Author Archives: Tom Foster

About Tom Foster

Tom Foster spends most of his time talking with managers and business owners. The conversations are about business lives and personal lives, goals, objectives and measuring performance. In short, transforming groups of people into teams working together. Sometimes we make great strides understanding this management stuff, other times it’s measured in very short inches. But in all of this conversation, there are things that we learn. This blog is that part of the conversation I can share. Often, the names are changed to protect the guilty, but this is real life inside of real companies.

Head Trash

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“Standing in the classroom, it doesn’t matter what the subject is, first I have to deal with headtrash,” I said. We were locked in a discussion about learning.

“So, how do you teach a manager how to hold someone accountable,” Erwin repeated.

“It’s easy to teach someone the method. The difficult part is finding that part of the brain that keeps them from doing it. Most mismanagement comes from the manager sitting on a problem, not making a decision, not taking action.”

Erwin nodded in agreement. “I have seen that over and over.”

“The first step is awareness, identifying the reason for hesitation. Managers can come up with all kinds of excuses to avoid the necessary confrontation. That is where we start.” -TF
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Coming soon is a new design for Management Skills Blog. We have been working hard to develop new programs for managers, both classroom and online. Follow this link to find out about our next management program beginning July 24 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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Tour de France Update

Out of the Pyranees and back into a couple of flat stages. Here the breakaways over the weekend were successful in shaking up the top contenders.

For Team Discovery (USA), they saw Yaroslav Popovych (UKR-DSC) come back from place 23 to place 11 in a stage win that also saw teammate Paolo Salvoldelli abandon the race after a crash.

Popvych is the only hope for Discovery with most forecasting either Floyd Landis (USA-PHO), Denis Menchov (RUS-RAB) or Cadel Evans (AUS-DVL) to take podium honors in Paris.

But we still have the Alps to go.

Overall Standings after Stage 14

1-PEREIRO SIO, Oscar -ESP-CEI -64hrs 05min 4sec

2-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO –+1min 29sec

3-DESSEL, Cyril -FRA-A2R –+1min 37sec

4-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+2min 30sec

5-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+2min 46sec

6-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+3min 21sec

7-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+3min 58sec

8-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+4min 51sec

9-MERCADO, Juan Miguel -ESP-AGR –+5min 2sec

10-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+5min 13sec

11-POPOVYCH, Yaroslav -UKR-DSC –+5min 44sec

12-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+5min 46sec

13-ZUBELDIA, Haimar -ESP-EUS –+5min 55sec

14-SINKEWITZ, Patrik -GER-TMO –+7min 7sec

15-LEIPHEIMER, Levi -USA-GST –+7min 8sec

16-BOOGERD, Michael -NED-RAB –+7min 23sec

17-TOTSCHNIG, Georg -AUT-GST –+8min 16sec

18-KARPETS, Vladimir -RUS-CEI –+8min 36sec

19-AZEVEDO, José -POR-DSC –+9min 11sec

20-SCHLECK, Frank -LUX-CSC –+10min 6sec

Yes, But How Do You Train It?

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It was a fair question. We were talking about core management skills that companies don’t train.

“How do you teach a supervisor how to hold a team member accountable for performance?” asked Erwin. “I mean, it sounds good. It’s a great buzzword, but come on. I just don’t see how you teach it.”

“I get the impression, you think accountability is a skill that can’t be trained,” I replied. “Tell me, how important is it?”

“Well, it’s important, but I am just not convinced it is something that can be trained.” Erwin’s jaw was set.

“I can see your point,” I said. “That’s why most companies don’t train their managers to do it. They think it’s important, but they don’t teach it.” Erwin was skeptical, but I had his attention.

“There are really two parts to accountability,” I continued. “First, is how to do it, the steps, the method. That’s the easy part. The second part is tougher. It’s all about the head trash swimming in the brain of the manager. In teaching, I spend more time on that part than the method.

“Tell you what, Erwin, meet me here on Monday for coffee and we’ll talk more about both parts.”

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We have been working hard on a new curriculum. Our next management program kicks off July 24, 2006, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Follow this link to find out more.

Tour de France Update

Floyd Landis (USA-PHO) is making his move. It was very deliberate Wednesday, to hang back, conserving energy for Thursday’s stage, minimizing the time loss and waiting to strike. His third place finish in Stage 11 gained him an 8 second time bonus which marks the current lead over Stage 10’s winner, Cyril Dessel (FRA-A2R). If Landis’ team can protect him through the next three stages in the Alps, he may keep the jersey into Paris.

This tough Stage 11 saw Discovery’s team crumble with George Hincapie (USA-DSC) dropping to 40th place gapping down 23:00min. Paolo Salvoldelli (ITA-DSC) is 24:00min behind Landis. Unless there is catastrophic chaos at the top of the heap, this margin puts both riders out of range of the podium. Only Discovery’s Yaroslav Popovych (UKR-DSC) has any chance and he is down 9:00min.

Overall Standings After Stage Eleven

1-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO -49hrs 18min 7sec

2-DESSEL, Cyril -FRA-A2R –+8sec

3-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+1min 1sec

4-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+1min 17sec

5-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+1min 52sec

6-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+2min 29sec

7-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+3min 22sec

8-MERCADO, Juan Miguel -ESP-AGR –+3min 33sec

9-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+3min 44sec

10-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+4min 17sec

11-ZUBELDIA, Haimar -ESP-EUS –+4min 26sec

12-SINKEWITZ, Patrik -GER-TMO –+5min 38sec

13-LEIPHEIMER, Levi -USA-GST –+5min 39sec

14-BOOGERD, Michael -NED-RAB –+5min 54sec

15-LANDALUZE, Inigo -ESP-EUS –+6min 33sec

Maximum Capability

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Thanks to Arne for his comment Tuesday. The discussion was in response to an inquiry of the source for the descriptive term Strata in relation to various roles in the organization. I have been working extensively with Elliott Jaques research for the past five years. Arne’s experience, however, was not altogether positive

The work of Jacques appears to most at the outset as interesting and logical.

It becomes more troubling as one reads his entire book (page pairs and all) and you realize some of the more subversive themes to his work. Notably that individuals have a natural maximum stratum that they are capable at working – and this stratus maximus is determined during their childhood. If a worker, say deemed as a Stratum II worker bee, then in an organization that follows this discipline naturally would not promote them further than this.

Arne, I would certainly agree that Jaques work is controversial but would never characterize it as subversive. I think more accurately, the implementation made by your company may have been misguided. It is very easy to misinterpret Jaques.

He did, indeed, believe that each person has a maximum capability to handle complex tasks in a given role, just as we are all genetically determined to grow to a certain height. At my height, I will never become an effective NBA basketball player. No matter how many toe stretches I do or how much training I may get, I will never make it on that court.

Maximum capability is a bit more difficult to detect. But the practice you describe, slotting a person in Strata II for the balance of their life, is precisely the wrong managerial practice. The Requisite managerial practice would be to continually test the individual with longer time span assignments until they reach the point at which they fail. That failure would indicate, at that moment, there is evidence that maximum capability was exceeded. The Requisite managerial practice would then be to shorten the time span assignment back to where the person was successful. Then wait.

Wait perhaps, three months, then test the person again with a longer time span assignment. This process should be repeated, continually challenging a person to reach their highest level of capability throughout their career.

In your experience, it is possible that this practice was not clearly understood or miscommunicated. It is always the job of the manager to constantly challenge team members to their highest levels of performance.

Gotta go practice my free throws, Dwayne Wade is on the phone. -TF

Tour de France Update

It was the first day in the Pyranees, the first mountain stage and things got weird. With many of the major contenders disqualified or out of the race, distant riders are taking chances and dicing things up.

Who is Cyril Dessel (FRA-A2R)? Well, he formed an early breakaway today that succeeded and he ended up, not only with the yellow jersey, but with the polka-dot King of the Mountain jersey as well. Juan Miguel Mercado (ESP-AGR) was the stage winner, but it was not enough to knock out Dessel.

Sergiy Gonchar (UKR-TMO) had predictable trouble when he hit the mountains. Big gears and mountains don’t go well together. Floyd Landis (USA-PHO) was content to let the opportunists notch him down to fifth place, hoping they will not be able to sustain successive back to back efforts.

Team Discovery’s Paolo Salvodelli (ITA-DSC) trails Landis by 1min 10sec and may be USAs only hope for a podium finish. George Hincapie (USA-DSC) drops to 19th place, two minutes behind Landis. Tomorrow is another rough day in the Pyranees.

Overall Standings after Stage Ten

1-DESSEL, Cyril -FRA-A2R -43hrs 7min 5sec

2-MERCADO, Juan Miguel -ESP-AGR –+2min 34sec

3-HONCHAR, Serhiy -UKR-TMO –+3min 45sec

4-MORENI, Cristian -ITA-COF –+3min 51sec

5-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO –+4min 45sec

6-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+4min 53sec

7-LANDALUZE, Inigo -ESP-EUS –+5min 22sec

8-SINKEWITZ, Patrik -GER-TMO –+5min 30sec

9-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+5min 35sec

10-KARPETS, Vladimir -RUS-CEI –+5min 37sec

11-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+5min 37sec

12-ZABRISKIE, David -USA-CSC –+5min 38sec

13-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+5min 48sec

14-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+5min 52sec

15-SAVOLDELLI, Paolo -ITA-DSC –+5min 55sec

16-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+5min 58sec

17-KESSLER, Matthias -GER-TMO –+6min 1sec

18-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+6min 12sec

19-HINCAPIE, George -USA-DSC –+6min 15sec

20-PEREIRO SIO, Oscar -ESP-CEI –+6min 42sec

What Do You Train?

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

You say that most companies do a fair job of technical training, but a poor job of supervisor or management training. How do we go about creating that training? What do we teach?

Response:

On Monday, I talked about the core skills of supervision. Most companies think people have those skills waiting in the wings, ready to go. Good technicians get promoted to supervisor without a second thought that the skills of supervision are totally different than the skills of doing the work.

Here is some of the material we cover for supervisors (Strata II) in our classroom program:

  • Time Management
  • Communication
  • Coordination
  • Delegation
  • Scheduling
  • Motivation
  • Short term planning
  • Problem Solving

Here is some of the material we cover for managers (Strata III) in our classroom program:

  • Accountability
  • Communication
  • Team Problem Solving
  • Goal Setting
  • Follow-up & Evaluation
  • Short & Long term planning
  • Control systems
  • Root Cause Analysis
  • Selecting Talent

Hope this helps. -TF

Tour de France Update

Some of the riders came to Tuesday’s stage ready to exhaust themselves in this last flat stage before the mountains. All of the sprinters lined up belching smoke and fire after a well deserved day of rest. Others came reserved, saving themselves for the first mountain stage on Wednesday.

Monday, Floyd Landis (USA-PHO) revealed his physical struggles over the past two years. At the young age of 30, he is a candidate for hip replacement surgery, yet he is riding the helm of the Tour in the catbird seat, just one minute behind the yellow jersey. Sergiy Gonchar (UKR-TMO) was able to hold the jersey without getting caught in the chaos at the finish.

Oscar Friere (ESP-RAB) took his second stage win of the Tour barely edging out Robbie McEwan (AUS-DVL). Tom Boonen (BEL-QSI) was in the fray, but couldn’t get his legs together, finishing fourth.

Wednesday begins the first of five mountain stages this year, two in the Pyrenees and three in the Alps. One of the climbs is “Out of Classification” and will surely spread the field. Watch for some interesting breakaways with a downhill finish.

Overall Standings after Stage Nine

1-HONCHAR, Serhiy -UKR-TMO -38hrs 14min 17sec

2-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO –+1min

3-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+1min 8sec

4-SINKEWITZ, Patrik -GER-TMO –+1min 45sec

5-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+1min 50sec

6-KARPETS, Vladimir -RUS-CEI –+1min 52sec

7-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+1min 52sec

8-ZABRISKIE, David -USA-CSC –+1min 53sec

9-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+2min 3sec

10-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+2min 7sec

11-SAVOLDELLI, Paolo -ITA-DSC –+2min 10sec

12-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+2min 13sec

13-MAZZOLENI, Eddy -ITA-TMO –+2min 14sec

14-KESSLER, Matthias -GER-TMO –+2min 16sec

15-LANG, Sebastian -GER-GST –+2min 22sec

16-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+2min 27sec

17-HINCAPIE, George -USA-DSC –+2min 30sec

18-PEREIRO SIO, Oscar -ESP-CEI –+2min 57sec

19-LÖVKVIST, Thomas -SWE-FDJ –+3min 1sec

20-ROUS, Didier -FRA-BTL –+3min 15sec

Strata and Levels

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

What is Strata I and Strata II?

Response:

Looking at most company’s organizational charts, you can see the different levels of work. Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great describes them this way:

Level V – Level 5 executive work

Level IV – Effective leader

Level III – Competent manager

Level II – Contributing team member

Level I – Highly capable individual

It’s curious that while Collins wrote his book in 2001, there is a much clearer description of these roles written by Elliott Jaques, dating back to 1963.

Strata V – Business Unit President (Strategic Vision)

Strata IV – Manager (Integrator – Multiple Parallel Systems)

Strata III – Manager (Single Serial Systems)

Strata II – Supervisor (makes sure the work gets done)

Strata I – Team member (does the work)

Elliott used the word Strata as opposed to Level, in part because the word Level connotes the superiority of one level over another. Strata, in any geologic formation, require all layers to be robust and strong, none better that any other, all serving a requisite purpose.

I find Elliott Jaques research and writing much more detailed and helpful in building efficient organizational structure. To learn more about different Strata, you can visit www.managementblog.org and follow the Category link on Time Horizon.

Note: I have talked with several people who did not realize that we have more than 400 articles on our site all catalogued and indexed according to subject matter. Happy exploring.

Tour de France Update

Monday was a rest day. Tuesday is the last flat stage before we hit the Pyrenees. While preparing for the challenges ahead, why not unwind with some slot online gacor for a fun and exciting break before the next adventure begins?

Twisting in the Wind

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From the Ask Tom mailbox:

Question:

How do you teach Strata II to a new manager? I have a problem at work because a peer who is also a manager is failing miserably in his new role and our boss will not help him or train him in any way, shape, or form.

I tell him things when he comes to me for advice for a particular situation but since I am trying to manage my department and people, I cannot spend the time and I do not have the authority to step in and diagnose all the problems and restructure and re-organize since I am a peer. I have instructed him to go to our boss and that did not help a bit.

The morale is getting worse & worse and the boss is ignoring it!

How do you teach Strata II?

Thank you very much for your guidance!

Response:

Your new Strata II manager is in a tough spot. It is not unusual, but it is still a tough spot.

He has been promoted to being in charge of a small number of people. He has a new completely different role that requires a brand new set of tools. Without any baseline experience as a supervisor, his self-confidence will be unstable.

Worse yet, your company will let him twist in the wind without direction. It’s not malicious. Most companies do not know how to work with brand new supervisors to make them successful.

You say you don’t have the time or the authority, but you appear to be willing to help as long as it doesn’t cost you the farm. If you are up for it, we can create a game plan. This is precisely the skill set we teach in our Working Management program (next session – July 24).

Step One is to specifically define the role. Remember, Strata I does the work. Strata II makes sure the work gets done. The core skills are scheduling people, coordinating materials, supplies and equipment, breaking down larger goals into daily work targets, monitoring work progress, checking for accuracy and completeness.

I don’t know what that means in your company, but that is where I would start. The written description to those questions should fit on one page.

The biggest tool for the Strata II manager is the weekly schedule, kept two weeks in advance. The two other important tools are checklists and short meetings (daily and weekly huddle meetings).

Get started on these items and brief us back here with an email.

If you (the rest of you) have a helpful suggestion related to our new Strata II manager, please post a comment below.

Tour de France Update

Stage Seven. Saturday’s Time Trial, as expected, broke the field wide open. The duo of Tom Boonen (BEL-QSI) and Robbie McEwan (AUS-DVL), who dominated the first week of racing predictably fell to 41st and 109th in the stage. Serhiy Gonchar (UKR-TMO) grinding it out in a heavy gear set a blistering pace and never faded, capturing a stage win and the yellow jersey. Team T-Mobile is doing quite well without Jan Ullrich who was scratched from the Tour 24 hours before the start.

Stage Eight. It is rare that a breakaway succeeds, but when it does, it becomes the isolated exception that keeps riders trying to break the rule. The peleton tried to organize for the catch, but it was too late with too much distance. It was an early break at 47km that held to the end (181km). The last three riders in the escape Sylvain Calzati (FRA-A2R), Kjell Carlstrom (FIN-LIQ) and Patrice HALGAND (FRA-C.A) held together until 148km when Calzati make a dash that neither Carlstrom nor Halgand could respond to. With 25km to go, Calzati was 30 seconds ahead. By the end, he had extended his lead to 2:05. It was his first career stage win.

The Tour takes a break on Monday with a relatively flat stage on Tuesday. Look for the sprinters to be back in force. Then we go to the mountains. Floyd Landis (USA-PHO), a former Armstrong teammate now racing for Team Phonak, seems poised to take advantage of his lead.

Overall Standings after Stage Eight

1-HONCHAR, Serhiy -UKR-TMO -34hrs 38min 53sec

2-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO –+1min

3-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+1min 8sec

4-SINKEWITZ, Patrik -GER-TMO –+1min 45sec

5-FOTHEN, Marcus -GER-GST –+1min 50sec

6-KLÖDEN, Andréas -GER-TMO –+1min 50sec

7-KARPETS, Vladimir -RUS-CEI –+1min 52sec

8-EVANS, Cadel -AUS-DVL –+1min 52 sec

9-ZABRISKIE, David -USA-CSC –+1min 53sec

10-MENCHOV, Denis -RUS-RAB –+2min

11-KESSLER, Matthias -GER-TMO –+2min 3sec

12-MOREAU, Christophe -FRA-A2R –+2min 7sec

13-SAVOLDELLI, Paolo -ITA-DSC –+2min 10sec

14-MAZZOLENI, Eddy -ITA-TMO –+2min 14sec

15-LANG, Sebastian -GER-GST –+2min 22sec

16-SASTRE, Carlos -ESP-CSC –+2min 27sec

17-HINCAPIE, George -USA-DSC –+2mim 30sec

18-PEREIRO SIO, Oscar -ESP-CEI –+2min 57sec

19-LÖVKVIST, Thomas -SWE-FDJ –+3min 1sec

20-ROUS, Didier -FRA-BTL –+3min 15sec

TDF-Breaking Away

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

Every day that we watch the Tour de France, a small group always breaks ahead of the big pack, but they always get caught. Why do they do that, if they always get caught? And why do they always get caught?

Response:

In spite of the almost certainty the breakaway group will be hunted down and swept away, they earn valuable points through designated sprint zones. While most of us watch the race focused on the yellow jersey, there are other competitions inside the race.

And the breakaway group doesn’t always get caught. On rare occasions, the escape group manages to hold the lead, hoping for a miscalculation on the part of the peleton (the big pack).

The peleton, on the other hand, attempts to manage the pace of the race to eventually catch the escape. The swarm of riders in the big group creates an enormous wind tunnel, so riders are able to conserve more of their energy while traveling at greater speed than the breakaway group. The breakaway group, usually five to seven riders, creates a smaller slipstream, with each rider required to take a turn on the front, breaking the wind for the riders behind. Riding single file, constantly switching the lead, the escapees consume more energy, ultimately tiring and getting caught. Near the end, the escape group may lose its members one by one as they exhaust themselves.

The veteran sprinters will almost never be involved in a breakaway, knowing the peleton will manage the race tempo. These vets will conserve their energy for the final sprint to the finish.

Stage Five. What we thought would be another sprinter’s battle between Boonen (BEL-QSI) and McEwan (AUS-DVL) was spoiled by Oscar Freire (ESP-RAB) from Team Rabobank. As the sprinters accelerated from the pack Freire moved quietly up the right side without attracting attention and slipped by frontrunners, beating them to the finish.

In the overall standings, Hincapie (USA-DSC) dropped behind Freire on points, now 17 seconds behind the lead. All this will change, however, when we get to the time trial on Saturday, July 8 (Stage 7). It’s a long time trial, 52km, favoring the GC (General Classification) contenders.

Overall Standings after Stage Five

1-BOONEN, Tom -BEL-QSI -25hrs 10min 51sec

2-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+13sec

3-FREIRE, Oscar -ESP-RAB –+17sec

4-HINCAPIE, George -USA-DSC –+17sec

5-HUSHOVD, Thor -NOR-C.A –+19sec

6-MC EWEN, Robbie -AUS-DVL –+24sec

7-SAVOLDELLI, Paolo -ITA-DSC –+27sec

8-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO –+28sec

9-KARPETS, Vladimir -RUS-CEI –+29sec

10-HONCHAR, Serhiy -UKR-TMO –+29sec

TDF-Application of Talent

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Stage Four clearly demonstrates the application of talent for a specific requirement. It has been a predictable sportfest for the sprinters. Why? Those consistently at the finish in these early rounds of the Tour have a talent for holding 25mph for 5 hours, then drawing deep into a burst of acceleration. It takes conditioned fast twitch muscles and a reserve of the right blood chemistry to fuel that last sustained sprint. It’s a talent, a special gift that they have. It is not, however, the talent required to win the Tour.

Robbie McEwan (AUS-DVL) takes his second stage win of the Tour, but we won’t see him in the yellow jersey at the end. His talents are focused on the sprint. Though he moved to 6th place overall, only 12 seconds out of the lead, he will lose major ground in the mountains.

We saw a bit of strategy by Team Discovery (USA) today as Egoi Martinez (ESP-DSC) was instructed to breakaway early. Not the first attack of the day, but 18km into the race, he bolted. Four followed as he sustained an escape that lasted until the last 2km mark. Though he was swarmed at the end, he picked up :16 seconds on points throughout the race, and moved into 5th place overall.

For Discovery (USA), Hincapie (USA-DSC) is still comfortably in third place, with teammates Savoldelli (ITA-DSC) and Martinez (ESP-DSC) among the top seven riders.

Overall Standings After Stage Four

1-BOONEN, Tom -BEL-QSI -19 hrs 52min 13 sec

2-ROGERS, Michael -AUS-TMO –+1 sec

3-HINCAPIE, George -USA-DSC –+5 sec

4-HUSHOVD, Thor -NOR-C.A –+7 sec

5-MARTINEZ, Egoi -ESP-DSC –+10 sec

6-MC EWEN, Robbie -AUS-DVL –+12 sec

7-SAVOLDELLI, Paolo -ITA-DSC –+15 sec

8-BENNATI, Daniele -ITA-LAM –+15 sec

9-LANDIS, Floyd -USA-PHO –+16 sec

10-KARPETS, Vladimir -RUS-CEI –+17 sec

TDF – The High Ground

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Your top performer has just been discovered below the line. It’s your highest volume salesperson caught in a kickback, your most productive line worker taking a quality shortcut. In every manager’s life, a decision will emerge. Do you look the other way? Do you rewrite the standards? Obtain a vigorous denial and a promise never to do it again?

Jan Ullrich was on the team bus when the news was delivered. Ivan Basso was out on a training ride when he got word. The top two contenders in the Tour de France would not start. Should the evidence prove them innocent, then a great injustice has been done. Should the evidence prove them participants in blood doping, then they earned the penalty.

I have seen this scenario over and over. Managers hesitate because they fear the loss in productivity should they scratch their shining star. They put up with ethical dilemmas, anti-social behavior and intimidation, compromising their own value system. Many cannot make the hard decision.

The debate was most likely vigorous, but the decision, swift and unanimous. Every team manager agreed that any rider listed in the investigation would be withdrawn from the team roster. At this late date, Tour rules are specific. No rider withdrawn would be allowed a replacement.

And yet, for managers who make the tough decision to stand the high ground, they find their fears are unfounded. They find a stable of young players ready to fill the gaps. They find that many co-workers were aware of the ethical foul play and wondered what took the manager so long to take action.

And so this year’s Tour kicks off unpredictably fearsome. The field for the yellow jersey is wide open.

Update through Stage 3

The Prologue (individual time trial) separated the fastest by short seconds with Thor Hushovd (Team Credit Agricole-C.A) taking the first yellow by a margin of only one second over George Hincapie (Team Discovery-DSC). Though there has been no official designation of team leader for Discovery, Hincapie may emerge the leader without the designation.

Stage One. It is not certain strategy that George Hincapie (DSC) jump to the front in yellow, but he takes the stage nonetheless edging Thor Hushovd (C.A) by two seconds. It is too early to take the yellow and continue its defense. More likely that Team Discovery will let it go by Stage Two.

Stage Two. Matthias Kessler (Team T-Mobile-TMO) led a break away from the pack that almost succeeded, breaking down in the last 50 meters. It was nail-biting to watch him spin out his lungs as the sprinters in the peleton swept him away. Robby McEwan from Australia (Team Davitamon-Lotto-DVL) moved ahead to take the stage. Predictably, George Hincapie (DSC) let the yellow jersey go back to Thor Hushovd (C.A) who arrived in third place for Stage Two. Hincapie stayed tucked safely in the pack, but only trails in the overall standings by a margin of ten seconds.

Stage Three. Matthias Kessler (TMO) may have something to prove with his team leader Jan Ullrich ejected from the race prior to the Prologue. Once again, he broke away from the Peleton, but today, he succeeded. The sprinters, behind, waited too long, thinking they would repeat yesterday’s sweep, but Kessler kept a five second separation that lasted through the finish. Robbie McEwan (DVL) who spoiled it for Kessler yesterday did not finish in the top 10 today. In the overall standings, George Hincapie (DSC) gained ground over Thor Hushovd (C.A) moving into third place overall only five seconds off the pace. It is likely Discovery will keep him protected near the front, but we may not see much of George until the mountains. Of great interest is also the name of Paolo Savoldelli (DSC), in fifth place overall. That’s two Discovery (USA) riders in the top five. Sadly, Alejandro Valverde (Team Caisse D’Epargne-Illes Balears), a podium contender, suffered a broken collarbone in a crash, so this year’s Tour is over for him.

1 – BOONEN, Tom – BEL – QSI – 14 hrs 52 min 23 sec

2 – ROGERS, Michael – AUS – TMO +1 sec

3 – HINCAPIE, George – USA – DSC +5 sec

4 – HUSHOVD, Thor – NOR – C.A +7 sec

5 – SAVOLDELLI, Paolo – ITA – DSC +15 sec

6 – BENNATI, Daniele – ITA – LAM +15 sec

7 – LANDIS, Floyd – USA – PHO +16 sec

8 – KARPETS, Vladimir – RUS – CEI +17 sec

9 – HONCHAR, Serhiy – UKR – TMO +17 sec

10 – KESSLER, Matthias – GER – TMO +17 sec

Who?

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It’s not a what, but a who. Most management issues appear to be all about “What do we do about this or that.” But the resolution is seldom a what, it’s almost always a who.

The players (who) on your team will dictate the team’s success. You can build teamwork, define best practices, provide the finest resources, but if you don’t have the right who(s), your team will under perform.

So, that is the question this year at the Tour. Lance has retired. Who will take his place? Indeed, all the speculation is about who?

As the prologue is set for Saturday, with the first full stage on Sunday, here are some of the who(s) to watch. These are the names that will become familiar over the next few weeks.

Ivan Basso, riding for Team CSC (DEN). Ivan placed third in 2004 and second in 2005. He is riding with a tight team coached by former tour winner Bjarne Riis.

Jan Ullrich, riding for Team T-Mobile (GER). Jan won the Tour in 1997, prior to the Armstrong reign. He stood on the podium in 2005, in third place behind Basso.

George Hincapie riding for Team Discovery (USA). Former domestique (nine Tours) for Armstrong, George pulled a stage win in the mountains last year. He is not the heir apparent, but one of several who could be anointed new leader of Team Discovery.

The Tour, this year, is wide open. Many contenders could break away, scoring precious points. The tactics will be completely different without Armstrong and his protection.

Let the race begin.

Management Skills Blog will take short holiday coinciding with the extended US 4th of July holiday. We will see you back here on Wednesday, July 5. -TF