Tag Archives: Dominant

How Do You Transition and Mix Leadership Styles? Five Points

Situation: A CEO has shepherded his company from a start-up to a viable enterprise. Early on, his management style was based on facilitation and his “likeability”. This worked well with a tight-knit team. Now the company is much bigger and he feels a need to be respected and able to act as a dominant leader when this is required rather than as a facilitative leader. How do you transition and mix leadership styles?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • What does a dominant mode of leadership entail?
    • Defining the starting point, desired end and important characteristics of the solution – then ask for input on getting there.
    • One can mix dominant behavioral modes with facilitative modes – the difference will be the focus on the end to be achieved.
  • If one were moving the opposite direction – from dominant to facilitator – one would:
    • De-entrench oneself from one’s own position.
    • Become more open to others’ ideas.
    • Change tone / words to express openness.
  • Conversely, to move from facilitative to dominant:
    • Decide what one wants to achieve and express it clearly.
    • One can remain open to the ideas of others, but make sure that the exchange is staying on topic and moving toward the desired objective.
    • Change tone / words to become more assertive.
  • How does one plan ahead to determine what one wants?
    • Review notes / priorities ahead of meetings – decide on the agenda and the objectives for the meeting.
    • Write reminder notes to ask questions or push issues that will drive the agenda.
  • Focus on the framing of the discussion – when one is being dominant the framing is more structured and determinant; when one is being facilitative the framing is more flexible and undetermined.

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What’s the Optimum Business Strategy: Going Broader or Deeper? Five Points

Situation: A CEO wants to expand her company’s business base, either by diversifying its client base, or by going deeper into current clients. What are some of the key questions that should be considered as they evaluate these two alternatives? What’s the optimum business strategy – going broader or deeper?

Advice of the Forum:

  • If the company diversifies, what will be the perception of current clients?
    • Will they see this as more or less beneficial to their interests?
  • What are the most important objectives – what is leadership trying to achieve? Does the response to this question weigh in favor or one or the other alternative?
  • Analyze the available markets, as well as the company’s current share of the existing market. Is the company the dominant player in its market or is there still ample growth opportunity by investing in deeper penetration of the existing market?
  • Are there important vulnerabilities regarding the current client base? Is the company too dependent on a small number of customers? What will happen if key customers decide to choose another vendor or to develop internal resources to meet their needs?
  • For the option to go deeper into the current client base, what is the resource match between the objective and current resources?
    • Do current employees have the appropriate competencies?
    • What is the available time and dollars to pursue the market?
    • What is the ROI target and what are the risks?
    • Does the company have the right infrastructure to pursue the market, or will it require developing additional infrastructure? What is the cost of development in time, money and resources?
    • It is an area in which the company can excel, and does it align with the passion and drive of the current business focus?

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Should You Sell or Buy Another Company? Six Thoughts

Situation: A founder CEO is faced with two options – either selling his company or buying a complimentary company. The acquisition would fulfill his dream as CEO, but he is concerned both about the synergy between the two entities and his ability to manage the combined company. Should he sell, or buy the other company?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • Given these concerns approach the purchase opportunity skeptically. Be more prepared to say no than yes.
  • In evaluating his ability to run a larger operation, the CEO should objectively assess his own abilities.
    • A good CEO is not a Superman. A good CEO creates a viable business model and vision and hires a good team to bring that model to reality.
    • Consider past accomplishments. In an industry where nobody makes money the CEO has created a business model that is sustainable, highly profitable, and technically superior. The only thing lacking is size in terms of revenue.
    • The new opportunity – on the right terms – can launch the company from dominance in a niche to dominance in a significantly larger industry.
  • Assess the new opportunity both as a technical and cultural match. If there is a good cultural match:
    • Fewer things must go right to add value.
    • The purchase provides a channel to a larger market.
    • The acquisition will rapidly speed company growth.
    • The biggest concern will be the time to manage both entities.
  • The most important factor will be the chemistry between the two company teams. If the chemistry is good, the combination offers reasonable assurance that the two teams will complement each other.
  • Look at the purchase as an opportunity to build a win-win with enduring value.
  • In considering outside investors to support the acquisition, be cautious about financial partners and the conditions behind each financing option.

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When Are You Dominant and When Do You Facilitate? Three Keys

Situation: For a CEO to lead effectively, she or he needs to be able use both dominant and facilitative modalities of leadership. James Church, in Navigating the Growth Curve, ties the use of each mode to the growth stage of the company. A CEO asks whether the use of each modality is purely a question of growth stage, or whether there are situational guidelines for the use of each modality. When are you dominant and when do you facilitate?

Advice from the CEOs:

  • The Dominant Mode is appropriate when there is an immediate situation with a clear desired outcome; whereas the Facilitative Mode is appropriate when fixing a broken system that produces issues, or to increase team communication and contribution. As examples:
    • The Dominant Mode is appropriate when there is an immediate issue to be resolved, with clear legal implications and a clear response based on established policy.
    • The Facilitative Mode is appropriate when you want to develop and institute policies and procedures to handle issues ahead of time, or to establish guidelines for action. In these cases you want both input from the team as well as buy-in to institute the resulting decisions.
  • Strategic Planning shifts from Dominant to Facilitative Mode as the organization grows and becomes more complex. Early on, strategy needs to come with a single, decisive voice. In larger companies strategy becomes a group exercise because there are many moving parts and teams.
  • Another way to think about this is that Dominant is appropriate when “the buck stops here,” and will shift from CEO to managers for specific decisions when you reach a stage where the managers are now dominant. Facilitative becomes appropriate when managers and employees – those below the level of company or division leader – need to make the decision instead of the leader.

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