Fall 2008 issue of Horizons

knowledge. commitment. value. CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS AND BUSINESS CONSULTANTS

One executive recalls a time when he was chosen to take over a division that had suddenly lost its leader. His first priority was to meet with people, talk with them and listen to their concerns and ideas on where they could take the business. This led the staff to rally behind its new leader, taking the business from a non-profitable unit to the fastest-growing, most profitable unit in the entire company in just one year. Lesson 3 – Be human A leader during dramatic change often is expected to have all the answers. Most of the time there are not answers to everything, so there is no need to pretend to have them. It is important, however, to portray confidence when admitting to not having all of the answers. A leader must send the message that they will provide solutions that will result in a better situation, which would not have been possible had the change never occurred.

This attitude will counter any perceptions of loftiness and shows the team a willingness to work with them. A leader’s position will grow even stronger based on the renewed trust and respect from the team. In one situation, an executive was leading a company with 350 professional staff and acquiring a company that would add an additional 125 members, including several senior leaders. Many questions were raised, both within the company and within the group being acquired. Naturally, the leader proactively communicated the answers that he did have, but there were some questions he could not answer. It would have been easy for him to avoid the questions or mislead people by telling them what he thought they wanted to hear. Instead, he chose to be very candid and let them know that there were still some unanswered questions. He quickly followed that up by disclosing to them the process company leadership was going through to get the answers and the timeframes

14 ◆ fall 2008 issue