Board Director Dilemmas: Strategic Leadership

Professor John Michaels, a distinguished scholar of corporate strategy, has served on the Board of OmniCo, a diversified industrial giant, for four years. Three months ago, the Board appointed a new CEO, Andrew Bennett, to lead growth, develop a more cooperative culture, and formulate a more integrated corporate strategy for the company. In laying out his vision, Bennett proposed a bottom-up approach that would empower each of the company’s business units to craft its own strategy, which he would later integrate into a cohesive whole. Though understanding of the new CEO’s position and respectful of his desire to embrace collaboration, John is concerned that Bennett’s proposal is too reminiscent of his predecessor’s approach, which created inefficiencies and left the company without a clear corporate identity. John schedules a casual dinner with Bennett, where he subtly tries to convince the CEO of the importance of strategic alignment and top-down guidance. Bennett, while grateful for the counsel, maintains his position. John thus faces a dilemma as a board member: should he push harder for immediate change to avoid the mistakes of the past, or maintain a more patient and supportive role to allow the new CEO to learn and adapt?