192 50 TOPEXECUTIVECOACHES
comes from within the organization and already possesses a lot of direct
knowledge, a rigorously developed point of view is still a must. The CEO po-
sition is a totally different one. The world is now seen from a different and
higher perch. The world looks different. Fresh thinking is needed to identify
and exploit the competitive opportunities that exist or can be created.
The process of developing a strategic point of view can take up much of
the first 100 days. It involves hard-core analysis, number crunching, and crit-
ical thought. The coach works with the CEO to do a diagnostic of the poten-
tial of the por tfolio as distinct from the current performance of the
portfolio. Is the portfolio the appropriate one? What is the performance of
each business, and what is its history? Are there businesses dragging down
the performance of the whole? If so, is it a bad business or a badly managed
one? If it’s badly managed, get rid of the management. If it’s a bad business,
get rid of the business. Is the break-up value of the portfolio higher than the
corporate value and why? Although these questions are fairly straightfor-
ward, it may be difficult to come to terms with the answers. Nevertheless,
the decisions need to be made fairly quickly.
The coach, at this stage, helps the CEO think radically differently and chal-
lenge current wisdom. The most important task of strategy development is to
understand the roots of the dominant logic of the company. Stated simply, it is
about understanding why we believe what we believe about (1) competition
and competitors, (2) our products, (3) relationships across business units or the
logic for the portfolio, and (4) our sources of competitive advantage. It is in-
trospection and understanding ourselves as a company. The next step is to ex-
plicitly examine the emerging competitive landscape to assess the continued
relevance of our beliefs and practices. Past successes often tend to be codified
into the dominant logic. There is a thin line between outdated orthodoxy and
the dominant logic that may be the source of future success. The coach works
with the CEO to understand those orthodoxies in the company and the indus-
try, and lays that over the emerging competitive landscape to see what to pre-
serve and what to change.
Build a Coalition of the Able and Willing
In developing a strategic point of view, the CEO comes to understand the
value ofthe business, the pattern of innovation that is taking place within
the organization, the capacity to execute, and the pace and rhythm of the
culture, all while determining what needs to be changed. This knowledge
does not form in a vacuum, however. Around the CEO, much jockeying for
position is taking place. It can be difficult to separate who is telling the CEO