091: A CEO’s Guide to Leading Successful Change Initiatives with Donald B. Hawthorne

In a world where the pace of change is only accelerating, the ability to drive effective change is becoming even more important. Yet, some 70% of change initiatives historically fail. Many books and articles offer theories about how to lead change. But what is missing is practical wisdom that is accessible to executive teams. In this conversation, Donald B. Hawthorne – a 6-time former CEO – talks about the specific methods he has used over the years to drive change.

Donald B. Hawthorne is a GTM Specialist with over 40 years of experience in companies including start-ups as an executive consultant.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Sometimes having an external person come into a business to drive change can mean it’s easier to be swift with change and implement it effectively. 
• The missing link often found in leadership, is the requirement for intellectual honesty within teams as well as external clients, it’s important to bring any issues and changes out into the open.
• If management isn’t open and honest with employees about what is happening within an organization the employees will become more and more skeptical.
• Ask your team, what’s working, what isn’t working, and if you were in charge tomorrow what would you do differently? This makes them feel safe to speak up and start to collaborate with leaders and managers.
• Toxic individuals can cause a hostile work environment but generally can do well personally within the business. Honesty and intellectuality allow leaders to flush out the toxic people and highlight the workers they want within your company. 
• Talk to your customers, and ask them the right questions to find out how your product does and doesn’t work for them.
• Your future leaders will self-identify themselves as they will step up to get involved in change-making, additional responsibilities, and raising issues, all you need to do is create an open environment that fosters autonomy and honesty.
• Silos and the lack of sharing information are one of the biggest issues companies face, it’s better in Don’s opinion to face and deal with disruption by allowing consistent open discussions and autonomy to change things than to remain in a culture that doesn’t collaborate fully.
• Board meetings can be likened to a performance, often the core issues that impact the business every day are overlooked.
• The biggest thing Don has learned as a leader is that good people want to make a difference every day and management teams don’t ask enough, are we clearing the pathway so that they can?

BEST BITS

“Employees know more within an organization and a business than many executives care to remember”

“what’s working, what isn’t working, and if you were in charge tomorrow what would you do differently?”

“Transparency is the key to drive performance”

“We’re going to measure performance on the real issues” 

“It allowed me as a CEO to be really well informed on the edges, it allowed me to ask questions and pick up on nuances”

“People don’t talk as honestly when a VP is around”

“It’s a dynamic world, you have to be willing to accept the fact that you’re dealing with uncertainty” 

“Good people want to make a difference every day and management teams don’t ask enough, are we clearing the pathway so they can?”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

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ABOUT THE GUEST

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldbhawthorne/

Don has over 40 years of industry experience in large companies, startups, high-growth organizations, and turnarounds. He has worked in or with 49 companies as either an operating executive or consultant, with most being funded by private equity, venture capital or angel investors.

Since 1989, Don has held 11 C-suite positions (CEO-6, COO-2, CFO-3), was partner in growth equity fund, and served as advisor/coach to CEOs, Boards of Directors, and investors at both public and privately held companies. 

He has served on five Boards of Directors and has either led or been an active participant in every Board meeting since 1985 at the 11 companies where he held an executive position.

Don has raised more than $310 million of debt and equity monies in public (IPOs, secondaries, PIPES) and private markets, closed 10 business development deals, and been involved in five M&A transactions.

He is currently a go-to-market (GTM) strategy consultant who helps companies uncover GTM blind spots and then develop robust GTM solutions that enable them to persuade investors, corporate partners, and customers that they should care enough to invest in/partner with/acquire their company or buy their offerings.

Don earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of  Business.

ABOUT THE HOST

My name is Andrea Petrone. I'm a Human Performance and Leadership Advisor, Executive Coach and International Speaker. I help leaders and their teams to change their mindsets and master their leadership capabilities so they can achieve extraordinary performance. I've been in the corporate world for more than 20 years working globally - in 6 countries and 3 continents - for medium-large companies.