Every team has a story.
Do you recognize yours?

Case studies can be instructional in illustrating our capabilities and setting appropriate expectations regarding typical results. We've selected a few examples of our work which highlight some common pervasive organizational issues. Of course, any identifying information has been omitted in order to protect confidentiality. Do any of these situations feel familiar? 

CEO in trouble with his Board

The problem:
The CEO of this biotech company received a chilling report from his Chairman.  The Board was deeply concerned about three things: the disappointing profit picture; excessive micromanaging by the CEO of his talented staff, which prevented them from exercising their creativity; and spending far too much time on day-to-day activities and not focusing enough on strategy.

What we did
We worked extensively with the CEO over several months.  We challenged him to set aside time on a regular basis to focus on strategy.  In support of this, he learned to let go of some of his perfectionism and delegate more to his staff, recognizing that while they might do things differently than he, the results could be equally effective.  He also began including his staff in developing strategies to improve profits.

Results:
Towards the end of the coaching period, the CEO’s staff was deeply involved in the entire strategy creation and planning process, and the profit picture improved.  He kept the Board informed of the changes and gradually re-earned their trust and support.

Regional vice presidents have turf issues

The problem:
The head of a national distribution organization was baffled about how to manage turf issues and conflict regarding allocation of shared resources among the four regional vice presidents.  At quarterly face-to-face and monthly phone meetings they would snipe at each other and fail to collaborate or share information.   One would seek alliances with two others against the fourth, or schedule phone meetings at times inconvenient for one who was three times zones away.  As a result, decisions were made independently in each region, at the expense of overall national results.  Deliveries were impacted, with some locations running out of product. 

What we did:
We interviewed each of the vice presidents privately to understand their issues and concerns and to build trust with us.  We discovered that their hardened attitudes were preventing them from hearing the points of view of the other vice presidents.  At a series of face-to-face meetings we facilitated, we helped them to understand one another’s pressures and challenges, and helped them to negotiate new agreements on how they would work together.  We also encouraged their boss to measure their performance with greater emphasis on achievement of collective goals and less emphasis on individual goals.

Results:
In well under a year the situation improved dramatically.  The group began to function as a team, they actively supported one another, and product “run-outs” were reduced to near zero.

CIO seen as overbearing and intimidating

The Problem:
The Chief Information Officer of a manufacturing organization was seen as productive and responsive by the CEO and other executives.  However, his image was tarnished by grumblings and high turnover among his staff.  He had a reputation for “smiling up and frowning down”—compliant with senior executives and harsh with his staff.

What we did:
We conducted 360-degree feedback interviews and learned that the CIO had an authoritarian and overbearing management style that left his reports intimidated.  In our coaching with the CIO we helped him to monitor the behaviors—body language, tone of voice, facial expressions—that conveyed the impressions he was unintentionally giving.  We encouraged him to seek feedback from his staff to measure progress.

Results:
In time, with the help of his staff, the CIO was able to modify many of the problematic behaviors and overcome the negative perceptions.  With increased trust and enthusiasm, projects were completed more quickly and client satisfaction increased.

Director can’t get promoted

The problem:
A senior director of this growing financial services organization couldn’t understand why she was repeatedly passed over for promotion.  Finally her boss, a senior vice president, told her the problem: she had a reputation for impulsive, snap decisions; not taking in her staff’s input; and interrupting them frequently while they spoke.

What we did
Our 360-degree interviews confirmed the SVP’s assessment.  When we observed the director leading a staff meeting, we saw first-hand some of the director’s troublesome behaviors.  In our discussions with her we learned that the pressures on her from above, and her tendency to want to please superiors by responding immediately to their requests, exacerbated her impatience.  Our coaching focused on improving her listening skills, becoming more aware of and slowing down her decision process when needed, and pushing back on lower priority requests.

Results:
Nine months later, the SVP was getting very different reports about the director, and promoted her to vice president.

Leadership team underperforms

The Problem:
The leadership team of a high-tech company’s key division was failing to hit its targets.  According to the division president, his five vice presidents consistently underestimated the time it would tale to complete projects.  Accountability was low, as was trust.

What we did:
When we interviewed the vice presidents and their peers in other divisions, we learned that this group of leaders, though technically skilled, lacked basic management and leadership skills.  Further, we found that remnants of a punitive company culture established by a former CEO left executives fearful of ever saying no to requests.  As a result, these five vice presidents said yes to all requests.  They also lacked effective planning and prioritizing skills, and projects were rarely completed on time. 

At a series of offsite and onsite meetings over several months, we gradually built accountability and trust.  We encouraged them to more assertively negotiate priorities and deadlines with their internal and external clients, and helped them develop critical leadership and project management skills.

Results:
After six months, the backlog of projects had been considerably reduced, projects completed on time improved from 30% to 70%, and team members took pride in supporting one another.

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