Great Leaders Grow by Ken Blanchard

Author:Ken Blanchard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Published: 2012-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Teaming Up

Back at work, tensions were running high. Everyone had their own interpretations of what Ms. Barnwell meant when she’d said, “Or there will be consequences.” Sam in particular was on edge.

“Sam, I’ve been thinking about what you said last week,” Blake began.

“What did I say? I probably said a lot.”

“You said our industry was changing—the service standards of the past are not cutting it today. Who’s working on that?”

“On what?”

“The service standards.”

“I hope manufacturing is working on it.”

“Sam, I don’t think hope is a strategy.”

Sam chuckled. “You’re right.”

“Besides, service is more than a manufacturing issue. It seems like it touches several areas, including operations, sales, purchasing, and distribution. And I’m sure I’m missing somebody.”

“You’re right, Blake.”

“I don’t have a hundred-percent confidence that manufacturing knows the severity of the situation. They may not have talked to Ms. Barnwell.” He smiled, trying to get a smile from Sam.

“You’re right again,” Sam said—without a smile. “What do you propose?”

“A cross-functional team to explore the issue and make recommended changes.”

“And who do you think should lead the team?” Sam asked.

“You, of course!” said Blake. “You’re the best. And you’ve got a real live case study with the gentleman we visited last week.”

“That might work.” It was obvious that Sam had not been thinking about a solution at that level. “But I’ll tell you up front, I’m not the team leader type. What I love—and what I’m best at—is sales. Leading a team is not on my wish list.”

“Can you do it this once?” Blake asked. “I’d like to be on the team with you. I think I could learn a lot about the whole business.”

“Sure, I can do that,” Sam added. “Honestly, because you’re new, you might see some things the rest of us have missed. I’ll talk to Ms. Barnwell about the idea and your involvement. Thank you, Blake.”

“Thanks for what?”

“We both know my job is on the line. Thanks for trying to help me save it.”

• • •

Sam had a very brief, as usual, meeting with Ms. Barnwell. She didn’t like the idea of a cross-functional team to save existing business. She argued that it was too much like playing defense rather than offense. Sam assured her that if the team was successful, she’d be the hero. And if it failed, he’d assume full responsibility for the actions of the team. In spite of all this, she still didn’t like the idea. It would be time-consuming, she said, and might cost some money. However, in light of the recent defections, she finally agreed. She wasn’t excited about Blake’s involvement, either, but Sam promised her that Blake was ahead of schedule, and this project would not keep him from assuming the responsibility for a region as scheduled. A real opportunity for Blake to Reach Out to Others was unfolding.

Sam assembled a powerful team. He enlisted members from the departments Blake had suggested and added a couple of others.

The team’s first meeting was very productive. They attempted to pinpoint the problem and studied the data to look for clues to a solution.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.