Describe an event that an organization has successfully turned around due to good management. List the key attributes of effective Leadership and Strategic Thinking.

The ability to quickly interpret a previously undefined scenario and act appropriately is a key driver of successful management in this era of hyper-competition and turbulent market conditions. To gain a nuanced understanding of the importance of interpretative framework for effective leadership, we selected a small high-pace startup organization that has experienced significant leadership turnover. It is a small organization with a flat structure, and organizational power resides in the hands of the private equity (PE) appointed board of directors. Its technology focus and start-up nature made operations highly uncertain for stakeholders.

In 2005, a private equity firm purchased Resources Inc, an exploration and production company. Since the purchase of the business, the PE board has dispensed two management teams for lack of performance and competency. The company promoted an internal engineer as CEO. This was an atypical selection as this individual was two layers below in the succession hierarchy and lacked leadership skills. Given this and the organization's turbulent past, we focused on answering the question - why is this individual who lacks the organizational leadership experience succeeding where the others failed?In order to obtain a better understanding of this anomaly, we gathered information through examining the board minutes and the annual review of the CEO. We also conducted interviews with the Chairman of the Board, the CEO, and employees. Through the board minutes, we gained insights in the decision making process, the roles of employees, and governance of the board. The interviews gave actual illustrations of the CEO's decision making process.

Our study revealed the CEO encompasses an interpretative framework, i.e., his ability to understand the situation and affect the outcome by varying his behavior accordingly. For example, given that each exploration well costs $10 million, the CEO must make critical decisions during the drilling process that can determine the outcome of the project. His technical expertise is critical for the company's success, but more important are his skills of understanding people, managing relations, and aptly modifying his behavior. We believe that, among other attributes, three main attributes contributed to his interpretative framework: Personal motivations: He is a passionate person with an intrinsic motivation to lead, manage, and grow an E&P company. The CEO indicated developing an E&P company is a life-long dream. Professional competencies: He has significant technical experience and understands the relevant intricacies. This is extremely important for efficient and effective interpretative decision-making. Personal background: The CEO comes from humble beginnings. Cultural underpinnings of his prior experience have equipped him to be considerate of others' concerns and holistic in decision-making.

Based on our findings, the CEO can process information and quickly react to the situation. However, the CEO is unable to breakdown his ideas in a way that others can clearly understand. This creates a communication gap. In order to utilize the CEO's interpretative framework, we encourage the company to hire an individual with a similar professional background with strong interpersonal skills as an executive advisor. While his immediate supervisor will be the CEO, his responsibilities include the reporting of technical issues to both PE board of directors and exploration operators.

While previous management teams have failed to grow Resources Inc, the CEO's immediate success is due to his ability to incorporate his interpretative frameworks into his decision making process. As the business continues to grow it is vital that clarity of the CEO's vision for each project is established. Therefore, it is imperative that someone fills in the gap of the CEO's roadmap.

Reference:Organizational behavior, Volume 4 By John B. Miner. M.E. Sharpe, 2007Interview with CEO of Resource Inc. December 2008.