Erin Stahla, Co-owner of Stahla Services, a nationwide provider of restroom, shower, and ADA trailer rentals joins Enterprise Radio. Erin will discuss how promotions aren’t just a gift, they’re an investment.

Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Erin Stahla discuss the following:

(Host Eric Dye):  What’s the biggest mindset shift leaders need to make when promoting someone internally?

(Guest Erin Stahla):  Awesome. Yeah. The biggest shift is really realizing that doing the job and I think leading the job are two entirely different skills. We often see that if somebody is just doing the job and they’re doing it well, we think that they’re ready for a promotion but there’s a difference between doing and leading. So just because someone is your best technician or a salesperson, even an operator doesn’t mean they’re ready to lead others doing that same role just means they’re good at that role. I think you have to stop promoting based on performance. Enroll and start thinking about who can influence, who can coach. Are they good at building trust with others? It’s less really about task execution and more about people leadership at that point. So I think there’s just one mindset shift, not just for the person being promoted, but for the leader also making the call is just to look at that. You know, are they good at doing the job or leading the job if they’re good at doing the job. Have they also started to up level in being able to lead others, so a natural leader who’s ready for a promotion will just naturally lead. They’ll have people following them, even if it’s not their actual role, so that’s something to look at. It’s just some track record there.

(Host Eric Dye):  How can a business owner or manager assess if someone is ready for a promotion versus just being loyal or likable?

(Guest Erin Stahla): That is a tough one, because we all want to promote somebody who is loyal and likable, right? That’s just fun, but I think we have to look at patterns and not just moments. Although being loyal and likeable are such good attributes, are they already taking initiative beyond their job description? That would be something to notice. Do their peers go to them for help or guidance already? Like I was mentioning kind of without the title? Are they already leading? People are people already coming to them to be led. Can they hold a standard without needing authority? Do they need constant reminders of? You know, here is the standard. If that’s the case, I would keep looking. Loyalty and likability are great, but really leadership potential shows up and how they influence people without a title. So if you can, you know it goes back to that, that book of how to lead when you’re not in charge. So if you haven’t officially been given that role, are you already stepping into it as if you had in a really respectful way? I also recommend scenario based questions or trial projects to observe how they solve problems, how they communicate, when the stakes are a little bit higher, how they’re interacting with their team, how they interact with you, and really just give them a moment to display where they’re at to showcase their capabilities. And so you get a really good idea of what you’re both walking into, should you choose to continue down the promotion conversation.

(Host Eric Dye):  What’s a common mistake companies make after promoting someone—and how can it be avoided?

(Guest Erin Stahla): Well,