case study one l401 in 2012

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Leadership 401: Laying the Groundwork for Success in 2012 1 Case Study One

CASE S TUDY ONE

Behind the Eight BallDavid Milne is the volunteer President of the Wentforth Real Estate Association, anassociation of 1100 members and 10 full time staff. Over the years, members have been

happy with the service that has been provided by the Association. Wentforth has enjoyed asolid reputation with its peer organizations but, like many in organized real estate, is currentlyfacing a number of serious challenges. Members are anxious about the impact that variedlegislative changes may have on their businesses and livelihood and ongoing issues with theCompetition Bureau have increased the level of unease. Furthermore, many members have

been angry in voicing complaints related to the costs and implementation of electronic lock boxes. Privately, David himself is not confident that the Association¶s technology choiceswill adequately support an updated MLS® system in the years ahead. Wentforth didundertake a strategic planning process 18 months ago that seemed to provide tremendousclarity at the time. Hmmm, he muses, perhaps we should dig that out and take another look at it. I wonder if it might help guide us today. I do remember that we had anticipated some of these industry challenges.

David is relieved to be working with a strong Executive Officer, Jack McClennan. Jack has been the Association¶s chief executive for over 12 years. He is extraordinarily effective andhis competence was one of the main factors in David agreeing to take on this leadership rolein addition to his busy personal and business commitments. David and Jack work welltogether: At times Jack has been reluctant to consider new technology and David¶senthusiasm for innovative approaches to the business has challenged Jack¶s hesitation. It has

been a good partnership and a good support to what has, at times, been an exasperating Board.Some directors appear to be simply interested in addressing issues that directly affect their own local real estate practice and have shown no real interest or capacity for longer-termthinking. David is eight months into his one year term as President.

It is a beautiful Saturday morning in September. David pours himself a fresh cup of coffeeand settles down to review the package of material related to next month¶s CREA meetingregarding issues with the Competition Bureau.

The phone rings.

Jack McClennan¶s brother clears his throat andintroduces himself. The conversation is a blur but thegist of it being that he shares the startling news thatJack was tragically killed in an automobile accidentthe night before. David sits back in dismay.




4 days later

The morning after the funeral, David meets with the Association staff team in the office. Asthe group gathers around the boardroom table to share their thoughts and memories of Jack,David¶s mind wanders to a number of concerns: Who can he rely on to now to be in charge?There doesn¶t seem to be anyone prepared to step up to do this from the staff team. Is anymember of the team adequately prepared to step into this role? Who knows key operationalinformation? What, if any, progress has been made on all of the projects that Jack wasmanaging since the last update was reported to the Board? What is the status of major commitments? Meetings? Negotiations in progress? Reports to be written? Where are the

personnel files? Who is authorized to sign cheques? Does anyone know what Jack used as acomputer password?

David shifts uncomfortably in his chair and wonders, could we have been better prepared?

2 weeks later

David and the staff team have settled into a bit of a pattern that seems to be working fairlywell. He spends 4-5 hours a day in the office at Jack¶s old desk and feels that he now hasmost of the files under control. Suzanne appears to be the most knowledgeable in the office,having performed the role of MLS ® Manager. She has been with the association in this rolefor four years and is a delightful young woman with a lovely young family. David wonderswhether he should simply ask her to transition into the Executive Officer role, but for now, heis too busy managing the day-to-day operations of the Association to think about it.

David is surprised with how often members call the office. Some of the calls have been fromcolleagues and business associates he has done deals with in the past. Once they get over theawkwardness of realizing who they are speaking to they seem quite prepared to launch rightinto their concerns and frustrations.

While all did attend Jack¶s funeral, the Board now seems to have gone quiet. David assumesthat they are comfortable with the arrangement and his buddy Geoff thanked him for his senseof duty and professionalism in stepping in. David assured him that it was nothing more thanhe would have done in his shoes, although he is secretly pleased with the recognition. He isalso finding the day-to-day business of running the Association an interesting challenge.

David has wondered whether he should contact Elaine Huot, Wentforth¶s President-Elect. Hereasons that her silence must mean that she is relieved that he has taken on this role. She is ayoung and successful broker of record and seems to have been extremely busy. She also has ayoung family and her children are active in a number of community programs outside of school. This is the first Board she has sat on and while she appears to be interested in thework, she is sometimes unable to attend a meeting at the last minute.




6 weeks later

David is confident that all seems to be on an even keel and that he has successfully advanceda number of big issues facing Wentforth. He is energized by these few early wins and has

been enjoying the variety and challenge. Curiously, as the weeks pass, the Board does notseem to share his enthusiasm. There seems to be some grumbling that he is getting tooinvolved. David is hurt by the apparent lack of appreciation. He laments, W ell I¶m finallymaking some progress on some things that this Board was never going to be prepared to deal with.

He realizes that Wentforth will need to consider a long term staffing solution, but for now heseems to be finally getting some things done. He also feels that the Board doesn¶t seem tofully appreciate how complicated the situation is. Suzanne has already informally indicatedthat she does not want to take on any additional responsibilities. Just yesterday, as David wastidying up his office at the end of a long day, Suzanne popped her head in to say good eveningand casually offered, I don¶t know how you do it Mr. Milne. The hassles of this EO job would not be worth all the tea in China for me. An off-hand remark no doubt, but disquietingnonetheless. Ironically only days earlier, he had been informally discussing filling the

position with a member of the local chamber of commerce. In that conversation he hadlearned that Wentforth¶s current salary scale is not competitive and worse still Wentforth isway under market in terms of benefits, pensions and vacation policies. For a brief momentDavid wonders whether he will ever get anyone to take on the job.

As he prepares to leave for the evening, he notices a few new emails. A couple of them leavehim feeling unsettled.




Appendix

Email 1

From: David Milne [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: October-6-11 12:26 PMTo: Elaine Huot Subject: RE: Transition planning

Elaine

Sorry but this week is busy.

Why don t you call me towards the end of next week? Maybe we can find a few moments tocatch up.

David

From: Elaine Huot [mailto:[email protected]]Sent: October-6-11 10:10 AMTo: David MilneSubject: Transition planning

David

It¶s been a busy few weeks.

Any chance you have a moment this week to chat? I wonder whether it might be prudent for us to discuss a forward plan for the Association. Contingencies? Succession? Requirementsfor the AGM? Etc.

Lunch Wednesday works for me as does Friday morning.

Elaine




Email 2

From: Geoff James [mailto:[email protected]]Sent: October-17-11 9:26 AMTo: David MilneSubject: Heads Up

Dave

File this one under heads up . I was in the change room at the club last night and sawJohn Watson had just finished a squash game with Phil Jakes. I overhead John say to Philthat he is intending to apply for Wentforth s Executive Officer position. He also stated, Isat across from David Milne when he was representing one of his sales reps in aprofessional standards hearing four years ago. If the Board thinks that someone likethat should be our next EO, then they should give their head a shake. Phil scoffed inagreement, They probably won t even post the position.

Not fair, but thought you should know.

Brenda and the kids well?

Geoff




Email 3

From: Nadine Wells [mailto:[email protected]]Sent: October-17-11 3:47 PMTo: David MilneSubject: We would like to arrange a meeting with you

David, we were so sorry to learn of Jack McClennan s passing. Please accept our deepest condolences to you and the entire Board and staff team.

Several months ago, I had lunch with Jack where we informally discussed sharing services,and at the time we were both heartened by the symmetries we discovered and were bothgoing to go back and discuss these with our Boards. Now that you have stepped up and intohis position and are also President, this may be the ideal time to continue our conversationat the executive level.

Jack bought last time, so we would be happy to host a luncheon between executives tofurther examine it.

I will have my assistant contact yours and I look forward to a fruitful discussion over thenext few weeks.

Sincerely

Nadine




Email 4

From: John Thomson [mailto:[email protected]]Sent: October-24-11 9:26 AMTo: David MilneSubject: I am here to help

David

I understand that you have been tremendously busy, working to keep the Association runningfollowing Jack¶s tragic death.

Please know that I am here to help in any way you see fit.

Best regards

John

p.s. I was pleased to have been able to attend the CREA Futures meeting as immediate PastPresident of the Association. The pace of change in the industry is both exciting andworrisome. I have been musing about a few issues and would love to chat over lunchsomeday soon. Let me know what suits your schedule.




Debrief Questions

1 . W hat are the problems highlighted in this case?




2 . A s a result, what specific action needs to be taken now? By whom? By when?

case study one l401 in 2012

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