Situation:
A global retailer was facing increased competition and was fighting to maintain and grow its market share.  The senior team realized they needed to fundamentally restructure the relationship between the corporate leadership and the store personnel.  Their goal was to empower the people who were closest to the customers, so that their change initiatives were clearly linked to customers’ needs and wants.  

Situation:
Dan (not his real name), an Executive Vice President in a professional services firm, was under consideration for promotion to President of the company. As a leader of one of the firm’s largest territories, he had been highly successful in increasing revenues and growing his team. He had a reputation as a tough, aggressive, competitive leader who knew how to get the job done. In order to move from a regional to an enterprise-wide leadership role, Dan needed to build strong strategic relationships with peers across the company. This required him to modify his leadership style, emphasizing collaborative skills and softening his competitive style.

Situation:
The senior leaders of a major financial services institution wanted to ensure that the next generation of leaders was adequately prepared to step into senior leadership roles.  They knew that it is usually more economical and effective for companies to grow their internal talent rather than compete for top talent from the external market.  Each senior leader had identified high potential talent within his or her division of the company, and a psychological assessment company had provided profiles of each of the identified high potential leaders.  The senior team wanted to provide a targeted, challenging leadership development program to accelerate the growth of the identified cohort.  

Situation:
An executive in a financial services organization was experiencing conflict with her peers, who saw her as arrogant and domineering. They perceived her as over-stepping her authority and felt she was willing to step on others to further her own career. They experienced her interpersonal style as rude, abrasive, and condescending. Others felt she did not listen to their point of view and took credit for their work. Her manager was tired of people coming into his office to complain about her. The company leaders wanted to retain her because of her technical expertise and business acumen. However, they were considering terminating her because of the negativity she aroused.

Situation:
A talented young director in a large, global packaged goods company had been selected to participate in the company’s high-potential leadership development program. The first step in the program was an initial assessment with a consultant from Gail Golden Consulting. In the interview, it was clear that the director exhibited many leadership strengths, including high intelligence, strong analytic abilities, and a drive for execution. However, her interpersonal impact led others to underestimate her leadership abilities. Her dress was very casual, her posture and eye contact did not convey confidence, and her voice was quiet and lacked enthusiasm.

Situation:
The Board of Directors of a large, national non-profit organization was dissatisfied with the performance of the CEO. Two years earlier, the Board had determined that the rapid growth of the organization required a CEO who could demonstrate a new skill set that was beyond the capabilities of the then CEO. They elevated their COO to CEO and the former CEO became a Board member.

The new CEO demonstrated strong leadership in a number of areas. Not surprisingly, he was a highly effective operational leader, as well as an effective external voice for the organization. However, the Board found him to be overly timid, lacking initiative, and weak in his strategic thinking. They were concerned that he did not have the vision and forcefulness to take the organization to the next stage of its development.