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Ideas for Leaders #245
Avoiding Managerial Derailment in
Latin America
Key Concept
Why do some managers ‘derail’ and how do these factors differ in various
regions of the world? In the research behind this Idea, managers in Latin
America and the U.S were compared to analyse managerial derailment. The
Idea offers suggestions as to what Latin American organizations can do to
avoid this and effectively develop their leaders to an international level.
Idea Summary
Latin America has been enjoying stable growth in recent years. In January
2013, the BBC reported that the region’s economic growth had outstripped
that of Europe for the past eight years. Now, it is time for Latin American
organizations to take an international approach to developing leadership
capacity, say faculty from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®).
Some managers in the region have found themselves prematurely fired,
demoted, or stopped from advancing below their expected levels of
achievement—a phenomena called ‘managerial derailment’. Such derailment
not only damages the morale of the derailed manager and their co-workers,
but is also financially-costly to organizations. In order to understand the
factors that cause it, Stawiski, Gentry, Santana and Dinwoodie studied 492
managers from Latin America and 500 from the U.S. The Latin America
sample included managers from Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.
Their findings included the following:
The number one derailment factor for managers seemed to be being too focused on a
specific role or function within the organization, with limited ability to see the broader
organizational picture; in other words, they lacked the depth to manage outside of their current
function.
In Latin America, managers were rated more negatively than their U.S counterparts; on
the other hand, managers in Latin America rated themselves more positively than managers in
the U.S.
Managers in Latin American had a larger gap between self and other ratings of
derailment than the U. S. managers. This signifies a disconnect between self and others’
perceptions and seems to reveal a lack of self-awareness on the part of Latin American
managers.
Business Application
Latin American organizations can avoid the potential derailment of their
managers by ensuring that ‘meeting business objectives’ is a clear priority
within the organization; training and development efforts should be
established to support this priority. In addition, organizations must support a
culture that promotes seeking and providing feedback, and emphasize its
Authors
Stawiski, Sarah
Gentry, William A.
Santana, Laura
Dinwoodie, David
Institutions
Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®)
Source
CCL® White Paper
Idea conceived
June 2013
Idea posted
October 2013
DOI number
Subject
Emerging Leaders
Executive Development
Emerging Markets
Global Operations
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necessity for improvement.
Individual managers should boost their self-awareness in order to reduce their
chances of career derailment. One way of doing so is to develop an accurate
understanding of how others view their behaviours and skills, as this helps to
proactively address any perceived shortcomings. Also, to extend beyond the
narrow focus of their own work and gain a broader perspective, managers
should seek opportunities to learn other functions; volunteer for teams outside
of their current area or function; observe higher-level managers; and, talk to
people who are broadly skilled to widen their own skill-sets.
By understanding the potential for derailment, say the CCL® researchers,
organizations and managers will be able to identify problems and seek leader
development solutions that will have the greatest impact.
Further Reading
Developing Leaders in Latin America: Understanding Managerial
Derailment. Sarah Stawiski, William A. Gentry, Laura Santana & David
Dinwoodie. Center for Creative Leadership White Paper (May 2013).
You can also access this paper in Spanish here.
Further Relevant Resources
Sarah Stawiski’s profile at the Center for Creative Leadership
William A. Gentry’s profile at the Center for Creative Leadership
Laura Santana’s profile at the Center for Creative Leadership
David Dinwoodie’s profile at the Center for Creative Leadership
The Center for Creative Leadership's profile on IEDP
© Copyright IEDP Ideas for Leaders 2013
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