Abstract
This large Australian business had recently restructured and a number of senior people had been let go because they were seen to be blockers to the new direction. The leader of the management team had selected her new team based on both their technical and their leadership capability and many were untested at this level of complexity.
Two months post restructure fear was rife, paralysing people’s capability to perform. Micro-managing, justifying, blaming, rationalising and general inaction were impacting the financials with an unexpected shortfall in the half-year results.
We supported each person in the team to be honest about their present situation and only then was critical information and strategic wisdom available. The information shared was used to develop real time strategy: what to do with the presenting circumstances. It became easier to have the difficult conversations. They were willing to let each other know where they felt confused, unsupported or lost. Performance challenges were addressed and seen as valuable information to move the business forward.
The management team were able to devise a strategy that addressed the short term financial challenge while attending to their longer term vision of creating a world class business that created value for them, their customers, shareholders and the community.
The sense of commitment that individuals discovered in themselves was no longer primarily based in fear of consequences but in the courage to lead and do what best served the legacy they wanted to leave.
Without this capability they would not have been able to deliver their business outcomes.
