As usual, the TV show Mad Men is a hot-bed of intrigue again this season – and it’s especially fun to watch the workplace as a management consultant. There are a few lessons that Mad Men can teach Second Stage leaders about Talent Management.
The focus needs to be on people, not work. As Second Stage companies grow, they need to spend less time focusing on how the work gets done, and more time focusing on who is on the team and how they work together. The firm’s partners are still focused on their work, not on managing their team, and I expect that we’ll start to see the team dysfunction increase as the season goes on. (If it does, it would be natural for the firm to break apart at some point – team dynamics usually overtake good work.)
Culture needs to be managed. Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, like every company, has a culture – the question is whether it’s consciously acknowledged and managed. And the key to culture is defining just a few principles that drive the culture. In this year’s premier, Megan calls out one of SCDP’s principles: cynicism. There’s no inherently good or bad principles – they just have to work for the company. My guess is that the other principles for SDCP would be creativity, individualism, and fun. It’s hard to have principles that don’t fit the executive team.
Manage your high potentials. Pete Campbell is a huge asset to the firm, but because there’s no one helping him manage his development and career path, he’s a problem. High potentials are great – in many ways the heart of Stage 2 companies. But they come with a cost – you need to make explicit, valuable investments in them.
I suspect SDCP could use a better strategic planning process, too, but that’s a topic for another post…
I’ll be talking more about this on my Stage 2 Secrets call this month – click here to register.