Five Ways to Insure the Change Master's Success. Jack Griffin's Departure. - Walter Sabo

Randy Michaels recently departed as CEO of the Tribune Company You also won39t find any articles about his quotbad ideasquot amp8212 because there aren39t any Mr Michaels was hired for his ideas and ability to make them work He formerly was COO of Clear Channel Radio the largest radio company in the worldJeffrey Hayzlett was CMO at KODAK until last June At an ADCLUB New York Breakfast he said quotMy job is to walk into a room and be disruptivequot Mr Hayzlett39s book The Mirror Test is worth the buyThese are brilliant proven executives who are well known for track records of success Their management styles are not only well known they are effective They are Change MastersWhenever Change Masters and corporations part abruptly the leaked concerns are always the samequotA clash of stylesquot quotThe corporate culture didn39t mesh with the executiveamp8230quot quotHeshe was harshamp8230brashamp8230inconsiderateamp8230failed to communicateamp8230intimidatingamp8230quot Unwelcome ideas always seem to come from people who are described as intimidatingWhen the second round of leaks come out the mutterings usually devolve to issues with the executive39s appearance spouse selection of jokes and office damp233cor Those sound like critiques of rogue country club members not executives at for profit corporationsThe fact that quotclash of culturesquot is a tolerated justification for rejecting an executive at a publicly held corporation goes to the heart of what is wrong with that corporation The quotculturequot isn39t important to shareholders Profit is important If the Change Master improved profits as Messrs Michaels Griffin and Hayzlett did that fact is oddly buried toward the end of news reportsIMPOSING FAILUREWhy do things go wrong Here39s what the hiring body does amp8212 often with the best of intentions amp8212 that make it impossible for a Change Master to thrive1 quotYou can always come to me if there is a problemquot If the amp252ber boss tells key veteran executives that they can quotback doorquot information to him no change will take place Instead the entrenched executives will spend their time looking for evidence of trouble with the proposed changes2 quotPeople will get with the program or they won39tquot Dumbest sentence ever spoken at a time of change Has the program been outlined Timetabled Are there rewards in place for success Never Instead the new leader is brought in to quotchange things upquot And some vague threatening yardstick will measure the troops3 quotWell he39s just a consultant we make the final decisionquot quotWequot meaning the people whose actions resulted in the need for a consultant or new boss4 Signing existing executives to contracts prior to the new bosses39 arrival amp8212 to make them feel secure Celebrating tenure and contracts rather than achievement is how the trouble began5 Failure to backstop At some point change means pain People may have to be let go titles and responsibilities adjusted and goals set One wink from a board member to troubled troops can kill the entire essential project If anyone on a Board or high position even hints that dissent is tolerable the staff will take the easier softer way and do nothingFIVE STEPS TO INSURE THE CHANGE MASTER39S SUCCESSFor decades I39ve been hired as an executive and consultant by the biggest media companies in the world to bring in new ideas and initiate changeIt39s noteworthy that when a Change Master leaves a company one of two things happen 1 All of their proposed changes are put into effect as the remaining management fights for credit ie quotWe were planning to do that anywayquot My favorite 2 None of the proposed changes are put into effect or the changes that were enacted are reversed and the company ultimately fails either by going under or by losing stock points listeners ratings subscribers etcWhen a company hires a Change Master there is a subliminal message that the status quo is failing and the current staff caused the failure Defenses go up immediately Here39s how to fix that1 No big gun walks into an unfixable mess Identify what is working at the company and announce it Tell the Change Master to explain what the company39s strengths are and why they were attracted to the assignment2 Incentivize buyin When the Change Master is announced tell the company39s executives the exact incentive for embracing and fostering the new initiatives quotStick around until the end of March for your bonusamp8230quot is not going to grow the company39s profits Instead explain that the new leader will determine the incentive plan It will be based on their goals and it will be based on results The first thing the new boss must do with their chosen team is to establish the incentive plan3 Stop criticism cold quotHe39s here because he will show us how to make more money That39s why I hired him You need to impress him with your abilities and ideasquot End of conversation4 More ideas and more management is not the answer If the Change Master wants to bring in other experts fine But if the investors Board or management committee adds in more outsiders to the mix the troops get confused and change stops5 If people have to be fired do it at once Do not say quotThose are all the changes we are going to makequot Say nothing about staffing Keep the team focused on the profit goals that will result in them earning their incentivesPersonal tip When the Change Master walks into your company the smartest thing you can personally do is go to them and say quotHow can I help youquot Now you39re the first team member Note I have no idea what the formal reason was for the departure of any of these execs so don39t waste the lawyer letterWalter Sabo is the Founder and Creator of the business concept He is an experienced leader of new organizations and is currently CEO of Hitviews Walter can be reached at walterhitviewscomMediaBizBloggers is an openthought leadership blog platform for media marketing and advertising professionals companies and organizations To contribute contact Jackmediadvisorygroupcom The opinions expressed in MediaBizBloggerscom are not those of Media Advisory Group its employees or other MediaBizBloggerscom contributors Media Advisory Group accepts no responsibility for the views of MediaBizBloggers authors

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Five Ways to Insure the Change Master's Success. Jack Griffin's Departure. - Walter Sabo

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