How can a new leader get traction?

One of my students in a recent class provided the content of today’s post. The task of an assignment was to provide an example someone experienced where an organization has failed in spite of a great market and great products. The main point was to explain what happened, why the effort or organization failed, and what they could have done differently to prevent this outcome.

Jerry worked for an organization that had a niche market and product. The 1980’s and early 1990’s were filled with growth and prosperity and then in 1995 the president of the company retired. Chaos ensued. Communication broke down. Sales faltered and a once viable organization was left dying on the vine.

The organization failed because the new president lacked “the ability to embrace, engage, and deal with the negative.” When conflict arose, he looked the other way. Instead of opening himself to issues and his employees, he shielded himself in his office. He promoted individuals based on their ability to maintain status quo and their ability to further shield him from the inner workings of the company, not on their actual performance. Eventually the board forced him to retire.

Had the new president opened himself up to conflict, the company could have continued to prosper. Had he participated in the day-to-day activities and made himself available to his staff, the results would have been different.

One of the issues that is of interest here for a future leadership decision is the recruiting of this person in the first place. Applying the Performance IQ® assessment and recruiting system we use at AMC LLC, and then possibly working with the new leadership in areas of needed improvement could have avoided some of the trouble.

Looking at chapters 11-13 in Henry Clouds book titled Integrity, a number if interesting aspects can be found.

When it comes to the aspects of character, Jerry is strong in all areas save the last two. He tried to narrow it down to transcendence, but he isn’t sure if he struggles with transcendence or growth. If there’s a five-year period of adjustment to change, then he’s sitting in the midst of year four and what he feels are growing pains. Or, he wonders whether I am delusional and am unwilling to transcend my own resistance and see the big picture. Either way, the answer to my conundrum is: “pain is temporary, victory lasts forever.” Or to quote the movie “Galaxy Quest,” “Never give up! Never surrender!”

With this precursor, and reviewing chapter 4 of Clouds book, the idea was to pretend that a meeting of all employees has been called. The workforce has been gathered to hear the new president (a fictitious version that hs replaced the failed former president) for the first time explaining how he plans to act during the  first 100 days on the job. Her eis what Jerry suggested:

I’d like to welcome you all here today. As your new CEO, I want to tell each and every one of you how impressed I am by your commitment and dedication to XYZ Company. The past few years have been difficult ones for all of us. I know first-hand some of the frustrations you have felt upon discovering that XYZ no longer had an open-door policy and that issues were meant to be hidden and conflict avoided. I like  to change all of that with your help. Part of my plan for my first one hundred days is to meet with each department manager and anyone of you who like to help make this organization into a better place for all of us. I’d like to hear what you have to say. What you feel is going well within departments and your workplaces. What you feel is working well within the company and what we need to improve upon. I’m here to recreate XYZ’s open door policy and to extend an invitation to all of you to drop in and tell me what on your mind and in your hearts. I’d like to get to know you better. I view XYZ and its employees as my family and one of my goals is that under my leadership XYZ will have an atmosphere where we can openly talk like family members again..

As a community of professionals, we’ve got some big issues to tackle involving honesty and respect. I’d like to ask for a commitment from each of you to rise above the pettiness and the hallway gossip of the past. Please, put that behind you. For us to succeed we need open and honest communication. The key here is honesty. If there’s a problem, I want to know about it, not next week or next month or at the next meeting. If you’ve got time to tell someone else about it, please use this time to tell me. And when things are going well, I want to hear that too. It gets old listening to complaints, so spread around a little cheer and lets celebrate our successes together, even the small ones. As for respect, I want you to stop and take a good look around the room. (go on - I’ve got time)  Everyone in here is on our team, is part of our community. We need to work together to make XYZ the success I know it can be. And I think you do too, or you wouldn’t have stuck around for the past few years waiting for things to get better. Now is our chance to prove that we can do better and leave the past behind us. So are you up for the challenge?

There is no right or wrong way to address a situation like this. Maybe this suggestion gives you some pause, and if you have your own suggestions, please feel free to comment on this post.

Axel Meierhoefer, President AMC LLC