"A business short on capital can borrow money, and one with a poor location can move. But a business short on leadership has little chance of survival."

— Warren Bennis & Burt Nanus

PROBLEM:

After experiencing industry-leading growth in their household product niche, this mid-cap manufacturing client was suddenly faced with new technologies, new competitors and new demands from key retailers that threatened to derail their continued growth. To complicate matters, this company’s leadership team was newly assembled and inexpereinced at working with each other.

SOLUTION:

Catalyst designed and facilitated a 2-day offsite management retreat that focused on three of the five core leadership disciplines summarized in the righthand column. We explored the types of changes being experienced by the Company and identified proven strategies for managing change across the business (i.e., Embracing Change). We then facilitated a complete revamping of the Company’s go-to-market strategy (i.e., Shaping Strategy), brainstormed alternative courses of action, identified resource constraints and requirements, and developed a consensus list of prioritized action plans to be accomplished by the leadership team according to an agreed upon time table (i.e., Prioritizing Actions).

RESULT:

After the retreat, the executive group became a much more effective and vital leadership team. They began implementing their agreed upon action plan (i.e., Driving Execution) by energizing the entire organization (i.e., Empowering Others) to regain its former dominant position in the marketplace.

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"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad."

— C. S. Lewis

PROBLEM:

The leaders of a regional not-for-profit organization were experiencing irreconcilable differences with the leaders of the national association of which they were a part. The positions being advocated by the leaders of the national group were also at odds with those of the international organization that governed all such national groups.

SOLUTION:

Catalyst facilitated a series of meetings with the leaders of the regional organization to explore and better understand the nature of change. In this case, everyone agreed that they were facing a transformational change that would impact every facet of the organization’s business – and that threatened its future. Catalyst then worked with individual leaders, and with the leadership team as a whole, to identify alternative strategies for continuing the mission of the regional group in light of the conflicting agenda of the national organization.

RESULT:

Over the course of many months, and after a number of failed attempts to negotiate an acceptable relationship with the national group, our client was forced to restructure its relationship within the framework of the international organization. Several other like-minded regional organizations followed our client’s lead and similarly restructured their oversight relationships as well.

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"So, the difference between a ‘good’ relationship and a ‘bad’ one is not the presence or absence of conflict. The difference lies in the process by which conflicts are resolved."

— Daniel Dana, Ph.D.

PROBLEM:

After being acquired by a private equity firm, a $500+ million consumer products manufacturer found itself being led by three senior executives (two of whom were inserted into the business by the new owners) who seemed incapable of agreeing on anything. Conflicting directions were being given, mistrust was rampant and business performance was suffering. To quell rising frustration among the rest of the leadership team, these three executives formed an Office of the CEO. To appear coordinated (and to ensure that each could keep an eye on the others), these three highly skilled leaders attended all meetings together. They became known as the “Three-Headed Monster.”

SOLUTION:

After interviewing all key company constituents, Catalyst prepared a comprehensive analysis of how this ineffective and counterproductive “work around” was actually muting the company’s growth prospects. We then conducted a series of confidential meetings with the three executives to surface differences in work styles, decision-making approaches, communication preferences, career goals, etc. This information was used to introduce them to new ways of conducting business among themselves so that they no longer needed to march in lock-step through the day.

RESULT:

The level of respect and trust among these three key leaders eventually increased to the point that the Office of the CEO was disbanded. Each executive then accepted – and excelled at – more appropriate leadership roles (i.e., CEO, Division President and CFO).