Developing the backbone to stand down the superstar
When we got an inquiry from one of the nation’s largest service providers, we witnessed first-hand the tension that can develop when a superstar is imported into a company and culture where there are quite a few other very competent people on the job.
Bringing in a Golden Girl seemed like a good idea
The CEO of the firm announced with delight the appropriation of a prestigious spokesperson for a major PR initiative planned for each of the firm’s hundreds of markets. Dale was just the right “face” for the initiative. With her easy brainpower, razor wit and long list of credentials, she loaned instant credibility to the product that the CEO’s internal team had spent the past two years developing for a market that hungered for just such an innovation. Dale was used to being treated like a star, and the CEO could not do enough to make her feel welcome and important in her new role.
Culture clash
The firm’s PR team, which had coordinated many very profitable product launches in the past under the direction of Sandra, Executive VP of Marketing, felt excited by the PR opportunities they could create with the magnetic spokesperson at the forefront. Their enthusiasm soon morphed into disillusionment, however, when Dale refused to participate in planning her role either in person or by phone, sending her assistant to meetings in her place while she started travels to promote the product “her way.”
Dale’s assistant, in turn, huffed out of meetings when staff did not adopt suggestions that Dale had passed along. In fact, many of them, if followed, would have undone months of thoughtful work by the in-house team and up-ended the budget. And Dale’s ideas weren’t that good, frankly. After all, Dale was a product expert, not a public relations maven. The team felt angry at her intrusion into their territory.
Dale reacted by taking increasingly pouty complaints directly to the CEO, who began to see Sandra as a hindrance to rolling out the project and an obstacle to Dale’s effectiveness.
Sandra’s dilemma
Sandra resented the velvet-glove treatment that Dale was getting from the CEO, but not as much as she was furious at Dale’s attempts to inject her uninformed ideas into a major project that Sandra and her team had worked for two years to perfect. How could Dale not trust a team that had pulled off so many flawless launches in the past? Equally frustrating was Dale’s continuous avoidance of even speaking to Sandra, whom she dismissed as a “lifer” at the firm rather than someone on the cutting edge.
And now Sandra’s reputation with the executive team was on the line. She had to find a way to get this project out the door—with Dale on board—but she was stonewalled by Dale and frankly so mad at her that she couldn’t think straight.
What triggered the call
Sandra realized she needed help to calm down, gain fresh insights into the situation and develop lucid tactics to enact a fruitful launch and to repair her relationship with Dale so they could work together. She asked the firm to secure a coach to help her.
Communicating strength and delineating boundaries
Debra discovered that Sandra’s 360º assessment showed that she sometimes had not drawn boundaries for herself and her team in helpful ways. Additionally, in an effort to build consensus, Sandra often did not communicate boundaries that she actually felt and frequently began inquiries with hesitant language that made listeners believe she was unsure of herself. With Debra’s help, Sandra worked to build a communication style that reflected confidence and learned to address Dale in ways that stimulated respect—and conversation.
Once Sandra had Dale’s ear, Sandra was able to build her trust. Dale came to see that Sandra was more than competent to handle the strategic and day-to-day aspects of the PR campaign, freeing Dale to focus on her product expertise and dynamic star power to make sales of the new product. As Sandra projected more confidence and clearly communicated her expectations, Dale’s confidence in her abilities grew as well. Dale spent less time tattling in the CEO’s office and instead phoned Sandra directly with questions. Dale even came to see her assistant’s role in continuing and magnifying the communications problems, and she dismissed him.