This post is an abridged version of a story from The Power of Identity, Bill’s latest book which was released in Nov 2019. The full story is found on page 73.
Good intentions aside, sometimes things go off the rails. That certainly was case for Nate McFadden, a newly-minted General Manager for Otis Elevator. The young man, a relative novice in his industry who had worn Marine combat boots only three years earlier, was asked to take over an under-performing region in Central Michigan that had floundered. Contrasted against their North American peer group, the region Nate inherited was statistically dead last in virtually every KPI measure.
Turning around the organization would prove challenging. Yet McFadden, a gifted leader, did so. In twenty four months, his unit went from worst-to-first—a remarkable turnaround. You ask, ‘how did he do it?’. McFadden shared with me, “Our recovery had any number of important ingredients in place but when the concepts and principles from The Power of Professionalism crystallized in my mind our resurgence became rapid and pronounced.”
Professionalism became their central organizing principle. The principles and precepts from The Power of Professionalism became the centerpiece of the leadership team’s development efforts over a concerted twelve-month period. But why the focus on, of all things, professionalism in the first place? “I became convinced that these concepts needed to be central to how people thought about their profession and achievement of our objectives.”, McFadden told me. In evaluating the region’s turnaround, professionalism proved to be McFadden’s X factor.
I’ve found that to be true for both organizations that were floundering (think: needing a turnaround) as well as those that were flourishing (think: seeking ‘next level’ growth). Either way, it’s wonderful to be a part of.