Context
Global market leader company in Media & Advertising Business.
By the words of the CEO: Reason why it’s important now
The challenges we are already facing are solid enough to force us to change. From Clients directly, from our historical competitors, from new competitors.
Challenges
– “When we’re back to our daily working routine we are – all of us – engrained in a mechanism that is not allowing us time to act upon those changes we want to make. It’s a hamster wheel we don’t know how to escape from. The risk is that we dedicate all our efforts to short-term solutions – we all have something we need to deliver tomorrow – and forget the longer-term solutions that will change dramatically our way of working and our delivery to clients.
– It’s a survival strategy, not a bold long-term innovative strategy to regain our leadership position in the market”.
Needs
– “We need to accelerate our efforts and make bigger changes. Together. As a team. And we’re not there yet.
– These are the key reasons why I believe we need to invest in a Change Management project where all the leadership team – starting from the EXCO – is involved.
– The risk is that the market we currently work in will disappear in a very short time because of our lack of focus and because we don’t find time to change!
– This is what the process I am suggesting starting is all about: make a significant and profound shift in mindset.
– This will have an impact on every one of us as leaders and will have an impact on our organization“.
Approach
They decided to start with an Ego Team Impact (ETI) an assessment that allowed them to be aware of what is blocking their team potential, in order to discover and work directly on their concrete obstacles and limiting unconscious behaviors and beliefs.
The assessment included two phases.
1st phase has consisted in interviewing all the members of the EXCO to get the essential elements of their perceived reality:
- A context of survival, with a “making things work”, “meeting MY targets
- They found that most of their time was spent in:
- “resolving contingent issues and urgencies” (35% – 40% of their time)
- checking other people’s work” (15% to 25% of their time)
- exploring and researching new possibilities” (10%)
- activities connected to their profound aspiration” (max 5%)”
- The US vs THEM dynamic was evident, feeding territoriality and silos, where complaisance (the yes that becomes maybe, that becomes a silent no) was working against trust and not allowing vulnerability and accountability.
The 2nd phase has been a one-day workshop with the objective bring to surface the obstacles and team counterproductive dynamics. The group has seen how their team dynamics are influenced by a set of deeply rooted beliefs:
- A good leader must have solutions fast!!!
- And must control all the steps”
- By myself it is better
- You are going to use it against me
- We care for each other ’till the moment the other becomes a danger
Fueling a mindset essentially based on two drivers: complaisance and “defense of the fort” which generate several unconscious counterproductive behaviors, among which:
– Avoid difficult conversation
– Being nice
– Control of all the details
– Take all opportunities
– We do what we’ve always done
– I can only do what I know / can control
– Don’t ask for help to the broader group
– We need the solution now
Results
– the team have recognized their individual and collective obstacles (behaviors and beliefs)
– deeper team understanding and cohesion with immediate benefits on some dynamics
– unanimous decision to work deeper on the obstacles that emerged during the Ego Team Impact and to transform them together with the objective of consolidating a context of trust, dialogue and authentic exploration where each individual becomes a resource for the others.
Knowing that learning to transform those obstacles – thanks to the process of the Team in Vision Workshop – is the way to regenerate creativity, to fuel a shared vision, objectives and results “that are inspiring to us and our people”.