The Coaching for Leadership Case Study Workbook

This book will change the way you think. In this whacky world the best jobs go to the worst people. Careers fizzle out at the drop of a hat. To protect next year′s budget you′ve got to waste whatever′s left of this year′s money. Matrix victims quietly go missing. Companies merge and frequently go bust. And everything′s tightly controlled by a secret underworld Finance mafia. Does this sound familiar? You′ve entered the rough and tumble realm of corporate business where crazy things happen and it′s tough to survive. Welcome to the counter–intuitive playground of organizational life. Come along for a white–knuckle ride through our organizational theme park. Your companion guide is the streetwise Dr. Fink— the world′s expert on organizations. Allow this amiable practitioner to share with you the wisdom through which he consistently achieves corporate, client, and personal success as he demonstrates his magical methods for averting calamity before your very eyes. Assisted by a cast of flamboyant characters—including Matilda the well–meaning but meticulously incompetent coach, Fat Sid in finance, Adrian his top enforcer, and Mort the undertaker who runs operations into the ground—join Dr. Fink on an illuminating journey down dark corporate alleyways to get the full low–down on what′s really going on. And if after the trip you should ever suspect an impending disaster surfacing in your organizational life—all you have to do is ask yourself one simple question: What should I ask Dr. Fink? "An extraordinary work that will stand the test of time." —Marshall Goldsmith

About the Author xiii Foreword by Marshall Goldsmith xv Foreword by Sarah McArthur, President, Dr. Fink’s Fan Club xvii Dedication to Richard Beckhard xix Launch Pad Introduction 1 How to Get the Most Out of Dr. Fink’s Leadership Casebook 3 THE UNGUIDED TOUR for the General Reader 5 THE GUIDED TOUR for Corporate Citizens and Students of Organizational Life 6 THEME PARK ARCHITECTURE for Educators, Teachers, and Trainers 8 Dr. Fink’s Leadership Casebook CASEFILE–1. Critical Questions 15 Basic Consulting Skills CASEFILE–2. Musical Fish 21 Ethical Myths and Realities CASEFILE–3. Matilda’s Bitter–Sweet Taste of Success 29 Putting Feedback in Context CASEFILE–4. Fat Sid’s Big Problem 35 Post–Merger madness CASEFILE–5. Corporate Citizen, Dearly Departed 43 Doing the Right Thing CASEFILE–6. No Mistake 49 A Collection of Feedback Systems CASEFILE–7. Invasion 57 The Case for Situational Intelligence CASEFILE–8. The Undertaker 63 Sometimes It’s Better Just to Walk Away CASEFILE–9A. The Upside Down Logic Cost Center Management 69 Counter–Intuitive Systems CASEFILE–9B. The Inculcation Calculation 75 The Ethics of Variance CASEFILE–10. It All Depends 83 Roughly Right or Precisely Wrong CASEFILE–11. Oh Happy Tuesday 89 A Study in Deception CASEFILE–12. Midnight Express 111 A Strange Case at the End of the Contract Epilog 115 Theory Guide to Organizational Life 121 Situational Intelligence 124 How to Think Like Fink 125 Practitioner Briefing 139 Appendix: The Tetrad 143 About the Illustrator 148 Acknowledgments 151 Glossary 155 References 159 Index 161

Laurence S. Lyons, Ph.D MSc, has a wealth of hands–on organizational experience as team leader, line manager, staffer, technical director, marketing manager, and strategist. For the last twenty years Larry has worked with leadership teams and executives as an independent strategy consultant and leadership coach to become recognized as a renowned thought leader. A library of his work is available at www.lslyons.com.