The Corner Office Syndrome
Background
It
takes time, hard work and commitment to reach a senior leadership
position. For many, most of their
professional lifetime. When the
opportunity presents itself, shortly after the immense feeling of joy and
ecstasy, reality sets in. The
responsibilities are huge, work hours long and problems never cease their
onslaught.
You
are the person the organization is entrusted to. The powers to be selected you because you
have the knowledge, skills, charisma and all those leadership qualities
everyone writes about. With that, you are supposed to lead with confidence,
vision and a firm hand on the tiller. While others believe all this, as a CEO
or senior executive, you realize the realties; it’s a lonely place to be. The organization looks to you for answers to
solve problems and make decisions.
Leading by committee is not an option and is rarely, if ever, effective
and dilutes your ultimate effectiveness.
You must be strong, confident and resolute while having the emotional
skills to lead people. Quite a challenge.
Most
of our readers are familiar with our focus on leadership. Much of our work over the past 20 years has
been to work with senior executives and CEOs.
While we believe, as do our clients, our work has improved those
organizations we also recognize the need for new and creative ways to help
leaders improve. Getting groups of
executives together, seconded for several days focused on a combination of
slide decks, talking heads, discussions, and group sessions, is not a reality
for today. Research substantiates our beliefs and points out that coaching is
one of the more effective ways of conveying leadership skills and
knowledge. That too has its limitations
for several reasons; and we all know there are thousands of self-proclaimed
coaches. The problem with this approach
is, who is doing the coaching, plus in most cases the coaching is a singular
mentorship relationship. Today it’s
about potency and effectiveness. There
are no multiplicative benefits from those methods of the past. It’s always better to multiply by more than
one. By multiplicative we mean sharing
knowledge and experience of many who have walked in the same shoes for the
benefit of one who is currently wearing the shoes. Why, because time is valuable and needless to
say trial and error learning is neither effective nor efficient.
Couple
all of the above with the fact that leadership is difficult; and sitting on the
top is a lonely place to be. Some of the
biggest leadership challenges to CEOs and senior leaders is getting honest,
truthful, candid, objective, qualified inputs and feedback, in a safe,
non-threatening environment. The kind of inputs and feedback that helps in
sorting out issues, ideas and problems and strategies. We know this because we have been there and
have helped those who are there now.
Decisions
affect employees, clients, customers, families, stockholders, and
stakeholders. Leadership is a difficult
role, constantly requiring assessment/feedback, adjustment in style, methods
and measures. In addition, objective
input prevents narcissism, builds and retains effectiveness and authenticity as
a leader, and ensures ongoing support of those being lead.
Many
CEOs have their confidants or groups close to them, such as President’s
councils. They trust these people, with
a varying degree of applicable experience and knowledge. We bring this up because there is a need for
this inner circle of trusted people who have the best interest of the leader in
mind. To gain a multiplicative benefit
though, and to improve leadership capacity, the inner circle should be
multi-disciplined, experienced, knowledgeable and available as needed to
enhance a leader’s effectiveness. This
approach is a departure from past leadership development methods, minimizes the
disruption to normal work schedules and represents high-octane inputs and
support for CEOs and senior executives on their terms at their convenience.
At
one point in my consulting career one of my close associates who actually was
the client, made the comment that as a consultant it is imperative that one
“leads the need.” This stuck in my head
since my early professional career. As a
result of our experience, the data gathered, and research available, we have
created “The Inner Circle” at The Macris Group.
What
are we suggesting?
Our
clients confirm our belief; we are making a difference in their organizations.
We have been able to select methods used over the years and assess what
specific techniques, as a function of the level of the group or individual, as
well as the resultant outcomes, that work best.
We have found packaged programs are just that, packaged and
generic. One size does not fit all, we
design and tailor an approach to the person, organization and industry. Our team has a unique combination of:
- Common Sense
- Experience
- Knowledge and
- Proven Track Record
Our
success centers on CEOs and Senior Executives who know and trust us.
The
Inner Circle becomes the go to resource for objective, honest and candid
insights in a safe and confidential environment. We are available to leaders in the following
contexts:
·
To solicit our thoughts,
assessments, and insights on issues leaders wish not to share with others in
their organization, their Board or close colleagues.
·
We will respond as they wish and at
the level of detail leaders desire. We
can be a sounding board or we can provide detailed contributions and tangible
actionable plans.
·
If one of our team members has a
unique capability or experience, we can offer individualized coaching,
mentoring and/or assistance.
How
we operate
The
Inner Circle exists to support leaders; as they wish. We are not offering standardized solutions. We take the best information and research from
renowned organizations, as well as, our knowledge and experience and then
listen. Once we have a clear picture of
the issue or issues, we discuss our thoughts with the leader and amongst our
team.
We want leaders
to think of us as a resource they can trust, a mentor or a confidant. We highly respect confidentiality and will
never compromise ones trust.
Getting started
Our working
relationships are as formal or informal as our client’s desire. Flexibility and access is what we are
about. Leaders can reach-out to anyone
of us or to the person who they feel is best suited to address their
issue. Based on our initial
consultation, the Inner Circle will prepare an outline of our proposed service,
the scope, expected outcomes, and other terms and conditions as
appropriate. This allows us to be
responsive and meet expectations and needs in a timely manner.
Who are we?
Below
is an overview of our principals at the Inner Circle. Detailed CVs are available upon request.
Principals include:
A. C. (Dean) Macris –
Dean is an independent consultant in the areas of human performance, ergonomics
and operational and leadership training for over 30 years.
William S. Skibitsky –
Bill is a former CEO of one of the five largest specialty contractors in the
United States, and currently owner and Chairman of WST Industries LLC.
Lawrence A. Reiter –
Larry is a professional in the areas of supervising, managing, consulting and
leading organizations in a variety of industries including public utilities,
management consulting firms and health care.
Nancy Shapiro –
Nancy’s experience includes design and facilitation of teaching/training
experiences with a focus on communication, self-knowledge, and cooperative team
processes.
James P. Urbas –
Jim is an experienced Human Resource Executive with extensive knowledge in all
facets of Human Resources and Administration having broad experience in large
publicly held as well as entrepreneurial companies including manufacturing and
construction.
Peter Glankoff –
Peter has held leadership positions in corporate, non-profit, and advisory
capacities in the areas of strategic planning, marketing, and public relations.
Next Step
We
ordinarily focus UPDATE on leadership issues and challenges. This is a slight
departure, but we feel our readers are one of the best places to introduce the
Inner Circle. We welcome your thoughts
and comments. If you are aware of others,
whom you feel will find this useful or interesting we ask you to please contact
us or forward this article to them.
