Extreme Ownership, junior leaders take charge of their smaller teams
and their piece of the mission. Efficiency and effectiveness increase
exponentially and a high-performance, winning team is the result.
APPLICATION TO BUSINESS
The vice president’s plan looked good on paper. The board of directors
had approved the plan the previous year and thought it could decrease
production costs. But it wasn’t working. And the board wanted to find
out why. Who was at fault? Who was to blame?
I was brought on by the company to help provide leadership guidance
and executive coaching to the company’s vice president of
manufacturing (VP). Although technically sound and experienced in his
particular industry, the VP hadn’t met the manufacturing goals set forth
by the company’s board of directors. His plan included the following:
consolidate manufacturing plants to eliminate redundancy, increase
worker productivity through an incentivized bonus program, and
streamline the manufacturing process.
The problem arose in the plan’s execution. At each quarterly board
meeting, the VP delivered a myriad of excuses as to why so little of his
plan had been executed. After a year, the board wondered if he could
effectively lead this change. With little progress to show, the VP’s job
was now at risk.
I arrived on scene two weeks before the next board meeting. After
spending several hours with the CEO to get some color on the situation, I
was introduced to the VP of manufacturing. My initial assessment was
positive. The VP was extremely smart and incredibly knowledgeable
about the business. But would he be open to coaching?
“So, you’re here to help me, right?” the VP inquired.
Knowing that, due to ego, some people bristle at the idea of criticism