You are working with a highly technical CEO of a systems integration firm. He is a brilliant software consultant who has built firm that grew to 25 people and $10 million based largely on his own reputation in the field.
However, now his firm is floundering due to an industry slowdown. Sales have disappeared. His own personal net worth has dropped to almost nothing!
He has hired you because, as he says, “I don’t think my people are accountable.” He is worried that nobody is listening to or meeting his expectations — and that no one has the same sense of urgency he does. He feels especially uncomfortable about accountability for business development, and has gone through a number of sales managers who have not delivered for him.
You interview his direct reports and discover that, from their perspective:
1. He is extremely uncomfortable giving tough feedback.
2. He doesn’t set explicit expectations, and expects people to read his mind.
3. In their view, he should focus on technology and client service, and hire an administrator to run the firm.
4. Sales managers leave because the CEO has no understanding of the business development process and does not know the right processes to set up or the right questions to ask.
5. He focuses on too many minor things and details, and needs instead to focus on the most important priorities in his firm. For instance, he sometimes gets too wrapped up in correcting grammatical errors on emails from employees.
You work with the CEO to put in place some standards, a process, and a common language for assessing business development activities.
However, no matter what kind of skill development or coaching you do, the CEO continues to be “helpless” and “hapless” as you try to help him learn how to have tough conversations, hold people accountable, and focus on true priorities. Meanwhile, business is not picking up and the CEO is in a panic.
Questions:
1. What do you do when it seems like a client just won’t “get it?”
2. How would you proceed in this situation?
