His new weekly meetings were taking place every Friday so that Greg’s team could agree on the forecast and make plans to close any gaps between the latest prediction and their firm volume and profit commitments. These meetings had been getting longer and less productive over the past eight weeks. From beginning to end, the meetings consisted of arguments over what the forecast numbers should be. Greg usually made the final call. One thing was certain. Their ability to forecast the business was poor at best. Perhaps Kari was right when she told Greg back in April that it might be nearly impossible to forecast this business. He was glad he had decided to build finished product inventory, but frustrated that the increase had not yet delivered the customer service improvement he had promised Susan.

Following the detailed results review that began every monthly planning meeting, Greg addressed his team. “It looks like almost all the results are headed in the wrong direction. Even most of the function-specific results are dropping, and that hasn’t happened in the past, at least that I know of. Next week I’ll be meeting with Susan to give her an update on our progress. I’m not looking forward to that meeting. As you have just seen, there is little good news to share beyond improved operating utilization and efficiencies on the shop floor. Good work, Tony! Beyond that, I am hard pressed to come up with enough good news to satisfy either Susan or me. You all look at the same results. See any good news that I’m missing?” David broke the silence.

“I hate to be the person to pour cold water on the only improved result that you highlighted, but that improvement just might be part of the problem.” Greg was puzzled.

“I’m not following you at all, David. How does Tony’s running better cause us to have worse results?” David decided to lead Greg rather than tell him.

“Let me ask Tony to clarify something for us, Greg. Tony, can you tell us what you’ve done to increase your utilization and operating efficiencies?” Tony smiled and replied.

“Easy one to answer, David. Our direction from Greg was to get better utilization and to build inventories. We accomplished both with one simple change. We now run longer cycles. When we change from product to product we stretch out the run as long as we can. That operating strategy puts more of each product in the warehouse and allows us to avoid running that product again for a much longer period. As a result, we have reduced product changeovers, built inventory, and improved our operating results, including unit cost and overhead absorption. It’s really quite simple.”

Kari jumped into the discussion, “Why don’t you actually try running what we forecast or what we’re selling for a change? We have over a year’s forward coverage on some of our products while we’re almost out on others. Still making maximum bonus, aren’t you Tony?” Tony rose to the attack.

“You could actually try selling product that we have, Kari. We have over a year’s coverage because your people sell what’s easy to move. Have them sell what’s in the warehouse for a change!”

“That’s enough from both of you,” Greg admonished. “Let’s keep the dialogue constructive and return to where we were, David. Tony seems to be doing exactly what I asked him to do. How does that hurt our results?” David could see that Greg still didn’t get it. Time to open the can of worms.

“Over the past two months it hasn’t hurt us as much as I expect it will in the third quarter. Since May, it’s true that our overall inventory level has been increasing in the distribution network. But if you look closely, the number of SKUs below safety stock has also been growing. Tony is running as long as he possibly can on each product, but when we get an unexpected surge of orders on one of those SKUs below safety stock, he has to expedite the changeover. That often takes overtime personnel, requires the planners to rework the schedule, frequently necessitates using airfreight to get the materials to make the short product, and sometimes even requires shipping the finished product by air. I know that cost control is our number two objective for now; that’s not my concern. My concern is that the number of SKUs below safety stock is growing rapidly and will require even more frequent emergency production changes and expediting in the near future. Eventually the long cycle time strategy might do the trick, if we live to tell the story; but in the interim, I think we are going to see even worse customer service results.” Tony wasn’t going to let that go.

“Seems to me like we’re right back to where we were two months ago; blame Manufacturing. Look, I agreed to build inventory and improve operating up-time. I’ve delivered on both the objectives that are in my control. I can’t help it if Sales oversells the forecast and causes a product shortage. Everyone here knows what we are producing today, and also knows what our schedule is for the next couple weeks. That’s the product that will be available and that’s the product Field Sales should push until the total inventory of all products is increased, as Greg requested. I have a good manufacturing organization, and we are building inventory fast, but we can’t build the inventory of all products overnight! We are still reacting to too many product shortages, but I make the call not to change over to that short product if I think the long-term cost will outweigh the customer service benefit. I have to agree that I’ve noticed an increasing number of emergency product outages in the past month. But don’t look at Manufacturing. What other organization is meeting Greg’s objectives? I think we’d better look at a couple other areas besides Manufacturing, although Manufacturing is an easy target. I know a couple of those shortages were caused by product essentially disappearing from the distribution centers (DCs). If the ERP system stock record says inventory is on hand, it had better be on hand. That’s another area we in Manufacturing don’t control. David, that’s your responsibility, not mine. And another area outside my control is the usefulness of the forecast. We all agreed to meet weekly to improve the forecast, but all you people do is argue about the numbers. Frankly, that meeting is a waste of my time. I haven’t seen any improvement. Kari, that’s your responsibility, not mine. There is no need to take more of the group’s time on this disagreement. David and I will discuss this whole issue outside this meeting.” Greg took command again.

“Okay, Tony, for now, but in a week I would like to see a plan you and David put together to grow inventory and at the same time reduce the number of SKUs below safety stock. Agreed?”

“Sure, boss.”

“Speaking of forecasting, Tony says he has seen no improvement in our ability to forecast the business. Has anyone else noticed an improvement?”

Sara replied, “We see an improvement in cost forecasting because of the reduced variances from Manufacturing’s longer run cycles; and run rates are now closer to standard. Additionally, spending has dropped pretty dramatically since you began signing all purchase orders over $50,000. Over the past month, however, we saw variances climbing again. The last discussion about an increasing number of emergency product changes explains that for me. We are still doing our financial forecasts the same way as before.” Sara Miles continued. “We start with Kari’s sales forecast and our cost standards, but then apply our experience and best-guess to improve the forecasted shipment numbers. Can’t say we have made any significant progress.”

Greg learned over the next half hour that sales forecasting was no better than before despite the weekly meetings. Each function was still developing its own forecast of future demand based on functional experience and was making its operating plans accordingly. It seemed that despite his clear direction two months ago, every person on his staff was still operating from a functional basis; there was no sign of the team he had envisioned.

“Kari, talk to us about the marketplace. Any signs of improving news on volume or service out there that I can share with Susan next week?” Kari wasn’t pleased about being the bearer of bad news, but knew she would be.

“Wish I could give you some good news, but I can’t. Our performance on the two new products we just launched, including our big hope, ‘Quiet Nights,’ was no better than any launch in the past couple of years. The objective of following the launch protocol more strictly may pay dividends eventually. But with these last two launches, we had a hard time even getting the attention of our customers. They just don’t trust us to deliver on our promises any more. For those customers who did take the new products, we didn’t make them believers. It wouldn’t do much good to talk more about this problem here. It would waste everyone’s time. Matt and I have set up a postmortem for those launches for next week. We’ll let you know what we learned and what we will do differently in the future.” Kari continued.

“As you requested, we have been examining the customer order failures and reviewing each one with you. What’s frustrating to me is that there seems to be a new cause every time. We haven’t spotted a quick fix so far, but hopefully we’ll see a pattern soon and take action to improve the results. At this point, though, our service level is getting worse. What I just heard from David about the increasing number of SKUs below safety stock is unacceptable and depressing. We can’t handle many more months like this. And we may be in for a battle on a new front, too. Charlie Beck heard from his people in the field that some of our key competitors are talking price reductions. We believe their strategy is to capitalize on our service problems and take away our shelf space.”

Sara Miles jumped into the discussion. “If we try to match their price reductions, our financials quickly become unacceptable. There is little chance we could build enough volume to offset the hit we would take. It would be your decision, Greg, but I just can’t support any kind of price war.” This was worse than Greg expected, or believed possible.

“All right, folks. We’ll look at the plan David and Tony pull together to build inventory and reduce the number of SKUs below safety stock. I don’t think we can afford to wait for a week; better bring me what you have in two days, David. Also, if we have to continue shorting orders for a while, let’s make sure it’s not with our top 20 customers. Kari, give me your recommendation on whether we should go on allocation with some of our products. If we do, we’ll try to keep it low key. We don’t want to start a feeding frenzy among our customers or the competition. Do what you have to with smaller customers, including talking with them frequently, but continue to involve me in any decision to short our best accounts. In the meantime, get your salespeople serious about selling the products that we have in inventory. Work with Zachary and propose a change in the incentive package for our Field Sales people if necessary. I want them beating the forecast regularly. If they can’t figure out which products to push and which to avoid from an inventory standpoint, have them call David.” Greg’s direction continued.

“In terms of product launch problems, get the new products out on time and flawlessly, Matt. I don’t want to hear any more excuses for delays or service problems with new products or promotions. We have to change our image in the trade.”

The meeting broke up at 6:00 PM, and Greg had nothing positive to add to his agenda for the upcoming meeting with Susan. He went through his e-mail, returned calls from a stack of phone messages, and took another look at the draft agenda for Susan’s meeting. He arrived home after 7:30 P.M.

“Sorry I’m late again, Penny. Another long day.” Penny couldn’t hide her irritation.

“You know, I’m really getting worried about you, and so are the boys. Talk to me about what’s going on. It certainly won’t make you sleep less or feel worse!”

Greg apologized for his behavior and self-inflicted isolation during the past few months. After dinner, Greg and Penny went into the study to talk. Greg shared what had been going on since he took over as President.

“The directives you gave your staff seem pretty straightforward to me, although some of them are very controlling and un-Greg like. Why haven’t people been following them?” Greg responded quietly and with a good deal of introspection.

“It seems to me that they have been trying, but the outcomes don’t look much like what I envisioned or what I’ve experienced in the past when I’ve taken similar actions. I push them, and results get worse. Inventory goes up, but customer service gets worse. Manufacturing starts to run more efficiently, but costs keep climbing. I bring the leadership team together more frequently and talk more openly with them, but the relationships get worse and people start closing down. The outcomes of the actions are exactly 180 degrees from what I expected. It is completely baffling. I can’t tell you how often people want to take a problem ‘off line,’ as they call it, rather than working it out together so we all can learn from the discussion. Between you and me, and I would never admit this to anyone else, I am beginning to wonder if I’m in over my head. I have never faced this many difficult business conditions at the same time, and I’ve never before had all the functions reporting directly to me. I take an action in one place, and something goes wrong in some other place. It seems there are interdependencies that keep things hopelessly tangled no matter what I do. I’m really getting concerned about my ability to do this job.”

“I can tell that you’re under enormous stress. Just a thought, Greg. Isn’t there someone at work or in your network of peers who you can confide in and ask for ideas or a fresh perspective? Who is the most solid person on your staff? Can that person help?” Greg brightened up a little.

“Actually, there are a couple of pretty solid people. Sara knows finance and gives me a straight analysis of the financials when we are exploring ideas and options. David has a great command of how a supply chain should work. He is probably the most levelheaded and knowledgeable of my VPs. I think he has tremendous potential.”

Penny cautioned Greg. “That’s great, but I expect you can’t share your innermost thoughts with either of those two since they report to you. How about among your peers?” Greg paused for a moment.

“I hadn’t thought much about that, but I have a pretty good relationship with Roger Winchester, who runs Home Products. He is an old pro at being a business unit President, and I always enjoy talking with him. Doesn’t seem real aggressive, but his results are good. I’m sure he’s been through some rough times and would be willing to give me some advice.” Penny encouraged him, “That’s a great idea.” Greg sounded a bit more cheerful.

“Here’s what I think I want to do. First, I want to make sure people know I am still serious about the directives I put in place. I continue to believe they will help even though we haven’t seen improved results yet. I’ll go back over them at the next staff meeting just to make certain no one thinks I’ve backed off. Second, I’m not going to let people take issues ‘off line.’ We are a team, and we have to start listening and supporting each other. I know we can solve some of the problems if everyone will just get their cards on the table and agree to talk through them. I also need to look for some additional talent. I think we’re going to need it. Specifically, I no longer think that Tony can stay with us. He seems to bring out the worst in everyone and is probably the single chief cause of poor team morale. It’s time to make a move. I’ll have to talk this one over with Susan first, though. I’m sure there is a big buyout that the Board will have to approve. Last, but not least, I’ll call and make an appointment to see Roger as soon as I get the situation with Tony resolved. That should do it for now.” Penny smiled.

“Sounds like the old Greg to me. Feel better?”

“I have a plan of sorts, thanks to you, and that always makes me feel better.”

Greg began the next day early, as usual, but with a renewed sense of energy. He picked up the phone and called Susan, knowing that she would be at her desk already reviewing today’s edition of the Wall Street Journal. She answered the phone on the first ring and greeted Greg. “How’s it going with your game plan, Greg? Any signs of progress yet?”

“I really wish I could give you a bundle of good news, Susan, but I can’t, at least not yet. I’ll be clear with you when we have our regular meeting on the first of August, but for now I’ll just say that our efforts to date haven’t produced any significant improvements. I am not going to blow smoke or sugarcoat things. I think you already know that about me.”

“Sure do, Greg. We don’t have time for political games, and I know you don’t like them any more than I. What can I do for you this morning?” Greg continued.

“I want to take you up on your offer about making a change in the organization. I expect this move will prompt some questions, but it’s time to take action. You told me that Tony was a pro at his job and that I might find him a bit inflexible. You were right on both counts, as usual. He knows manufacturing and how to keep his people aligned and happy. Give him a manufacturing measure or objective, and he’ll figure out a way to meet the target. Unfortunately, he does it in a way that allows him to look good while the company suffers. You were far too kind when you said he is inflexible. He sets the universal standard for inflexibility. Nothing he or his organization does is ever wrong. Whatever goes wrong is the fault of Sales, Product Development, Purchasing, or someone else, including me. Worse than that, he is a divisive member of the leadership team. When he is confronted about having large inventories of some of his products while an increasing number of products are below a safe inventory level, he is likely to report that he is doing his job well, his team is making the maximum bonus, and the fault lies in the Sales organization’s not doing its job. He is absolutely draining the energy out of my team. Unless you tell me to back off, I am going to meet with him next Friday and tell him that it is his last day with us. I know there’s probably a sizable buyout package that he’s entitled to, but I think it will be worth the expense. Do I have your support?”

Without hesitation, Susan replied, “Of course you do, Greg, although I am a more than a bit surprised. Have you given him any warning that this might come to pass if he didn’t change his ways?”

“Tony and I have had lots of talks since I arrived. And we had a pretty formal review of his performance about a month ago. He didn’t like it; thought I was crowding his ability to run Manufacturing and siding too much with Sales and Marketing. He got a bit out of line, but I told him I could understand his frustration with the lack of positive business results. That can take a toll on anyone’s psyche. I did make it clear, however, that I was not happy with his apparent resistance to my direction, his functional bias, or his overall ability to be a team player. I also told him that I was holding him personally accountable for becoming a good team player and doing a better job of meeting our customer service objectives. I followed up with a letter to him stating the particular performance patterns I wanted him to change. Since then, I haven’t seen any difference or any noticeable effort to improve. All his actions continue to be about defending Manufacturing. Others on the team have already run out of patience with him.” Susan sounded genuinely surprised.

“I had no idea he was that dysfunctional on the team. Stu never even mentioned that his behavior was causing problems. I do have one question, though. Isn’t this a bit precipitous? Wouldn’t you like to keep Tony around for a few weeks to train his replacement?” Greg was ready for that question.

“Absolutely not. I am afraid he would only poison his replacement’s attitude and create hard feelings within the Leadership Team and in Manufacturing. The only reason I am delaying the move until next week is to give myself time to work with HR, and for you to take care of anything you might have to clear with your staff or the Board. I think the best strategy, by far, is to move ahead quickly, pay any package we are obligated to pay and get on with the business. I’ll make certain we also offer him the package we offered others in terms of tuition and outplacement support. He’ll be plenty upset; I want to help him save face if I can. No sense in creating a mortal enemy in the industry.”

“Okay,” said Susan, “but I have another question, Greg. Who will replace Tony? Will you have to go outside the company, or do you have someone within Amalgamated in mind? Going outside could add months to the process of replacing him. Either way, what will you do until someone else is in place and up to speed?”

“Well,” said Greg, “I’ve been thinking about this possibility for several weeks. I have a solution that minimizes the transition time and reduces our budget at the same time. Both plant managers are solid people and manufacturing professionals. They know how to keep plants running, but they need more effective direction. I wouldn’t call them change agents, but they will follow a strong leader. We’ve already seen that with Tony’s leadership. We just need to give them better quality leadership. Temporarily, I’ll have both plant managers report directly to me, but I intend to add Tony’s manufacturing responsibilities to David’s role.”

Susan hesitated for a moment; then she asked, “Won’t that be a stretch for David?”

“Perhaps for a while, but I believe he has plenty of capacity to take it on. The resulting organization design will match your Senior VP structure with Sam Elliott handling Manufacturing as a part of his Supply Chain role; it’s a model that fully integrates all aspects of supplying goods and services. Sam will be a good role model and coach for David. As it is, David gets frustrated when his planners produce a schedule and Manufacturing essentially ignores it. Now David will have all the resources at his disposal to make sure that his schedules are actually executed. He has a great grasp of his current Supply Chain responsibilities and a good planning staff, so he should have the time to focus on his new responsibilities. After watching him for a few months, I agree with you that he has great potential and a much-needed grasp of how a supply chain should work. I think he’ll do a fantastic job. Additionally, this approach is minimally disruptive to the organization and, as I mentioned earlier, reduces the budget as well.”

“Okay, Greg. It’s your call. You have my support. I’ll review it with the Compensation Committee of the Board, but since they already gave me the green light to make any changes I thought appropriate, you can safely assume you have the green light to move ahead.”

“Thanks, Susan. I’ll talk with Tony next Friday after I work through the HR details with Keely Horton and touch base with Legal on any details we need to be aware of.”

“Let’s hope this helps, Greg. I’ve been watching the customer service results and inventory level. We aren’t making the progress you promised with the plan you laid out to me three months ago, and we badly need that progress. Let’s talk further about that on the first. In the meantime, good luck in your meeting with Tony.”

Just after lunch on the following Friday, Greg asked Tony to come to his office. Greg told Tony that he had observed no effort on Tony’s part to change his behavior or performance despite repeated coaching and for that reason, this would be Tony’s last day with Cosmetics Products and Amalgamated. “Tony, you are an old pro at manufacturing. You are probably one of the best in the business at taking care of your people and meeting your functional objectives. I’ll tell anyone that. But the world is changing, and you seem incapable of changing along with it. That makes you something of a dinosaur. We need someone in your role who can work better with peers and be better focused on the needs of our customers. I think I have been more than clear with everyone, especially you, about the changes we need to make. Your approach to building overall inventory and improving efficiency and utilization was good for Manufacturing, but not good enough for the company. I see the number of SKUs with low inventory climbing rapidly. The situation today looks to me like an impending train wreck. You knew what I was after, but you seem to refuse to meet my clearly stated objectives. I am concerned that if we don’t make an immediate and substantial change, we will have even worse customer service performance. Finally, I keep seeing examples of your inflexibility despite our efforts to improve teamwork. Bottom line, although I don’t like to say this, there is no longer room for you in the company.” Tony was shocked and angry.

“This is pure BS, Greg. I can’t believe you are doing this to a loyal and committed employee. You have to see that I am the only person on your staff meeting performance goals and preventing that train wreck you are predicting! You have a bunch of lightweights on your staff, but I guess you just can’t see it. Trust me. With me gone, you’ll find out sooner than you think. You know, about a year ago I was led to believe that I would be the one to replace Stu, but Susan passed right over me to get to you. They made a big mistake in hiring you, and now you do this to me. Unbelievable. Let me give you a prediction. You’re about to see the roof cave in on you.”

“I would like to believe that isn’t a threat of some kind, Tony.”

“Not a threat at all; it’s just a statement of fact. I’ve seen it happen before, and you’re going to see it happen soon. You’ll be sitting right in the middle of the fallout.”

“I really don’t think so, but I’ll just have to take that risk, Tony. I am sorry to have to take this step, but I want to treat you well as we part ways. I’ll give you the opportunity to resign. If you don’t want to do that, I’ll still not share the details with anyone beyond those who absolutely need to know, and that does not include the Leadership Team. Here is a summary of the separation package including the compensation that was negotiated as part of the acquisition of your old company along with the value of the accumulated vacation and benefits to which you are entitled. You’ll receive all of that. Additionally, you are welcome to take advantage of outplacement services and the other options that have been offered to those who have been terminated because of the downsizing. You can get further details from Keely about the package.” Tony responded dismissively.

“Well, thanks at least for meeting your obligations on the compensation package. You can tell people whatever you want; I really don’t care one way or the other. Beyond the compensation that I’ve earned, I don’t want or need any handouts from either you or the company. I’ll just be happy to leave quickly and go to a company that knows something about Manufacturing. I’ll have another job long before you know just how much trouble you’re in here. Between you and me, although I doubt you want my opinion today any more than you have in the past, I think you’re in way over your head, Son. I’ll pack up my office and be out of here in less than thirty minutes. I know the drill. I’ll stop by Keely’s office, sign the paperwork that I’m certain is already on her desk, and then check out through Security. I won’t even talk with the Plant Managers. I’ll let you do that and try to explain your decision to them. Good luck with that one. Unless you want to say anything else, I’m leaving. Good luck; you and this business are going to need it.”

Greg waited an hour after that confrontation. He then called Roger Winchester, President of the Home Products division, explaining some of the issues he was facing in Cosmetics Products in the hope of getting some advice. “Of course, Greg. I’d be happy to talk with you about those issues. Not sure how much help I’ll be, but I am always willing to listen.” They made arrangements to meet on Monday morning when both had a two-hour schedule opening. “I can’t and won’t tell you what to do, Greg, but I can share with you how I thought through and dealt with some similar situations when I first took over this business. It can feel more than a little lonely at the top. I’ve asked peers for advice myself on occasion. Actually, never did get any easy solutions to my problems now that I think of it, but I always find that just being able to talk through problems with a receptive listener makes all the difference. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

Greg was excited about the opportunity to open up and learn from Roger. As he was making notes at his desk in preparation for that meeting, Cynthia informed him Kari would like to meet with him as soon as possible. “What now?” Greg thought. “I don’t think I am up to the task of hearing about another disgruntled customer or about how Manufacturing failed to run to the forecast. Kari should be handling these situations without needing my intervention. Probably still a bit unsure of herself and her leadership abilities.” Greg told Kari he was available to talk with her now for an hour, but had to leave the office by 6:30 that evening. The meeting took far longer.

“Greg, I am afraid I have some bad news for you. As you know, I have been totally frustrated by our customer service performance and by our inability to get Manufacturing’s attention. This situation has been draining my energy, and someone on the Leadership Team has been driving me crazy. I just can’t work with him any longer. I know you have been trying to make a difference. I really like your growth vision, but I just don’t see any possibility of getting there from where we are today.

“A month ago, a company approached me with an offer to take their Sales and Marketing VP role. I want to assure you that it is not a competitor. In fact the company is not even in the consumer goods industry. At first, the only thing about the offer that interested me was that it would be a chance to get away from Tony, but the more I talked with that company and thought about the job, the better it sounded. It really is a wonderful opportunity that I can’t pass up. I intend to start with them in two weeks to give you time to fill in behind me.” Now it was Greg’s turn to be stunned!

“Kari, this is terrible news for me personally and for Cosmetics Products. You’ve been an important part of this team. I know I’ve given you some pretty tough coaching from time to time, but that’s because all the Division Presidents know you have great potential. It’s no surprise that you’ve been upset with our customer results and with Tony. I want you to know that as of today Tony is no longer a part of this company. In fact, he’s probably gone already. Does that make a difference in your decision?”

“It probably would have a month ago, Greg. In fact, had Tony been gone when the other company called, I wouldn’t even have agreed to talk with them. But at this point, I’ve made my decision. I know it’s a similar role, but the company is larger and has a much bigger and more effective sales and marketing capability. I’m surprised and flattered that they offered me the position. As I said, I just can’t pass it up.”

Greg and Kari talked into the early evening, but Greg was unable to persuade Kari to change her mind. In one day, Greg had lost two vice presidents. The loss of Tony would help the company; the loss of Kari was attributable, at least in part, to Greg’s failure to take action sooner on his instincts about Tony. Now, his results were still unacceptable, and he was seriously understaffed in his senior management ranks. Greg knew that many people in the organization admired Tony and Kari and could be influenced to follow them to their new companies. More potential black clouds on the horizon.

Penny again served as a much-needed listener and sounding board for Greg throughout the weekend. Greg knew the needed changes were now underway. Except for the unexpected loss of Kari, the changes were the ones he had personally framed. There was no question in his mind that teamwork and results would improve with Tony out of the picture.

On Saturday afternoon, Greg finished compiling his questions for Roger Winchester and the notes he would use on Monday morning to explain to his team why Tony had suddenly disappeared. Before that team meeting, he would inform David of his new, added responsibilities and then call the two plant managers to explain the situation.

David was pleased that Greg and Amalgamated senior management supported adding Manufacturing to his functional responsibilities. He had spent some time in a plant assignment early in his career and saw this change as an opportunity for personal growth. His response and enthusiasm buoyed Greg’s spirits. Already the level of teamwork was improving. David decided to call the plant managers in each of the plants as soon as Greg made the announcement and make arrangements to visit the plants to learn more about the production processes, the people, and their current challenges.

The leadership team was uneasy about the loss of Tony. True to his promise, Greg chose his words carefully about Tony’s departure. Nevertheless, the unspoken consensus of the team was that Greg fired Tony. No one was shocked by the sudden move, but it instantly highlighted the consequences of poor performance.

The team was more shocked when Kari announced her intention to leave the company. They expressed their disappointment and then turned to Greg to ask how the two roles were to be filled. He explained David’s new and expanded role, which pleased everyone on the team. David was viewed by everyone as smart, a solid performer, and a good team player. No one doubted that their cross-functional relationships with Manufacturing would improve dramatically. Greg explained that Kari’s replacement would be announced later. In reality, Greg had informed Susan about Kari’s decision, but had yet to determine how he would replace her. There was no question in his mind, however, that he needed to move quickly.

The two hours Greg spent with Roger later on Monday went by quickly. Greg surprised himself in how openly he shared his challenges in the new job and even how he was questioning his ability to succeed in the role from time to time. Roger admitted he had been there himself. “Look, Greg, if you think you know all the answers, chances are you may not even understand the questions. All of us have voices in our heads. You just have to figure out when to tune them out, or they’ll drive you nuts. You also have to be honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses. If you are, it’s easy to find the kind of people you need to have around you. Based on what you told me about the personnel change you made, seems to me you are already moving in the right direction. But I don’t think you’ve righted the ship yet by a long shot. You are beginning to learn what it takes to run all aspects of a business, but don’t be surprised if you haven’t hit bottom yet. Sounds like the problems are deeply entrenched in Cosmetics Products. I know you’re looking for a breakthrough, but people still seem to be holding onto what’s worked for them in the past. A breakthrough may first require a complete breakdown to get everyone’s attention and make them realize just how much they have to change. I don’t have the answers for you, Greg, but I can tell you that to get dramatically better results, you are going to have to make some pretty dramatic changes in your people’s behaviors and in your business culture and processes. I have a couple ideas that might help, but let me think through what you’ve told me today and get back to you.”

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your listening and coaching, Roger. Although I haven’t known you very long, I count you as a good friend and now mentor. I really do hope you are wrong about our not having hit bottom yet. I don’t think we could survive one of those breakdowns you described. Feels like I’ve already been on the bottom a number of times since taking this job.”

Roger agreed to keep an open door for Greg. He appreciated Greg’s position and welcomed the opportunity to help a colleague. Sometimes, he thought, it’s just nice to be asked for advice. He knew Greg would listen to what he had to say.

As Greg headed back to his office to get ready for his remaining afternoon commitments, he was confident Cosmetics Products would make the progress needed and avoid that breakdown Roger warned him about. That confidence was shattered shortly after he reached his desk.

“Greg, there’s a Martin Bennett on the phone for you. Isn’t he the President and CEO of Blackstone?”

“Sure is, Cynthia. Marty is also my old boss and now valued customer as well. Wonder what he’s up to. I’ll take the call. Make sure I don’t get interrupted while I’m on the phone.”

“How are Penny and the boys, Greg? It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen them.” Marty and Greg shared some small talk for a few minutes. Then Marty turned to the reason for his call. “Greg, I wanted to be the one to tell you personally about this before you hear it from anyone else. You know as well as anyone that customer service from Amalgamated’s Cosmetics Products division has always been poor. Lately, it’s gotten even worse. I’ve been hoping beyond hope that you could fix the problem. I’m not sure what you’re facing over there, but I know it must be dreadful or you’d have it under control by now. We’ve held out as long as possible, Greg. We’re losing revenue and profit because of the empty shelf space that should be filled with your products. Your competitors have been all over us to give them your space, but until now we have been resisting that move. Despite the loyalty we have for you, this is still a for-profit venture and we just can’t delay the decision any longer. As of today, we are canceling all orders with you. We’ll sell out your remaining stock and give away your space. I know this has to be a real blow, but I also know you’re smart enough to have seen it coming. This move can’t be a complete surprise. When you’re in a position to provide reliable customer service, come and see me. I know you’ll get there at some point. If at that point you can convince me, I mean make a solid business case, I’ll make certain we start doing business with you again. I really am sorry, Greg. Good luck with the business, and give my best to the family.”

Greg was stunned, but he thanked Marty for the personal call and promised he would be back in the game soon, although that nagging concern about being in over his head flooded his thought patterns again. Greg immediately phoned Kari to see if she had heard anything or had suspected Blackstone would make this move. She assured him that she had no advanced warning. On the other hand, she had heard other rumblings in the past few days from some of her sales managers. They were hearing a stronger level of complaints, bordering on ultimatums, from customers. Blackstone’s decision suddenly felt like an early warning of more bad news to come. For Greg, Roger had been prophetic. This has to be the breakdown; the event that would free everyone from thinking they could tweak their current business and make it successful. What was it Roger had said about knowing all the answers? In his past jobs, everyone always looked to Greg to have those answers. This time he didn’t have them. As Roger had put it, he didn’t even understand the questions except for the first one: how would he break the bad new to Susan?

Amalgamated had hired Greg to fix these Cosmetics Products problems, but they had only gotten worse since he took over from Stu. Greg knew he was accountable. His job was to fix customer service and deliver a quick business turnaround; to this point he had been unable to do it. He finally admitted to himself that he simply did not know what to do next. “How,” he questioned himself, “could you have gotten this far, have been so successful and not know what to do next, Greg?”

As supportive as Susan had been, Greg knew her patience was running out. He knew she was displeased by his inability to reverse the business trends and would be even more displeased about the loss of a key customer. He knew she was under intense pressure from the Board, which expected their investment in Cosmetics Products to begin paying big dividends soon.

Greg didn’t like how he was feeling; he didn’t like the self-doubt, what was happening to his normally positive outlook, or what was happening to his relationship with his wife and sons. He couldn’t go back in time six months and return to Blackstone; and it was clear that if he didn’t get control of this business, he might not be able to go forward six months with Cosmetics Products.

What he already knew about business wasn’t helping either him or the business. Greg knew that he was missing something; he knew that he needed help and needed it soon. Roger warned him that a breakdown might be coming, but didn’t tell him what to expect after it occurred. Greg knew that he was about to find out.