Stage 3 — Contributing through Others

 

Characteristics
•	Develop a greater breadth of technical skills.
•	Apply those skills both to team deliverables and in other areas of the organization.
•	Build a network outside the workgroup.
•	Use your broader network to help your team get work done.
•	Help develop people and stimulate their thinking through ideas and information.

The key to Stage 3 is the ability to “contribute through others.” This doesn’t necessarily mean managing or supervising others. Research shows that non-supervisors outnumber supervisors five to one in Stage 3. In other words, people have discovered how to have broader impact and influence without making the move into management.

Stage 3 Roles
Coach
Coaches provide others with the tools, knowledge, and opportunities to be more effective. Coaches don’t develop people—they encourage and prepare people to develop themselves.

Idea Leader
Idea Leaders are well-networked and think creatively. They openly communicate and share crucial information to their teams or work groups. Others perceive Idea Leaders as wise, savvy “gurus” in their function or discipline, looking to them for help solving problems and dealing with unexpected situations.

Informal Mentor
Experienced and well-established, Informal Mentors take a personal interest in the careers of others, facilitating development. They provide crucial information, make important introductions, serve as a role model, provide support and guidance, and encourage others in a way that makes a significant contribution to their development.

Project/Team Leader
Project/Team Leaders manage multi-person projects, teams, or task forces, but aren’t assigned people responsibility. Often a formal role, it’s a specific job assignment given to a person by management, requiring broad perspective and an ability to accomplish tasks greater in scope than one person could accomplish alone. Good Project/Team Leaders make good coaches who know how to plan and organize the efforts of others.

Internal Consultant
Internal Consultants are well-known and sought out for help on numerous projects. They know how to get resources, influence management, and make change happen. Not just sitting in their cubicles waiting for the phone to ring, they take a proactive approach to their work, looking for areas where their expertise and background will be helpful, then find ways to contribute.

Moving into Stage 3
Stage 3 requires strong interpersonal skills—agreeing on objectives, delegating, coaching, and coordinating. You need to be able to build the confidence of co-workers, not tear it down. If you’re threatened by the success of others, you won’t be able to provide them the guidance and freedom to explore and test their skills.

One dilemma for technical Stage 3’s is that they find themselves pulling away from technical work into activities that feel like “HR,” administration, or even sales. Keeping a foot in each camp is hard to do long-term. Eventually, you’ll probably have to let go of some of the hands-on technical work in order to be successful in a broader Stage 3 role.

Staying in Stage 3
Not many people move beyond Stage 3 — and that’s quite all right. Moving through the stages isn’t a race with the prize going to the one who gets to Stage 4 first.