Building High Performing Senior Management Team

Top executives from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brenner ExecutiveResources, the Ogdon Partnership, and Bluedrop PerformanceLearning on:

Building a High-PerformingSenior Management Team

Edward J. Benz Jr., M.D.President and Chief Executive Officer

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Michael BrennerPresident, Brenner Executive Resources Inc.

Tom OgdonPartner, The Ogdon Partnership

Emad RizkallaPresident and Chief Executive Officer

Bluedrop Performance Learning

One of the most critical factors in the success of any organization is thesenior management team, because this group of leaders has the great-est direct impact on the operations of a company from the everyday

matters and protocols to the development of long-term goals and strate-gies to achieve them. There is no question that in order to thrive, a companyneeds this senior management team to perform at the highest possible level.A high-performance management team is one that is unwaveringly commit-ted to success and focused on producing great results as an interdependentgroup. They are flexible strategists and tough-minded individuals with an atti-tude of mutual respect, well-honed communication skills, and cooperativenature. In order to build such a team, company leaders must pledge them-selves to the constructive practices that will do the most good. Leaders whowant to create a high-performing management structure also must recognizeand avoid the obvious impediments that might threaten that goal, and findthe delicate balance that is necessary for optimal results. Certain aspects ofthe team construction require an open but cautious approach, like the useof natural conflicts and tensions to produce the ideal dynamic. Ultimately,company leaders who recognize the important role senior management playsand devote themselves to encouraging the best performance will be more likelyto survive and thrive in today’s market. �

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Action Points

I. Recognizing the Characteristics of High-Performance ManagementTeamsIdentifying the management team traitsthat are desirable is the first step toachieving excellent performance by senior management.

II. Determining and Implementing Best Practices for StrongPerformanceCompanies with high-performance management teams make use of bestpractices in the way that is most appropriate to their unique situation.

III. Identifying and ResolvingImpediments to High PerformanceOvercoming the common pitfalls thatcan undermine top performance amongmanagement is critical to building themost effective team.

IV. Making the Most of ConflictConflict and disagreement is a naturaloccurrence and can be utilized for optimal results when approached withthe right attitude.

V. Essential Take-AwaysThe importance and impact of gettingthe best performance out of senior management cannot be overstated andmust be a priority of any leader.

Contents

About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.2

Edward J. Benz Jr., M.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.3

Michael Brenner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.6

Tom Ogdon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.9

Emad Rizkalla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.11

Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points . . . p.15

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© Books24x7, 2006 About the Authors ExecBlueprints 2

About the Authors

Edward J. Benz Jr., M.D., is president and chiefexecutive officer of Dana-Farber Cancer Instituteand Dana-Farber Partners Cancer Care, as well

as principal investigator and director of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Care and a member of the governingboard of Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital CancerCenter. He is a graduate of Princeton University andHarvard Medical School, where his medical school the-sis, completed at Children’s Hospital, won the SomaWeiss and Leon Resnick Awards for research. An inter-nationally recognized hematologist, Dr. Benz receivedhis training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the

National Institutes of Health. Board certified in inter-nal medicine and hematology, Dr. Benz is a clinicallyactive internist and expert in inherited anemias and diseases of the red cell.

Immediately prior to assuming the presidency ofDana-Farber, he was the chairman of the departmentof medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School ofMedicine and the Sir William Osler professor of med-icine, one of the most distinguished positions in academicmedicine in the United States. Dr. Benz’s accomplish-ments have been recognized by a number of distinctions,including membership in the Institute of Medicine of the

National Academy of Sciences and the AmericanAcademy of Arts and Science. He is a past president ofboth the American Society of Hematology and theAmerican Society of Clinical Investigation, and is currently the co-chair of the NIH advisory board forclinical research.

Edward J. Benz Jr., M.D.President and Chief Executive Officer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

☛ Read Edward’s insights on Page 3

Active in human resource consulting for more than20 years, Michael Brenner specializes in coach-ing individuals and groups. He coaches to sup-

port the general development of senior executives, tobuild high-performing teams, and to enhance the per-formance of highly valued executives who are not performing up to their full potential. He also coachesindividuals who are seeking a new career direction orare actively in transition. He has served clients in mediaand entertainment, financial services, technology, andmanufacturing. In addition to his coaching, he has par-ticipated in engagements in performance evaluation,compensation, and staffing, and has had extensive expe-rience in handling senior-level executive searches.

Mr. Brenner’s training and development backgroundincludes three years as associate professor of manage-ment at the graduate school of business at New YorkUniversity and adjunct management teaching at thegraduate school of business at Fordham. In addition,he served as a management development trainer at Ernst& Young.

Mr. Brenner founded Brenner Executive ResourcesInc. in January of 1999 to pursue coaching and execu-tive search independently. In 2003, he elected to focusexclusively on coaching. He has been providing coach-ing services for six years and has worked with hundredsof people. In 2004, Mr. Brenner was appointedregional managing director for executive coaching forthe New York area of Korn/Ferry International in addition to continuing to operate his own firm.

His 20 years of executive search experienceincludes eight years ending in 1999 at Hudson HighlandGroup (formerly known as Lamalie Associates, the fifth-largest search firm in the United States), where he wasa senior partner, a director, and the practice leader ininformation technology. Earlier, Mr. Brenner was alsoa partner at Canny Bowen, a boutique executive searchfirm, for five years. His career also includes seven years(five in management) in information systems at BellTelephone Laboratories and five years in humanresources at Ernst & Young.

Mr. Brenner earned a B.S. in industrial managementat the Sloan School at MIT and a doctor of engineering

in industrial engineering with a minor in psychology fromJohns Hopkins University. He served in the United StatesArmy Signal Corps as a second lieutenant. Mr. Brennerhas attended coach training with Coach’s TrainingInstitute and is a member of the International CoachFederation. He has been an invited speaker on execu-tive coaching at the CIO Perspectives conference in Aprilof 2003; the Executive Search Summit in September of2004; Yale University’s Graduate School of Managementin October of 2004; and the CTO Club in Novemberof 2004. He is a charter member of the Human ResourceExecutive Forum, was a member of the Society forHuman Resource Management, serving as president ofthe New York chapter, and is active in the Society forInformation Management. Mr. Brenner is also presidentof the board of directors of Fedcap, a not-for-profitorganization with an annual budget of $60 million thattrains and employs individuals with disabilities.


☛ Read Michael’s insights on Page 6

Tom Ogdon formed the Ogdon Partnership in1987. Prior to that, he was chief operating offi-cer of a prominent search firm. His recruiting

career began in the 1970s with another major firm. Mr.Ogdon’s practice has spanned a number of industrieswith an emphasis on recruiting senior posts on both theeditorial and publishing side within the magazine indus-

try, as well as other communications companies, venture-managed portfolio companies, and high-levelgeneral management and marketing positions in consumer packaged goods.

Mr. Ogdon has always lived in the New York area.He graduated from Amherst College and has partici-pated in advanced studies at Harvard Business School.

In an earlier career in advertising, he served in both creative and senior account management with Benton& Bowles and Needham Harper & Steers.


☛ Read Tom’s insights on Page 9

Emad Rizkalla is a professional engineer who co-founded Bluedrop Performance Learning (previ-ously known as ZeddComm Inc.) upon graduation

from Memorial University in 1992. He has more than13 years of information technology and e-learning indus-try experience and an additional background in mar-keting, organizational change management, leadership,and return on investment assessment.

In 1996, Bluedrop developed one of the world’s firstWeb-based learning applications while assisting FrenchPharmaceutical, Schering-Plough. Today, Bluedrop isrenowned as a company that drives the business per-formance through learning solutions that improve theperformance of its clients’ employees, partners, and cus-tomers. Bluedrop’s pioneering status and track recordhas earned it the respect of clients such as Cisco, Dell,Microsoft, Sony, Health Canada, Prentice Hall, andWyeth Pharmaceuticals.

Under Mr. Rizkalla’s leadership, Bluedrop hasgrown to become one of the preeminent e-learning

companies in North America. It currently has offices inSt. John’s, Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Los Angeles, andWashington, D.C. In 2005, Bluedrop was awarded a silver placement in the “custom content, full course” cat-egory during Brandon Hall’s Excellence in LearningAwards. Deloitte and Touche recognized Bluedrop as oneof North America’s “Fast 500” companies, and the com-pany has appeared three times on the “Profit 100” listin the past five years.

Mr. Rizkalla is currently chair of the Genesis Group(the technology transfer corporation for MemorialUniversity). He was the recipient of the BusinessDevelopment Bank Young Entrepreneur of the YearAward in 1997, and was honored in May of 2000 asone of Canada’s “Top 40 Under 40” for his leadershipand vision. He also sits on a task force for theDepartment of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Mr. Rizkalla was profiled in a cover story titled“Young, Dynamic Entrepreneurs Who Will Create the21st Century” in Time magazine and has been featured

on CBC’s “The National Magazine,” City TV, BBCRadio, the Financial Post, and Maclean’s magazine. Mr.Rizkalla’s leadership strategies have been published inthe critically acclaimed Inside the Minds series, a pub-lication featuring insights to future success from busi-ness executives worldwide. Mr. Rizkalla contributes hisknowledge and shares business successes and experienceswith ExecBlueprints, an online collection of best prac-tices authored by top executives regarded as leaders andinnovators in their fields. Mr. Rizkalla is a highly soughtspeaker in the United States and Canada, speaking onthe subjects of e-learning, technology in the workplace,organizational change, and leadership.

Emad RizkallaPresident and Chief Executive Officer, Bluedrop Performance Learning

☛ Read Emad’s insights on Page 11

Important CharacteristicsIn a high-powered academic envi-ronment like the Dana-FarberCancer Institute, there are severalcharacteristics that are equallyimportant for success. Senior man-agers — whether they are facultymembers, physicians, scientists, orexecutive staff — need to have astrong intellect. They also have tobe able to command respect andinteract with others on a level ofmutual understanding.

We have employees who areinteractive, collegial, and institu-tionally minded. The kind of talentwe’re looking for in medicine andscience often comes with a signifi-cant ego attached. Mature employ-ees are able to balance their ownagendas and ambitions with thevision and goals of the institute. Weare very lucky; our employees willoften sign on or stay on with us forless of a material package than theymight have with a bigger corpora-tion because they maintain a hugecommitment to our mission.

Senior management team mem-bers have to regard their areas ofresponsibility as fluid and overlap-ping. There needs to be a clear lineof authority and responsibility, butmutual support is critical. Ouremployees realize that the other sen-ior management team members arealmost as much their supervisors as

the person to whom they have asolid line of report.

Allocating TimeDana-Farber Cancer Institute’sstructure is a bit unusual. We arechartered as a hospital in theCommonwealth of Massachusetts,but we are a freestanding corpora-tion with our own board andadministrative functions that allowus to operate in an independentcorporate context. We are one ofthe five major teaching hospitals of the Harvard Medical School, so we also have a major academicinfrastructure.

We are heavily partnered withother hospitals and with Harvardin consortia called Dana-FarberHarvard Cancer Center, Dana-Farber Partners Cancer Care (alongwith Massachusetts General,Brigham and Women’s Hospital,and Partners Health Care), Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’sHospital Cancer Center, and Dana-Farber Children’s Hospital CancerCare. Through these arrangements,we keep our licensed adult inpa-tient beds at the Brigham andWomen’s Hospital and our pedi-atric inpatient beds at theChildren’s Hospital of Boston.Compared to any other cancer cen-ter in the country, we spend anextraordinary amount of our time

and effort managing relationshipswith other organizations.

I would estimate that 30 percentof my time is spent managing rela-tionships. I have several titles. I amthe chief executive officer of Dana-Farber Partners Cancer Care, thedirector of the Dana-FarberHarvard Cancer Center, and thedirector of the Dana-FarberBrigham and Women’s HospitalCancer Center.

Some of our senior leaders are cli-nicians and spend part of their timedoing clinical work, while others arescientists who spend time in the laboratory. Approximately one-third

© Books24x7, 2006 Edward J. Benz Jr., M.D. ExecBlueprints 3

Edward J. Benz Jr., M.D.President and Chief Executive Officer

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

“People who are ‘org chart microscopists’ cannot be part of aneffective senior management team.”

• Former chairman of the departmentof medicine at the Johns HopkinsUniversity School of Medicine

• Member of the Institute of Medicineof the National Academy of Sciencesand the American Academy of Artsand Science

• Graduate, Princeton University andHarvard Medical School

Mr. Benz can be emailed [email protected]

Edward J. Benz Jr., M.D.President and Chief Executive Officer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

If we could spend more time being creative, bold,and trusting of each other while finding out-of-the-box solutions instead of dealing with theinevitable day-to-day bumps in the road, itwould improve our efficiency.

Edward J. Benz Jr., M.D.

President and Chief Executive OfficerDana-Farber Cancer Institute

of our administrators’ time is spentmanaging core responsibilities.Much of the remainder of our faculty’s/managers’ time is spent inpursuit of their academic or profes-sional responsibilities. Other senioradministrators spend time workingacross the boundaries of their indi-vidual areas of responsibility tocoordinate and move the strategicprogress of the institute ahead.

Our chief financial officer andchief operating officer spend aquarter of their time working withone another to further the institute.We work very hard to coordinatethe clinical, research, core admin-istrative, teaching, and communityoutreach missions of the organiza-tion. Certain senior managers alsospend time fundraising.

Time ChallengesOur time allocation isn’t necessar-ily ideal for the organization interms of gross amount of time orhow that time is actually utilized.

The amount of work it takes tomanage our external relationshipsis too great. Time is frequentlyfocused on the maintenance of arelationship versus the exploitationof opportunities to better our workthrough collaborations.

The time we spend on externalrelationships would be better useddeveloping programs, improving effi-ciencies, and eliminating the seamsthat inevitably accompany any pro-gram where patients have to movebetween two organizations. If wecould spend more time being creative,bold, and trusting of each other whilefinding out-of-the-box solutionsinstead of dealing with the inevitableday-to-day bumps in the road, itwould improve our efficiency.

Senior ManagementBreakdownWe have two executive vice presi-dents. One is the chief operating offi-cer and one is the chief financialofficer. They have line management

responsibility between them forareas like human resources, facilities,security, and quality improvement.

We also have several senior vicepresidents. We have a senior vice pres-ident for clinical affairs and chiefmedical officer who is also a physi-cian; a senior vice president for nurs-ing and patient care services who isalso the chief nursing officer; a sen-ior vice president of legal affairs andcorporate governance; a senior vicepresident for research, also called the chief scientific officer; a seniorvice president for communications;and a senior vice president fordevelopment. The chief medicalofficer has relatively little line man-agement responsibility but a lot ofleverage and authority over thephysicians practice group.

Common ImpedimentsThere are some common impedi-ments to creating a high-performancemanagement team. The first isambiguity concerning areas of


Edward J. Benz Jr., M.D.President and Chief Executive Officer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (continued)

Strong Intellect

PositiveLeadershipQualities

Characteristics for SeniorManagement Success

IdealSenior

Manager

responsibility, which creates an exces-sive focus on who is in which spoton the organizational chart. Both inthe short and long term — three tofive years on the horizon — there needs to be an agreement oninstitutional and individual goals sopeople focus and agree on how towork together.

Another impediment to a high-performance team is the“chronophagic” stuff (in medicalparlance, this would translateroughly to “time-eating stuff”).We struggle so hard to achieve con-sensus among strong-minded anddedicated people that the consensus-building processes eat enormousamounts of time and are frequentlynon-productive. These processestend to sprout up most often whenwe seek ad hoc solutions to short-

term problems. We create commit-tees, task forces, and processesthat take up huge amounts of time.All too often, the process outlaststhe problem that created the needfor it. We need to review whetherthe groups and committees wehave are serving the purpose theywere intended to serve.

In the institute at large, there arerecurrent personnel issues. Weshould require managers at everylevel to be highly respectful of thepeople who work for them, to bementors, and to be supportive ofand direct with people. The greaterpercentage of time we devote toensuring that respect, the less of anissue we will have in the future.

We have a core value we callrespect and compassion. As a group,

we feel that while we do well in hon-oring the core values for those in ourcare, we struggle when it comes tohow we deal with one another. Wehave invested a tremendous amountof effort to repair that problem byimproving the way we conduct ourorientation, diversity initiatives, cultural competence initiatives, andrespect initiatives.

We have brought in consultants,and we have ways of setting expec-tations for people by stressing thatthe quality of the workplace theyhelp create is a major part of theirfuture. It has taken us a while to spread our message throughoutthe institution, but it’s a huge part of the solution to a respectfulworkplace. �


Edward J. Benz Jr., M.D.President and Chief Executive Officer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (continued)

There are some common impediments to creating a high-performancemanagement team. The first is ambiguity concerning areas of responsibility,which creates an excessive focus on who is in which spot on theorganizational chart. Both in the short and long term — three to five yearson the horizon — there needs to be an agreement on institutional andindividual goals so people focus and agree on how to work together.

Edward J. Benz Jr., M.D.

President and Chief Executive OfficerDana-Farber Cancer Institute

Creating a Successful TeamA company is only as successful asits employees are motivated tomake it. A company should striveto create a high-performance seniormanagement team with managerswho are trustworthy, mutuallyrespectful, and openly communica-tive. The team should aim for a cor-porate culture that encouragesemployees to strive to make thecompany a success. Individual man-agement goals should not becomemore important than corporategoals. If employees participate in goal setting, they will own thegoals and will really work to achievethem. The senior management teamshould never set arbitrary goals sim-ply to motivate people, because falsegoals lead to frustration and dys-function. A high-performance senior management team will alsoregularly give feedback to employ-ees to help them succeed. Almostevery person in management is notcomfortable in giving critical feed-back. No one likes to deliver whatfeels like criticism, but managerswho can master that skill can makeall the difference in the world.

Time ManagementA chief executive officer (CEO)must be sensitive to time manage-ment and adjust goals, responsibil-

ities, and projects with it in mind.Senior managers are always chal-lenged to find enough time in theday to accomplish their goals, andtime management requires con-stant work. The senior managementteam members should spend thebulk of their time on strategic plan-ning. The most important respon-sibility of a senior managementteam is to set the strategic directionfor a company. The rest of theirtime should be spent on marketanalysis and employee-relatedissues. To put market analysis inperspective, the bottom line (i.e.,profit) is only as good as the top linecan drive. If a company does nothave good revenue, it will never earna good profit. Senior managers mustalways be connected to the mar-ketplace. People are one of the mostimportant assets of any company, soonce strategy has been planned andthe market is understood, seniormanagers should spend the rest oftheir time working directly onissues about people.

Best PracticesThere are several best practices toincrease the effectiveness of seniormanagement. The first is to deal withproblems early. If something is notgoing well, it will not get better onits own and it will probably getworse. If a problem is dealt withearly, it will go away quickly. The sec-ond best practice is to offer encour-agement to employees, becauseencouragement is much more pow-erful than criticism. A senior managershould take the time to personallythank employees for doing goodwork and not simply admonishthem for poor performance. Thethird best practice is for the CEO tofocus on maximizing the effectivenessof the direct reports to be self-

sufficient in solving problems ratherthan jumping in to solve any prob-lem for them. If the CEO is busyspending his or her time solving theproblems of subordinates, he or shebecomes a limited resource. If all ofthe CEO’s direct reports are suc-cessful in solving problems for whichthey are responsible, more strategicleadership resources are available.

Employee PerformanceWhen an employee is not perform-ing adequately, it undermines themorale of everybody around that

© Books24x7, 2006 Michael Brenner ExecBlueprints 6

Michael BrennerPresident

Brenner Executive Resources Inc.

“No one likes to deliver what feels likecriticism, but managers who can master that skill can make all the difference in the world.”

• Has been active in human resourceconsulting for more than 20 years

• Has extensive experience handlingsenior-level executive searches

• B.S. in industrial management, SloanSchool at MIT

• Doctor of engineering in industrialengineering (with minor in psychology), Johns HopkinsUniversity

Mr. Brenner can be emailed [email protected]


The most importantresponsibility of asenior managementteam is to set thestrategic direction fora company.

Michael Brenner

PresidentBrenner Executive Resources Inc.

person. The good employees getangry at management because theyhaven’t done something about theunderperforming employee. Also,unresolved bad problems can leadthe other employees to develop anattitude and stop working to theirfullest simply because poor per-formance of other employees is notbeing addressed by management.One poorly performing employeecan cause a tremendous loss ofenergy to a department and a com-pany. The situation can be handledby using the traditional three stepsof (1) identifying the poor per-formance to the employee; (2) ifnothing improves, establishing spe-cific performance goals to be met;and (3) if performance still does notimprove, putting the employee onprobation with a time frame.

Resolving ConflictsThe senior management team isusually comprised of the CEO andapproximately six other managers.Along with the CEO, the rest of theteam includes the heads of businessunits and the heads of key stafffunctions such as finance, market-ing, and operations. Each memberof the team is responsible for spe-cific things. Conflict among the sen-ior executives undermines highperformance and should be dealtwith openly. If a company with aneastern region and western regioncompete, that is terrific for the com-pany because the competition pro-motes growth. However, if twomanagers who report to the CEOare not collaborating when doing sowould be in the best interests of thecompany, the company suffers. It isthe job of the CEO to recognize theconflict and rectify it. A CEOshould never tell two people whoare having conflicts to simply work

it out between themselves. That isa cowardly approach to managing,and it undermines the success of atop management team. The CEOshould sit down with both partiesto discuss the issue and find a way to resolve it.

Team BuildingA company should hold annual off-site developmental or team-buildingactivities. The offsite is enhanced byhaving at least one terrific learningexperience from an outside author-ity. The rest of the program allowstime to review past accomplish-ments and determine future inten-tions. Outside experts tend to bringin new ideas and make people thinka little differently. An offsite meet-ing like that will help build a sen-ior management team that workstogether. Team-building activitiesshould take place in March, afterthe prior year’s financial results are

available. The senior managementteam can look at its plan for theyear to see if it still makes sense inlight of the financial results. Theydo not need to redesign the plan,but they should make sure all themembers of the senior managementteam believe in it.

Defining GoalsOnce a year, the senior managementteam should use objectives as thecore of a general process of deter-mining what the team wants toaccomplish in the upcoming year.Some of those goals should be basedon facts and trends, while the restshould be based on intuition. Theteam should meet every week, or ifthat is not possible, every other weekto review the latest results, reaffirmstrategy, and focus on people. Thesenior management team membersare the guiding hands (not the work-ing hands) in the organization, but


Michael BrennerPresident, Brenner Executive Resources Inc. (continued)

Addressing Poor Perfomance

Identify poor perfomance to the employee.

Establish specific performance goals.

Put employee on probation with clearly defined time frame.

they are the ones responsible for theorganization’s performance, and the goals they set should reflect thatresponsibility.

Integrating PersonnelThe Center for Creative Leadershiphas reported that nearly 50 percentof all outside hires fail to achieve the

desired results. In the book, TheFirst Ninety Days: Critical SuccessStrategies for New Leaders at AllLevels, Michael Watkins offerspractical guidelines for success in anew position. The common prob-lem for many companies is that noone pays attention to how to inte-grate a new member into the team.The new member is left to either

sink or swim. If a CEO hires some-one because he or she believes thatperson has potential, that personshould be given every chance forsuccess and the CEO should spendenergy integrating the person. �


Michael BrennerPresident, Brenner Executive Resources Inc. (continued)

Once a year, the senior management team should use objectives as the coreof a general process of determining what the team wants to accomplish inthe upcoming year. Some of those goals should be based on facts and trends,while the rest should be based on intuition. The team should meet everyweek, or if that is not possible, every other week to review the latest results,reaffirm strategy, and focus on people. The senior management team membersare the guiding hands (not the working hands) in the organization, but they are the ones responsible for the organization’s performance, and thegoals they set should reflect that responsibility.

Michael Brenner

PresidentBrenner Executive Resources Inc.

The Senior ManagementTeamA high-performing managementteam has the ability to worktogether productively and to makeprogress toward goals. Diversity isa desirable thing, but I do not thinkit is an important characteristic interms of performance. I think work-ing together and being able toachieve goals is very important.

The time spent by my typicalclient in senior management isevenly divided between five areas:operational issues, employee-relatedissues, strategic planning, issuesrelated to investors, and marketanalysis. Most have sales or mar-keting experience and skills. In thereal senior management team, Iguess you’d have to include financeand legal. In my particular case, notmanufacturing. Finance and legalround out the skills.

Communication withManagementOur management team gathers forface-to-face meetings very often. Ispend about 20 percent of my timemanaging the senior managementteam. In my firm, we are togetherall day every day. The most criticaluse of this time is clearly commu-nicating my expectations for the

team members. It is absolutely nec-essary for other people in the teamto know what is expected of themfor top productivity. A lesser use oftime is facilitating discussions andissues. When there is a process ofselecting a new member for themanagement team, this processreceives an enormous amount ofattention. In the key client firm, thetop two people are in one locationand have face-to-face meetingsevery day they are both in town.The third individual down hasface-to-face meetings with the othertwo at least three or four times amonth.

If it is less than this amount, theyuse videoconferencing. At my com-pany, we use it in an entirely dif-ferent context: We use it to meetcandidates who are so remote thatit is difficult for them to fly. If weare trying to meet someone fromBrazil, we will arrange a video-conference for about an hour. Wealso utilize the Internet and e-mailto facilitate these meetings.

Defining Goals of SeniorManagementOne of our clients defines its goalstop-down, level to level to level tolevel. They are set with financialincentives, and each person is aware

of his or her goals. The goals aremade if an individual is doing thejob correctly. It works that way allthe way up the line, so everybodyis trying to work with the next person down the line to achieve thegoals.

ImpedimentsThe primary challenge with buildingan effective management team isattracting top talent. Attracting tal-ent requires having the right peopledoing it and working together doingit. Doing the part right is as much a

© Books24x7, 2006 Tom Ogdon ExecBlueprints 9

Tom OgdonPartner

The Ogdon Partnership

“Diversity is a desirable thing, but I donot think it is an important characteris-tic in terms of performance.”

• Formed the Ogdon Partnership in1987

• Has a wide variety of experienceranging from publishing to consumerpackaged goods

• Graduate of Amherst College

• Undertook advanced studies atHarvard Business School

Mr. Ogdon can be emailed [email protected]


The primary challenge with building an effectivemanagement team is attracting top talent.Attracting talent requires having the right peopledoing it and working together doing it. Doing thepart right is as much a function of people withinthe company as it is of outside recruiters.

Tom Ogdon

PartnerThe Ogdon Partnership

function of people within the com-pany as it is of outside recruiters.

A second difficulty is getting peo-ple to work together effectively.Sometimes, you have to bang headstogether a little.

Handling ConflictIn order to avoid conflict, a man-agement team should have clearlines of authority. If a chief execu-tive officer has carefully defined hisor her authority and the limits of his or her authority and responsi-bility, the next person down alsodefines it clearly, and so on. Whenthere is conflict, it can only go sofar before there is a gentle reminderof authority. The individual with theauthority usually makes the finaldecision regardless of the conflict.

Training and DevelopmentAlthough I am doing heavy devel-opmental work in my situation, oneof my clients does far too little team-building activities. I think this clientcould benefit by using outside tal-ent more extensively than they doin sales training. Outside talent canlook at a situation more objectively

and can be a specialist in a partic-ular area. For example, most firmsdo not have employees who have 20years experience in the specificarea of sales training. Someone whomakes a living in a specific areashould be able to bring more inter-esting ideas and teaching skills tothe company.

BenchmarksIn my experience, the benchmarksthat are most often used are top-and bottom-line financial resultsbased on stated goals. Companiesare in business, after all, to makemoney. We measure these resultsconstantly. They are measured moreformally once a month and on aquarterly basis.

In the FutureI expect to add a new member tomy management team and to themanagement team of my client. Inboth companies, I am trying toanswer questions about the cultureof the companies. That integrationprocess can be difficult in somecompanies, although where there isa spirit of integration among therecruiters and the incomingemployee as to the culture of thecompanies, the process can be com-pleted successfully without a formalprogram. The current employeesjust welcome him or her and real-ize that the first couple of monthsin a new job are strange and some-times troubling. �

© Books24x7, 2006 Tom Ogdon ExecBlueprints 10

Tom OgdonPartner, The Ogdon Partnership (continued)

It is absolutelynecessary for otherpeople in the team toknow what is expectedof them for topproductivity.

Tom Ogdon

PartnerThe Ogdon Partnership

Typical Senior Management Time Breakdown

20%Operational Issues

20%Market Analysis

20%Employee-Related

Issues

20%Investor-Related

Issues

20%Strategic Planning

Characteristics of a High-Performing ManagementTeamThe most important characteristicof a high-performing managementteam is an unrelenting focus towardachieving goals. A solid manage-ment team must be goal-oriented,determined, and focused on achiev-ing common objectives. The align-ment of objectives between thesenior members of a team is the mostcritical, and accordingly the most difficult, aspect of building a high-performing management team.

A high-performing managementteam is action-oriented and focusedon results. The key to the “team”aspect is that the group works inharmony and alignment to achievethe same global goal. Innovationand flexibility are important,because the company with the bestplan is not always the one that wins.The company that responds the bestto unexpected challenges andchanges to its environment is the onethat will win. So, responding andadapting to the detours on the roadto the plan is more important thanhaving the best plan at the outset.

When you add informed flexi-bility to a high-performing man-agement team, you achieve evengreater success. Strategies and plansare ways to express values, expec-tations, and aspirations. I believe

these loftier issues should clearlyand vocally underpin strategies,plans, and targets. Accordingly,the management team needs tounderstand these underlying driversand use them to navigate theinevitable changes and compromisesthat will be required in the execu-tion of any strategy. You need agroup of people who are not rigidin their approach and driven as much by aspirations and values asthey are by the “hard targets” thathave been set. High-performingmanagement teams should befocused on the proverbial “big pic-ture” and how their actions affectthe long-term health of the organ-izations. Hence, flexibility, innova-tion, and resilience are all keys toa successful management team.

ImpedimentsThere are some common impedi-ments to creating a high-performingmanagement team. One is findingthe right people. It’s hard to find theright talent and identify the rightpeople to create the skills anddynamics required. Putting thewrong people (from a skills, cul-tural, or attitudinal perspective) onthe team is dangerous for obviousreasons. I have occasionally let myimpatience or need to fill key postssteer me astray in this area. I havelearned the hard way a few times

that it is better to have key positionsuncomfortably vacant than deny thenagging voice in my gut about the suitability of a candidate. Mygut has never been wrong, and Iurge discipline and patience overneed and expedience.

Another challenge is misalign-ment within the management team.The team clearly needs to gel andshare a common vision. A goodteam knows how each member and“jurisdiction” affects the other areasand people around the table. Aleader must continuously work onsustaining alignment and keepingfocus. Each decision, intervention,

© Books24x7, 2006 Emad Rizkalla ExecBlueprints 11

Emad RizkallaPresident and Chief Executive Officer

Bluedrop Performance Learning

“The alignment of objectives betweenthe senior members of a team is the most critical, and accordingly the most difficult, aspect of building ahigh-performing management team.”

• Has more than 13 years of information technology and e-learningindustry experience

• Clients include Cisco, Dell,Microsoft, Sony, Health Canada,Prentice Hall, and WyethPharmaceuticals

• Graduate of Memorial University

Mr. Rizkalla can be emailed [email protected]

Emad RizkallaPresident and Chief Executive Officer, Bluedrop Performance Learning

It is important that people know where they’regoing, even if it ends up being the wrongdirection. I’d rather be wrong and clear thaneventually right but ambiguous for a prolongedperiod of time.

Emad Rizkalla

President and Chief Executive OfficerBluedrop Performance Learning

and discussion sends signals aboutwhat the global priorities are andhow the team members need toalign. The leader must considersymbolism and messaging on eachdecision, because often one can winthe battle with correct decisions butlose the war of team alignment,focus, and purpose.

There are clearly a lot of com-peting demands at the top.Managers must be forced to focuson the issues that matter collectivelyas much as possible. It is humannature for all managers to have theirown agendas, pet projects, closelyguarded turf, and interests. The keyto success is allowing people to havetheir interests, but not at the cost ofharmony or focus. The leader’s jobis to bring them all back to what theteam needs.

Dealing with ConflictNew managers often see conflict asuncomfortable or bad — somethingthat needs to be avoided, “facili-tated,” and/or solved. I tend tobelieve, however, that some conflictis good. Conflict can be a sign ofinterest and passion — indispensableelements of a high-performanceteam. If I was leading a key meet-ing and there was no passion,debate, discussion, or conflict, I

would wonder if people were inter-ested and motivated or just waitingto see what they are supposed tothink. A president is not a shepherd,and management teams are notsheep. That is why I like to see peo-ple passionately arguing about theirbeliefs and getting a little emotionalabout them.

That said, however, there aresome obvious limitations. No oneshould tolerate arguments that getpersonal, condescending, or over-heated. As long as a debate happenson a professional and philosophicalbasis, organizations can considerthat a symptom of a motivated,high-performing team. The goal ofproductive conflict is to achieve theoptimal decision; it shouldn’t beabout politics or personalities.People have to feel that there is afree market of ideas and nofavoritism. Healthy conflict needs tobe encouraged.

Best PracticesOne of the most productive andusually most enjoyable best prac-tices is an age-old, proven team-building technique: the corporateretreat. I believe it is important tohave at least one retreat per year forhigh-performance managementteams. Almost any agenda that gets

people talking, learning, and enjoy-ing each other will produce tangi-ble results for the business. Ofcourse, I always use these gatheringsto facilitate planning exercises and to review strengths and chal-lenges going forward. At least oncea year, the management team shoulduse the retreat to build trust andunderstanding among the team mem-bers. Trust is the lubricant organiza-tions need to run efficiently andshould never be underestimated orundervalued. If that is all that isachieved during a retreat, it is stillenough to consider it a success.

People come back from retreatswith new energy and a strongsense of the possible. The newfoundfocus is almost palpable. After a retreat, we see less waste and more focus on common goals.Productivity goes up. There is alsomore alignment in the peoplereporting beneath senior manage-ment, because they have a clearermessage of how they should workwith their counterparts. Retreatsbring harmony, productivity, andless waste.

The people on my team havehigh energy in general, but there isstill more passion after a retreatbecause the team has a renewed senseof where the company’s heading inthe future. They have greater trust


Emad RizkallaPresident and Chief Executive Officer, Bluedrop Performance Learning (continued)

There are clearly a lot of competing demands at the top. Managers must beforced to focus on the issues that matter collectively as much as possible. Itis human nature for all managers to have their own agendas, pet projects,closely guarded turf, and interests. The key to success is allowing people tohave their interests, but not at the cost of harmony or focus. The leader’s jobis to bring them all back to what the team needs.

Emad Rizkalla

President and Chief Executive OfficerBluedrop Performance Learning

in the team that will make it hap-pen, and they have a sense of their own value and role inachieving something worthwhile.

Setting a clear vision from thetop is also of paramount impor-tance to the team. The role of thepresident has become clearer to meover the 13 years of Bluedrop. It isalways the simple and less tangiblethings that seem to matter the most.The most important thing a presi-dent can do is let the team membersknow where the organization wantsto go, what it could mean for eachof them, and how each of them playsan important role in the future. As a best practice, it is critical to continually over-communicate thecompany’s vision.

Measuring ROIThe ultimate measure of return oninvestment (ROI) is the profitabil-ity of the company. The moreeffective the management team is,the higher the overall profitabilityof the company. At Bluedrop, wehave four to six key metrics thatshow us the performance of thecompany. These metrics includeclient satisfaction, efficiency, uti-lization of resources, and grossprofit per contract, as well as a hostof second-tier metrics that helpexplain trends in the first-tier ones.Once these metrics are measured, anorganization can benchmark againstcompetitors in the industry and itsown past performance. These tar-gets allow an organization to better define and track progress onachieving success.

It is difficult, if not sometimesimpossible, to link specific progressin any metric to isolated activitiesor people. Some ways to isolate theroot causes of good or bad trends

is to use control groups and run tri-als. In such trials, for example, oneregion can be given access to the“new ways” and another deniedsuch access, and then ROI can bemeasured through the added bene-fits realized in the new ways group.In some situations, that approachcan help nail down the specific ROIof investing in a particularly activ-ity. However, I have a visceral fearof analysis paralysis, and I recom-mend caution with such intensiveand costly deductive approaches.The vast majority of situations donot call for ROI calculations. I sug-gest fewer than 5 percent of all largecorporate initiatives or investmentsrequire ROI calculations. Theyhave their place in situations whereone needs to demonstrate the valuerealized through past initiatives (oreven the value of a particular divi-sion or group), build a case forfuture investments, or test andfine-tune highly consequential initiatives. Otherwise, I advocate

less time analyzing ROI and moretime benchmarking. Provided pos-itive trends are occurring, the focusshould be empowering managers tomeasure results and strive for goalsthrough un-precise fine-tuning, trialand error, and good old-fashionedhuman judgment versus laboriousROI calculations.

Integrating New Membersof the Management TeamIn order to successfully integratenew members into the senior man-agement team, a leader must dedi-cate sufficient time to having ameaningful two-way dialogue. Aleader needs to clearly set expecta-tions and bring new people into thefold by briefing them on overlap-ping goals and possible conflictswith other team members up front.If the manager they are replacingleft on good terms, I always suggestthat a meeting is brokered betweenthem so the new person can get a



50%Managing

Senior Management

CEO Time Spent with Senior Management

CommunicatingExpectations

Ensuring Clarityof the Message

Holding the teamAccountable

better sense of the challenges theirpredecessor had.

The rest of integration is a mat-ter of team building. Again, I advo-cate the formal retreat at key pointsin the year. But more immediatelyand informally, I believe the seniormanagement team should havebreakfast together every now andthen to get to know each other insocial settings. Some legendarymanagers have advocated dailybreakfasts or lunches, so there ismuch to be said for this form ofteam building.

Defining GoalsWhen our company is setting goals,we begin by creating lofty objectivesand then examine how the num-bers, revenues, and costs play out.It is important to “blue sky” at thebeginning. We then set a realisticbudget and work backwards to seewhat resources are needed allaround the table to make this a real-ity. I also believe strongly that goalsare meaningless unless there is fol-low-up. Managers have to be heldaccountable! On a monthly basis,we sit down, talk about our short-term goals, look at the big picture,and then come back to see if every-body’s on track.

We revise goals on a quarterlybasis. If there are any delays orproblems in an area of the company,we expect people to automaticallyexplain how their goals are going to

be affected. We go through a muchmore thorough process quarterlywhere we look at all of the numbersin greater detail, but on a monthlybasis there should be a snapshot tohold people accountable and letthem know we’re all depending oneach other.

Time BreakdownApproximately 50 percent of mytime is spent managing the seniormanagement team. The most criti-cal use of that time is clearly com-municating expectations to teammembers and holding all account-able for what the group agrees to.Success always comes down toexpectations. The best-run compa-nies are the ones with the leastambiguity on those expectations.

If the management team is driv-ing on a mountain road in a mini-van and all of a sudden it gets foggy,the tendency is to slow the vandown because everyone is nervous.It is important that people knowwhere they’re going, even if it endsup being the wrong direction. I’drather be wrong and clear thaneventually right but ambiguous fora prolonged period of time.

International DifferencesThere are cultural issues when build-ing high-performance managementteams in different locations.International politics occasionally

affect progress, and unfortunatelypeople still have stereotypes of oth-ers from different countries.

However, whatever way it issliced, high-performance manage-ment teams are those that have aclear focus and dedication to striv-ing toward the same global goals.We might not all have the sameapproach, however, because thereare cultural differences in the waybusiness is done in different places.Some countries are very direct, andother cultures are very polite. All wecan do is bring people together withtheir differences and explain that thisis just the way people are and thatit’s not personal. Diversity is a def-inite strength if the coherent focusof the team is not affected by it.

Ideally, at a certain level, peoplehave had experience with culturesand individuals from all around theworld, but sometimes I still see trep-idation and unease because of dif-ferences. I try to give people a senseof the personalities around thetable, but business is business anda high-performance team should becommitted to achieving goals nomatter what. I have yet to see one culture in which their high-performers don’t believe in achiev-ing their goals. The ways of gettingthere might be different, but theobjectives and drive don’t change.That is good news for those buildinginternational teams. �



I. Recognizing theCharacteristics of High-Performance ManagementTeamsIdentifying the management teamtraits that are desirable is the firststep to achieving excellent perform-ance by senior management.

• The best teams are invariablyfocused on achievement andresults.

• High performance depends onthe ability of a managementteam to display innovativethinking and flexible response.

• Resilience is a key characteristicof the best management organizations.

• Top-performing managers arethose who can communicateeasily with employees andother senior members of theteam.

• The most critical component of success for a managementteam is mutual respect andcooperation between the teammembers.

II. Determining andImplementing BestPractices for StrongPerformanceCompanies with high-performancemanagement teams make use of best practices in the way that ismost appropriate to their unique situation.

• Address problems with speedas they arise.

• Build confidence with encour-agement instead of criticismand other forms of negativefeedback.

• Establish and communicate astrong and comprehensive corporate vision.

• Encourage self-sufficiency formanagers with regard to problem solving.

• Foster a strong team throughregular retreats for team build-ing and offsite meetings forgoal assessment and creation.

• Establish clear lines of authority.

III. Identifying andResolving Impediments toHigh PerformanceOvercoming the common pitfallsthat can undermine top perform-ance among management is criticalto building the most effective teampossible.

• Ambiguity concerning author-ity structures and areas ofresponsibility is toxic to management performance.

• Wasteful processes and practices are dangerous formanager performance andthreaten the success of theteam.

• It is critical to put the rightpeople in the right placesaccording to their skills, background, and attitudes.

IV. Making the Most ofConflictConflict and disagreement is a nat-ural occurrence and can be utilizedfor optimal results when approachedwith the right attitude.

• Healthy conflict can be a signof engagement with issues andpassion about answers.

• Conflict can be harnessed andused in a productive way undercertain circumstances.

• Allowing conflict to descendonto a personal or unproductivelevel should be avoided.

V. Essential Take-AwaysThe importance and impact of get-ting the best performance out ofsenior management cannot be over-stated and must be a priority for anyleader.

• High-performance managementteams are able to effectivelyfocus on the long-term view foran organization.

• Having a capable senior management team is critical to the long-term success andimmediate health of any company. �

© Books24x7, 2006 Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points ExecBlueprints 15

Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points

© Books24x7, 2006 Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points ExecBlueprints 16

Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points (continued)

ExecBlueprints is a subscription-based offering from Books24x7, a SkillSoft Company. For more information on subscribing,please visit www.books24x7.com.

10 KEY QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION POINTS

What are the most important characteristics of a high-performing management team?

Could you give a breakdown of how your senior management team’s time is spent?

What is the composition of your senior management team?

What are the three most common impediments to creating a high-performing management team? How can these impediments be avoided?

What best practices are you aware of to increase the effectiveness of a senior management team? Have you implemented any of these best practices within yourcompany? If so, what was the impact?

How should conflict be handled within management teams? In what situations doesconflict actually lead to higher performance? Who mediates conflicts among your seniormanagement team members?

How can ROI be measured for management team activities? What percentage of themanagement team’s activities has ROI goals?

Could you describe the developmental or team-building activities in which your seniormanagement team has engaged? Do you expect to implement any new developmentalactivities in the next 12 months?

What benchmarks can be used to determine the effectiveness of a senior managementteam? What is measured? How often?

Do you expect to add new members to your senior management team in the next 12 months? If yes, what efforts will be made to successfully integrate new membersinto the team?

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