How IEs 'Think Outside of the Box'

Just as many people are creatures of habit, many businesses are operated in a similar manner. During the next few weeks, I will list a few examples of how several hourly consulting projects have helped organizations increase their productivity and their profits.

Here is one of our hourly engagements:

• An electronics distributor's CEO had not intended to micro-manage his staff and employees, but he had allowed everyone to approach him for answers from the outset. After several years, he felt he could no longer 'get away' for more than a few hours at a time, since the employees depended on him for every decision.

The solution was quite simple; implementing it proved a bit more difficult. The CEO had inadvertently trained his employees to question their own decisions, prompting them to rely on him. Much of this behavior evolved from the firm's entrepreneurial beginnings. Getting the CEO to step back and allow them to not only make decisions, but take responsibility for them required adjustments on both sides.

We began the process by taking the CEO out of the office for a few hours each week, providing coaching to him and reviewing his strategic plan. The employees were instructed not to contact him during that period, but to resolve any problems or conflicts in his absence. Meanwhile, we met with the employees on a variety of issues. After a few weeks, the CEO felt comfortable enough to attend a full day seminar off-site. The employees gained confidence in supervising themselves during that time, and wrote reports on actions taken in the CEO's absence. The CEO read the reports, and was impressed by the results.

Over time, managers began to manage, and the CEO had a few subordinates reporting to him, rather than impromptu employee meetings all day long. The extra time gained allowed him to focus on expanding the business and other strategic areas. And the entire atmosphere became less stressful for everyone.

While the lesson here would appear to be straightforward and part of Business 101, it reflects a situation that we see repeated in numerous organizations, both for-profit and non-profit. Not every company CEO, owner, or manager is a born leader. We work closely with these individuals and organizations to help transform mere mortals into productive and respected leaders.

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