Less than two years after disbanding the centralized global account teams, the decision was made to renew that focus. This change impacted not only Sales, but 20% of the Applications Services (AS) people who work closely with them. Many of those affected by this return to global account teams were not at all convinced that this was in their best interest. Many said they didn't want to be part of the team.

The Director of Application Services, Fred Pentek, understood the business necessity to align his organization with the new sales organization. He also recognized that a 100% fit would be impossible. Confronted with the need to satisfy business demands and maintain a cohesive high performing team, he knew his ability to lead through this change would determine the outcome.

When asked how he used his experience in the 3-Month Leading Without Limit® program to meet the demands of the situation, Fred responded:

Brainstorming different approaches to take was invaluable. I naturally would have decided on the solution and just done that. My experience in the program caused me to consider multiple approaches. The one I took definitely grew me as a leader, and got a better result than I would have come up with alone.

Learning how to get my managers and employees involved was critical. A key take away from Mastery was to ask lots of good questions to get a deeper understanding of situations before acting. I set up multiple meetings with my managers and affected employees. I started asking questions about how we could organize, what the implications of the change were, and then how we could align to make the change work. I listened to understand their underlying needs and concerns. We ended up coming up with seven different scenarios.

Applying the skills of strategic communication, organizational influence, and negotiation helped me effectively influence my boss and peers across the organization to get buy-in and commitment to the different scenarios. My boss wanted a recommendation to meet the organizational need, so we stretched, and in doing so came up with viable options to make sure broader needs were met as well.

I got good feedback about being focused on tactical versus strategic activities. As a result, I'm definitely engaged with my managers more effectively. I'm more focused on building relationships and dealing with people one-on-one. I ask questions first rather than jumping in and solving the problem right away. We come away with much better solutions. They leave feeling valued and thinking I'm a really good leader.

The end result...

• Transition to dedicated global account teams achieved with employee involvement in designing the end solution.
• Cost reduction goals achieved.
• Continuity and quality of service across all clients achieved.

The global client renewed a monster deal -- part of that has been due to creating the dedicated team. The team has been very aggressive about getting in front of the customer. All the effort has paid off in providing dedicated service. Without the change, there wouldn't have been that much effort or focus.

What's unique about Leading Without Limits®?

When I look at other classes we do internally, they're usually one-day events. You leave with a nugget or two, and after a couple of weeks, they're forgotten. By being involved in an extended session, it makes you consciously use the skills. You practice for a few weeks, the accountability really helps, and then it becomes habit.