The Harvard case study "Who can help the CEO?" tells the story of Frank Molitor, CEO of Meilenstein Management, who has failed to achieve his ambitious goals for the young spin-off and has just lost his Sales Director. Moreover, he can no longer be sure of the board's backing.
Berthold Leube, a consultant at Egon Zehnder International, Berlin, is one of four experts to examine and comment on Frank Molitor's situation.
Molitor obviously had not learnt, "to trust the competences of others." According to Leube, he was unable to "let go operatively," and delegate. The transition from, "a divisional leadership task to managing an entire company separates the wheat from the chaff; it is the point at which good leaders fail and good great leaders continue their upward rise. Unfortunately, it looks as though Frank is an average leader," notes Leube. He must learn to "bind together his managers into an efficient team," and "to enter into an open dialogue with his people," the consultant adds. The board's role is to "support the CEO in word and deed as a strategic sounding board." However, Molitor tended to fear the sanctioning role of the board. But it is only by working together with the board that he can, "win back the respect of the supervisory boards in a big showdown and thus lay the cornerstone for a strategic reorientation of the company," Leube concludes.
