the effectiveness of such programs across different organizations, highlighting the need for tailored approaches and continuous improvement in managerial training practices. It underscores the importance of not just having a training program in place, but also ensuring its relevance, effectiveness, and alignment with organizational goals.
The good news is that the report shows 78% of organizations actively measure the success of these programs. The most common method used is assessing participant satisfaction. However, high-performing organizations often go further by evaluating long-term impacts such as the retention rate of managers and their contribution to organizational performance. This approach underscores the importance of not only implementing development programs but also rigorously assessing their outcomes to ensure they meet organizational goals and contribute to long-term success.
Performance and culture are the most desired outcomes
When developing training programs for new managers, organizations are unsurprisingly focused on performance – but the question of whose performance is most important raised our eyebrows.
While 85% of organizations want their new manager development programs to enhance individual performance, only 62% include team performance in their goals. While enhancing a manager’s skills is essential, it’s crucial to recognize that a manager’s success is inherently tied to their team’s performance. Focusing solely on individual managerial skills without equally emphasizing team leadership and development can create a disconnect. This approach may lead to managers who excel individually but struggle to foster a high-performing team, ultimately impacting the broader organizational effectiveness.
Fortunately, continuity of organizational culture and values is also a top outcome for new manager development. Some 69% of organizations rely on new manager development programs to ensure that leadership is aligned with the core principles of the organization. This alignment helps in maintaining a consistent organizational ethos, which is essential for long-term success and identity.
The most important skill for new managers? Communication.
The skill new manager training programs focus on above all others is communication, with 93% of organizations prioritizing this in their development programs.
In our 3×4 Coaching program, we teach that coaches use four key communication skills to develop their people: questioning, active listening, feedback, and confronting. Feedback also made the list of skills, with 92% of new manager development programs dedicating time to giving people information about their performance.
While performance management (91%) is another top focus area, the communication skill of confronting didn’t make the list. Questioning, listening and feedback are useful and necessary skills, but aren’t always the best tools when a valued performer needs to make a non-optional change to their behaviour.
Teaching new managers skills for managing challenging conversations is a worthwhile investment. Giving younger leaders the opportunity to learn and practice the skill means they will be better prepared to confront problem behaviors when they reach a more senior position. By thinking of communication skills for new managers as an investment in the future, organizations can strengthen their entire leadership pipeline.
Finding time is a top challenge in training new managers
The primary challenge in this developmental journey, as reported by 91% of organizations, is the lack of time for new managers to participate in training programs. It’s no secret that new managers are expected to hit the ground running, often having been selected for their aptitude for the role and prior success in a non-leadership role.
The rub is that the bias toward execution, rather than leadership, is actually counterproductive. While managers at this level need to be adept at leading their people while being responsible for their own work product, putting emphasis on the former in the earliest days could set them up for a career-long belief that their individual productivity is more important than that of their team. This misprioritization can also lead to a situation where managers are underprepared for their roles. Moreover, the pressure of managing operational tasks while also trying to develop people management skills can lead to burnout and decreased effectiveness.
Just as new managers need to skillfully coach their people in the flow of getting things done, their own leadership training needs to happen in the flow of work. Training programs need to be flexible and easily integrated into the daily workflow of new managers. This might involve bite-sized learning modules, on-the-job training, and leveraging technology for accessible and engaging learning experiences. Additionally, creating a culture of continuous learning and providing ongoing support and resources can help new managers adapt to their roles more effectively and efficiently.
Equipping new managers for success
The research from Third Factor and the Association for Talent Development presents a valuable opportunity for improvement in new manager training. This study offers a roadmap for organizations to refine their leadership development strategies, emphasizing the integration of training into daily work, a comprehensive focus on communication skills, and prioritizing team success alongside individual performance. By embracing these insights, organizations can significantly enhance their outcomes, nurturing leaders who are well-equipped to meet the challenges of the modern business world.
You can download the full report from the ATD website.
Hybrid work can be a great model for people who are established in their careers, but it presents unique challenges for those just starting out. Early career employees don’t have the same opportunities to observe the workplace culture and leaders often struggle to provide frequent, specific feedback when not working in the same physical space.
So how will we lead this generation just entering the workforce, for whom “hybrid work” is not even a relevant term because it is the only style of work they know? Effective coaching needs to be part of the DNA of how we lead people now. In practical terms, it involves making the culture visible, creating opportunities to observe performance, and establishing systems to bridge the gap between in-person and remote work in a way that builds trusting relationships.
Make the culture visible
George Bernard Shaw famously noted “the single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has occurred.” Early in our careers, workplace culture and the nuances of professional life were communicated to us mostly by simply being in the office. We saw how people interacted outside of meetings and we overheard the words they used with their leaders. Through observation we formed images in our minds that we could then emulate.
It is easy to expect that employees entering the workforce today will similarly absorb these indirect messages. But with fewer opportunities to observe how things work, early career employees are left to make many assumptions about how to successfully navigate a new organization. Compound this with the tremendous ambiguity that remains around so many aspects of hybrid work, and you are likely to run into issues.
One of the greatest coaches we worked with, Jack Donohue, spoke of the need to build sharp clarity before we can offer effective feedback. People cannot do things that they cannot imagine. We need to break down vague concepts such as “flexible work,” “professionalism,” and “remote collaboration” into specific behaviours that people can see in their mind. Perhaps on your team “flexible work” really means that all team members are online and available between the hours of 10am and 3pm, their MS Teams status is always kept up to date, and the entire team is together in the office between 9am and 5pm on Wednesdays. Drilling down to this level of specificity is necessary to build the clarity that will enable early career employees to succeed.
Create opportunities to observe performance
When I was on my first project as a new management consultant, I was tasked with completing the analysis of a large data set. It was a steep learning curve, but I was eager to prove myself. I would continually tell my manager that everything was going well when I was actually working late nights scouring the internet to troubleshoot Excel errors.
My manager eventually called a time-out when she glanced over my shoulder and found me manually moving data around a spreadsheet. While she commended my eagerness to learn, she also pointed out the people sitting beside me who could teach me a much faster approach. “Might it be better to ask one of them for help and then you will know how to do it too?” she asked. A wild idea, I know.
In a hybrid world, we must intentionally create opportunities to observe performance.
It is never easy to teach early career employees everything they need to know in their first job. But it is even more complicated when we do not have opportunities to glance over their shoulder and directly observe their work. In a hybrid world, we must intentionally create these opportunities to observe performance. Working alongside new employees on early projects and joining them in as many meetings as possible is critical to see them in action and identify behaviours to reinforce or adjust.
A leader in one of our coaching workshops liked to regularly use screen sharing capabilities. This allowed her to see the steps that her team member was following and quickly identify process steps that she wanted to either reinforce or adjust. By sharing her own screen, she normalized the practice so that her team was comfortable with the approach. It also made her own work more visible and surfaced process steps that had become so automatic for her that she wouldn’t have otherwise thought to teach them.
When it is not possible to see the person in action, questions are a valuable tool to gain insight into their thinking. One leader we worked with likes to use questions such as “how would you approach this task” or “can you walk me through your thinking” so that he can offer adjustments or additional information before getting started on the task. During regular check-ins, questions such as “what are you most proud of this week” or “what would you like some feedback on” can provide jumping off points to understand how the person is working. The key is to continue asking questions and actively listening until you get below the surface-level responses and uncover specific behaviours to reinforce or adjust through feedback.
Build systems to bridge the gaps
Our Principal Trainer, Garry Watanabe, says issues with early career employees also often arise because they do not yet have mental maps for how things get done in the organization. In the office, getting quick answers is as easy as asking someone who does not look too busy. But when everyone is remote, it is impossible to see who might be warm for an interruption.
Garry suggests pairing early career employees with a peer-level buddy or more experienced mentor who they can go to for help. Providing a dedicated resource empowers them to find the answers they need and removes some of the barriers to seeking help. It also offers a safe way to ask for quick feedback and build confidence, all while freeing up your time together for more meaningful interactions.
Connecting early career employees with other team members in this way provides the added benefit of building relationships across the team, which is the ultimate system for bridging the gaps between in-person and remote work.
Start your people on a path to success
There is no doubt that leading early career employees in a hybrid world introduces new complexities and challenges. But by making the informal aspects of work more explicit, creating opportunities to observe performance, and building systems to bridge the gap, leading in this environment can be just as effective and fulfilling for both leaders and employees.
Chris joins us from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, where he managed client relationships for customized executive education programs – many of which were delivered in partnership with Third Factor. Before Queen’s, Chris oversaw strategic partnerships at EF Education First, a private education firm focused on developing professionals through educational travel.
Chris holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto, and a certificate in Adult Learning & Development from the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education (OISE) at UofT.
Chris has shown a true passion for helping organizations develop their workforce for the future and working with thought-leaders to develop innovative solutions that drive lasting change. We’re excited to see him continue to build on his success with Third Factor. In the midst of rapid expansion and a shift to a remote-first environment, retail consulting and technology company, Orium, partnered with Third Factor to give its leaders a framework and skills to lead with its values.
Twenty-four of Orium’s leaders participated in a total of three days of training, leading to an uplift in engagement among leaders and their teams, and enabling the organization to navigate the pressure that comes with doubling in size.
Click here to read the case study. 
About the presenter:
Dane Jensen is the CEO of Third Factor, the author of The Power of Pressure: Why Pressure Isn't The Problem, It's The Solution, an acclaimed speaker, an instructor at Queen's University and the University of North Carolina, and a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review.
