Decreased Waste and Enhanced Strategic Advantage

The CEO of a financial institution was frustrated that they were not getting the aligned and focused needed to take the organization to the next level. She knew that the long-term success of the company would be affected by how well the executive team could develop as well as execute key strategic initiatives, and align the culture of the organization. The organization was tired of consultants and jaded by management change theories. The CEO contacted the Institute to provide a unique alternative to the conventional leadership theories they had tried to use. Several executives had heard Institute founder, Don Schmincke, speak and they enrolled in a strategy program as it was determined by the Institute that what was stopping the group was a strategic direction that would be acceptable to the Board. A dramatic strategy was developed and Institute staff participated in Board presentations to support alignment for the new plan. The Board felt it was finally a strategic plan that had substance and the executive team could now proceed with more velocity towards its goals. A  follow-up accountability implementation program was then engaged and revealed a 60% hemorrhage of human capital in leadership behavior from politics, power plays, CYA, blaming, avoidance, and other dysfunctional behaviors. The CEO knew that in order to ensure successful implementation of strategy, this would have to be addressed. An n executive team development program course was designed to uncover the dominant beliefs driving unproductive behaviors, and instruct the group on special methods to move to a higher level of
commitment, accountability, bravery, honor, and integrity. This produced an executive team framework that allowed the group to hit major target goals group for the first time, and an executive self-assessment measured a 50% drop in wasted behavior in the organization6 months later. Even if the strategic benefits were ignored, the recovery of half the 60% wasted leadership saves the company millions of dollars annually.

Enhanced Profit from Improved Strategic Positioning

A regional janitorial services company was struggling against ever decreasing margins and the CEO was frustrated with profitability. The CEO had had many strategic planning consultants over the years but was disappointed in the tactical level planning output that emerged. They enrolled in a strategy program but the organizational analysis revealed that what was stopping the group from thinking strategically was internal turmoil among the members. The course was altered to an executive team development program and the true issues were uncovered and a transformational framework implemented to address them including a code of honor. After a few months of implementation the group was able to approach strategy more clearly and the original strategy program commenced, but this time with more success. Relevant strategic models allowed the group to discover its main competitive advantage had less to do with winning in the janitorial sector as capitalizing on their talent to develop and discover specialty chemicals for the janitorial sector.

Cost reduction

The Institute was selected by one of the military operations of the U.S. to facilitate taking their strategy to a new level. The capacity to recapitalize readiness of armed forces produced a $2B cost reduction in military operation and the Institute is now developing leadership interventions for cultural shifts within this sector.

Profit enhancement

A loyalty services company was losing money and the CEO was concerned that they would be able to sustain liquidity. A combination of the Institute's leadership and strategy programs enhanced the strategic thinking level of the team so they were able to identify the niche markets that enabled branding and cashflow in the credit sector. They then developed a base of strength to move into related industries in office product distribution, telecommunication, and airlines. During the journey several retreat experiences were designed over a 2 year period to incrementally take the group to new levels, as well as hone the executive team to deal with the issues hindering execution. Profits climbed from an annual $500K loss to $1M positive levels, and revenues climbed from $7M to $20M.