Adam and Eve are very different to their biblical namesakes.
They had followed similar paths earlier, as university graduates and then fast tracking to executive roles. Whilst they haven’t met each other, they know of each other, because they are both my clients.
I met Adam first, when he was the chief operating officer of an engineering firm. He had asked me to coach his five direct reports. That led to me running a leadership development program for the supervisors below Adam’s direct reports.
I had recommended to Adam that he, his CEO, and Adam’s direct reports should participate in the program as well for the following reasons:
- It provided a perfect opportunity to deepen relations between the key leadership of the business.
- They would be on the ‘same page’ as to content and language.
- They would model the way.
Adam explained that they wouldn’t for the following reasons:
- They were too busy because they had just bought a smaller competitor and were integrating it into the business (a perfect reason for attending).
- They had already done many leadership programs (missing the point about common understanding).
- They felt that by attending they would cause the participants to with-hold (showing a lack of understanding and negative assumptions about their people, and I suspect some fear for some reason).
I argued against Adam’s logic to no avail.
Shortly after completing the work with Adam’s people, he was made CEO of the firm.
At about the same time Eve, who was the CEO of a similar sized business in asset management, asked me to coach herself and her direct reports. That led to me rolling out a leadership development program to the business.
When I recommended that Eve and her direct reports also attend, for the same reasons I had given Adam, Eve agreed.
I remain in touch with Adam and still work with Eve.
Adam’s firm suffers a stuck culture of avoidance and ‘us and them’ and has too high a staff turnover rate. They have a plateaued revenue and mounting costs. They have recently cut their training and development budget.
I fear for them.
Adam refuses to recognize that the culture is the biggest determinant of enterprise success. An engineer, he believes that the products, service and systems are the primary causes of success.
Currently he is seeking to improve by making another acquisition. I have advised him to consolidate first. He will most likely not heed my advice.
Eve’s firm, on the other hand, is growing steadily and organically.
Eve is aware that the leadership shapes the culture, by their example, what they tolerate and what they don’t know about.
Their culture is evolving towards being more innovative and client focused, and away from their past strict hierarchical ‘fee for time’ origin.
I’m helping Eve use science and skill in selecting the new talent required to cope with the growth.
I have attempted to have Adam meet with Eve, but that hasn’t happened yet.
The biggest learning for me is to not waste my time and my clients’ energy, both time and money, in not including the senior leadership in enterprise leadership development.
I was guilty of not being more assertive with Adam, and I should have declined the assignment then, as now I do, when senior leaders say, “develop them, not us”.
Adam suffers from a fixed mindset and that is cascading through the enterprise.
Eve is enjoying a growth mindset, and that too is cascading through the enterprise.
UPDATE
Adam met Eve by chance at a networking function and shortly after called me for a coffee catch up.
“I’ve been both arrogant and ignorant. I had a great conversation with Eve recently. You are right, let’s plan how we move ahead.”
I asked, “What did Eve say that I hadn’t, that helped you change your mind?”
Adam pondered and said “It was coming from a person who had nothing to gain by sharing her story. I guess I had the view that as a consultant, you had a self-interest agenda to push. Now I see that your agenda was the well-being of our business. I’m sorry for that.”
Note
Neither Adam and Eve nor their enterprise descriptions are their actual identities.
