A couple of weeks ago, I attended a meeting of professional consultants. One discussion centered on a question a client might ask a consultant and that is, “Can you guarantee your work?” The consultant initiating this discussion stated that the reply always given is, “Can you guarantee that you’ll do everything I recommend you do?”  It’s unlikely that a client will do everything the consultant advises and even more unlikely that the client’s employees, including the executive team, will do everything the consultant or even the CEO advises. Given such circumstances, is a consultant foolish to offer money back or any level of guarantee?
In conducting some brief, non-scientific, research for this article, I found that consultants offer a variety of guarantees.

This year, how are you going to fill the bill for your organization to provide  innovative products and services, high performing work teams and higher profitability? Today, market demands are changing at a head-spinning rate. This requires your organization to have greater flexibility. Stakeholders are looking for greater ROI, the need for talent with specialized skills and employees who want meaningful work are examples of other changes affecting businesses. Is your organization keeping pace? Are the right people in the right positions to meet the needs of conducting, leading and implementing the strategic changes needed to beat the competition?

Building a team from scratch is a rare privilege that few CEOs get to experience. Inheriting an executive team is more the norm. The functioning state of a team can be ubiquitous.  A newly acquired team could be at any stage of the forming, storming, or norming process. It could consist mostly of people who like to take action, or people who are skeptical. It could include a majority of those who like to analyze every detail, or those who chase the next shiny, new management fashion, process, or business trend.  Not every leader has the ability of accurately judging others. How can a CEO build on such chaos?

It used to be that teambuilding was composed of exercises just to help everyone get along and tolerate one another. For example, one exercise might be for each team member to tell two truths and a lie about oneself. Then, everyone else has to guess which fact is the lie. Another exercise is to tell the team about some item you brought with you and explain why you brought it and what it means to you thus providing “deep” insight into your psyche or personality. Obviously, this is a facetious observation. The point is that while these types of exercises might have their place and purpose, cultivating a highly functioning team with true insight and understanding requires a more scientific approach.  

Culture Club was a rock group popular in the 1980s. The group originated in the UK. However, they were able to compose and deliver music that had a broad appeal. Companies facing a merger or acquisition face this same challenge in needing a culture with a broad appeal. 

Culture has been defined as the sustainable competitive advantage that an organization can control. Culture surrounds the raw competency of an organization. In other words, how the organization does what it does and how well it does it. So how is culture manufactured and where does it originate within an organization?  

Boy George was the leading influence in establishing the culture of the successful group and in setting certain fashion trends. The culture of an organization is often created from the top leadership. However, surprisingly enough, it can come from other areas within the company. For example, oftentimes middle management can create the culture. This can result when top management is weak. Weak leadership can even be dangerous within leadership itself. For example, many of you will no doubt remember the Daimler-Chrysler merger.