“preparing clients for mistakes” and “giving them permission to make
mistakes”. This can be translated into the dichotomy: “make reasonable
errors” and “persist in or capitalizing on error”.- Client who consciously chooses not to change, with an obvious capacity of
self-analysis, can identify the problem and the factors susceptible to change,
however realize and decide that the “price” is too high or would affect other
aspects of his/her life.
Case study^15
“Frank is the vice-president of a corporation. He is someone who knows what he wants
and quickly went up the hierarchy. The president of the company, Vince, is near
retirement and all things point to Frank being “the inheritor”. Here is the key: Vince is
not only an excellent manager, but a true leader; he knows what the company can and
should become in the next 5-10 years, communicates well with his employees, and enjoys
their respect although he is harsh on them. Frank is different; he gets involved as a
manager and hesitates when it comes to delegating tasks however competent the others,
and when he has to delegate he rephrases the decisions so as to appear ungrounded or
unsuitably delivered. He is no leader, but an “operations manager”.
One day Vince talked to Frank about the possibility that the latter might take over the
company, and mentioned that this would not be done automatically. At the same time he
expressed both appreciation for his management qualities, and reserves as regards his
leadership qualities. He went so far as to mention what in Frank’s style should change.
Frank then met with a consultant he trusted and from whom he found out roughly the
same thing. Ever since, Frank has worked daily with the consultant, overtime, for a year.
He was determined to become president at any price, even if it meant becoming the sort
of leader the current president had in mind. Being very smart, he designed a series of
strategies to carry out this plan. Nevertheless, he did not succeed in conceiving a
programme with specific landmarks for assessment. The consultant kept reminding him,
but Frank was always “too busy” or said such a programme would be too rigid for him.
Oddly enough, since formal planning was one of his strengths in the business world...
Frank remained just as efficient in the way he conducted business, but incoherent as
regards the strategies to help him succeed as a leader. Two years later, Vince named
somebody else president of the company.”
(^15) Egan (1988).