Achieving Class A Business Excellence: An Executive's Perspective

5

LISTENING . . .

What I already know … seems to be getting in my way. No matter the problem, someone, somewhere, has solved it before. If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.

 

 

 

 

 

Greg informed Susan immediately about Blackstone Drugs’ decision to discontinue selling Cosmetics Products’ brands. She was obviously unhappy about this turn of events and also about the rumors of other accounts that might follow Blackstone’s lead. But she was not entirely surprised. She had observed the downward trend long before Greg’s arrival and suspected Cosmetics Products could not avoid the loss of some key customers. On a more positive note, she confirmed that Blackstone’s decision about Cosmetics Products would not affect its relationship with Amalgamated’s other divisions. Although deeply concerned about the future of Cosmetics Products, Susan knew the current events were the result of conditions that had developed during Stu’s watch, not just since Greg’s arrival. She still had confidence in Greg’s abilities, but knew from the tone of his phone call that he was not feeling good about his own performance. She and Greg agreed to meet the following day to plan the next steps.

As the meeting began the following morning, Greg bypassed pleasantries and got right to the point. “I would understand completely if you asked me to step down as President of Cosmetics Products, Susan. In fact I’ve contemplated resigning so that you could bring in someone else.”

“Get those ...