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BREAKTHROUGH STORIES

At VERITAS SMS, we understand that each client is as different as a fingerprint.  We work across industries with senior leadership teams and boards. Our aim in each engagement is to help clients achieve unique breakthroughs in one or more of our focus areas.  These stories demonstrate the variety of ways we come alongside clients to enable such breakthroughs.    

An iconic, historically stable and productivity-oriented company was experiencing significant revenue threats due to global competition and ESG pressures.  Its product lines were increasingly falling out of favor. The executive team recognized the need for business transformation.   

This work began by meeting with the CEO and executive leadership team (ELT) members to understand the business situation and team dynamics. This led to a facilitated development session, which helped the ELT make sense of their collective performance and reexamine their future assumptions.  The ELT committed to adopt new behaviors and practices for the sake of becoming a much more cohesive team capable of navigating the external challenges and realizing their ambitious growth goals.    

This initial work enabled the ELT to reimagine a compelling vison and supporting business strategy, offerings, geography and pricing approach.  Next, the top 150 leaders were brought together to understand and engage with the new breakthrough vision. This included equipping leaders with skills for setting direction in the midst of ambiguity, developing alignment, gaining commitment and leading transformational change.  Now, VERITAS SMS is helping to accelerate the transformational agenda.  We’re currently deep into the redesign of the customer operating model and creation of the leadership development strategy.  

A brand-name, privately held international company was performing, but this performance had more to do with the unrivaled strength and global resonance of its brand(s).  The company had not prioritized or developed robust strategic management capabilities; therefore, senior and next-level executives habitually defaulted to operational management behaviors.  The company culture had become undisciplined, resulting in an overrun of creative or departmental projects, questionable hiring, anecdotal decision-making, etc.

VERITAS SMS directed an enterprise-wide effort to institutionalize strategizing capabilities.  Together with the leadership team we analyzed the market and guided the design of a holistic strategy for achieving sustained levels of profitable growth.  We reengineered the strategic decision-making and management processes, thus amplifying the impact of the leadership team.  We introduced a screening approach that rationalized and reduced the number of strategic initiatives from ~170 to under 20.  We clarified and focused the talent acquisition / development strategy around the most impactful jobs.   In parallel with these structural approaches, we provided intensive executive coaching and modeling to replace ineffective team habits with new strategic management behaviors.  

A publicly traded financial services firm was a solid mid-tier performer, but aspired to perform in the top quartile of its peer group.  Two years later, this client had achieved and was sustaining this breakthrough level of performance.  

To enable this, VERITAS SMS worked with the board and senior leadership team in all three of our focus areas.  After analyzing their situation and their existing strategic management and governance approaches, we came alongside the client to help formulate a holistic strategy. We helped them pin down their financial framework and clarify their expansion strategy.  We built strategy management tools, educated executives on strategic decision-making and coached new behaviors (e.g., strategic thinking and learning, demonstrating urgency, cross-border collaboration, etc.).  Another key part of this story is our work with the board and senior leadership team to diagnose and accelerate trust and performance, both within and between these groups, by surfacing unstated agendas and addressing troubling habits and power dynamics.

Embracing these changes in total, the client now had the capacity and mindset to behave differently...executives and directors were better able to collectively learn and dynamically adjust to attain their breakthrough.  Later, we developed a customized leadership transition process for the firm's long-tenured CEO and coached the board and CEO on carrying out this important event.

The global marketing division of a Fortune 100 financial services firm was in daily conflict with the firm's business unit leaders (many of whom had autonomous marketing functions within their units) over a myriad of strategic and tactical issues.  The global division lacked an overarching strategy that was endorsed by peer executives.  It had not described its value-added role in building brand value and enabling company performance vis-à-vis the business units.  

VERITAS SMS performed an on-site analysis to understand particular root causes of this conflict and to discern the potential for greater cooperation.  Then, by engaging nearly 30 leaders (e.g., chief executives, global division executives, business unit executives, external 3rd party providers, etc.) we harmonized perspectives on the nature of partnership that needed to exist and worked out a well- endorsed strategy that clarified the role, business contribution, priorities, pivotal talent needs and decision rights of the global division relative to its key partners.  We also formulated a multi-faceted development plan to rapidly close key capability gaps.  

A multi-site mega church, after 25 years of unbroken growth, was experiencing a troubling decline in attendance and giving.  We partnered with the senior pastor, executive pastor, staff and elders to uncover the causes for this decline.

Based on our analysis, we modernized the church's ministry-wide strategy and scorecard. We provided education on a range of leadership abilities. We redesigned the leadership and governance model and unified the leadership team dynamics.  We also introduced a new organizational structure, developed sustainability plans for each campus, implemented regular deep-dive meetings to address a range of strategic issues, and developed a competency model for emerging leaders. 

Perhaps just as important, we were asked, after a public leadership transition failure, to develop and shepherd the approach for transitioning senior church leadership. We originated and guided a transition team (comprised of elders and staff) through a detailed process which effectively transitioned power from the founding pastor (who had been in that role for 30 years) to a new lead pastor.  In total, this work has served as a critical foundation for the church’s renewed growth (i.e., new levels of discipleship, community service, attendance and giving) and viability.                          

The board of a publicly traded corporation agreed to bring on two new outside directors to serve on its board, in exchange for an end to a proxy battle.  The Chairman was deeply concerned.  The new directors appeared to be activists, intent on the pursuit of near-term financial activities that could undermine the long-term health and viability of the enterprise.  However, the new directors also appeared to have valuable perspective and industry expertise that might improve the performance of the corporation.  

VERITAS SMS readied the Chairman to lead in this new reality by providing education and coaching on a variety of issues unique to the situation (e.g., the role of cooperation and conflict on a board, strategic management and governance practices, development stages of a board, engaging the board's expertise in and outside of meetings, director and management roles in setting and approving strategy, board committee charters, board performance management, trust and fair process, power and board dynamics, business judgment rule, director independence, etc.). 

A faith-based 501(c)(3), focused on improving access to health care for vulnerable people in America, was struggling with a number of serious, slow-to-change strategic issues (e.g., cost of operations relative to its output, inability to recruit and secure a sufficient volume of sponsors, dependence on a primary funder, lack of self-generated revenue, etc.).  

VERITAS SMS worked with the board, external experts, and staff to analyze the market and ministry and identify possible strategies that might transform the entity into a viable, long-run organization.  However, breakthroughs come in many varieties.  After many working sessions and iterations, it became clear that the legitimate breakthrough for this ministry was to merge with a better resourced charitable healthcare ministry that had a sustainable model and a reputation for innovation in healthcare delivery.  

A leading pharmaceutical company was experiencing a decline in a long-held strategy centered on cultivating physician relationships to sell proprietary research-based medical products.  Faced with an ambitious corporate goal to grow revenues by 20% over a three year period, the US Sales and Marketing division needed a breakthrough strategy.  

Knowing that this complex challenge required insight and fresh ideas from many sources, we collaborated with nearly 20 individuals to draw out rich, multidisciplinary perspectives.  Together, we jointly crafted and galvanized the division around a complementary over-the-counter strategy to open significant new sources of revenue. We clarified the new patterns of interaction that needed to happen for the division to introduce a retail-oriented portfolio that re-productizes the firms proprietary RX expertise and makes it widely available to retailers and consumers.  Moreover, we surfaced and worked through a variety of fears and power issues which, if left unaddressed, would jeopardize this nascent strategy. 

A national nonprofit with agencies in most major cities in the U.S. had a significant strategic challenge.  Due to its complex organizational structure, which designated each local agency as an autonomous, self-directed entity, it had not developed a unifying system-wide strategy to rationalize, align and communicate its efforts.  

Using a highly participative and interactive approach involving over 30 agency leaders from across the country, we developed a holistic system-wide strategy.  The breakthrough was 1) a shared view of the organization's intended impact and strategy, 2) a common framework and language that unified discussions on the organization's collective priorities, and 3) a practical guide for developing and aligning agency-level strategies and actions. 

What breakthrough story can VERITAS SMS help you write?...