CASE STUDY 6
Course Title: Leadership & Organizational Behavior
A New CEO Puts People on His Agenda
JJM had run two pilot programs before we started working together, but hadn’t run any programs intended to develop senior leaders. Instead, senior people attended various open-enrollment executive courses. A new global head of talent development examined that approach and concluded that it was too scattered and uneven. She proposed a customized program that would help leaders problem-solve together and create stronger internal networks. This approach dovetailed with a sense of urgency on the part of a new CEO to tackle JJM’s lack of diverse talent among its more senior ranks.
The first cohorts of this new program included only women and underrepresented minority members.
This was not without controversy, and the senior, female sponsor let me know that there were several senior, white men who felt this was both unfair and unrealistic. The concern expressed was two-fold: 1) white men shouldn’t be excluded and 2) having white men in the course would be more real-world so that women and people of color can “learn” to work with them. A trickier question concerned the participants’ perspective on being singled out for a special program. Some felt that this would stigmatize them.
JJM’s leaders, however, believed a special effort was warranted because the gap between the actual and desired state was so large. The program very quickly became recognized as the one to be in if you were top talent.
JJM also made a significant senior hire, putting a Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer on the leadership team and solidifying the commitment to diversity and inclusion. This new leader spearheaded a number of initiatives across the company, including devoting both budget dollars and talent to the effort.
Please Answer the following Question:
1. Identify two problems and provide your two solutions using examples from what has been discussed in class.
