Why Executive Leadership?
Due to my unique approach on staff and project management, the president of Ambassadors, LLC tasked me with assisting other division heads improve their management performance.
- Translate company goals and objectives to each level of the organization. Align management and employee incentives for optimal performance
- Clarify, facilitate and revise internal processes and supporting tools.
- Assist Human Resource and Accounting as needed, esp. for yearly budget planning and monthly financials review for ALL divisions
Within a couple of months, I had identified three key points to address at the senior management level, along with a clear vision and year-long plan to remedy.
We engaged in a management cultural change that received very positive feedback (see quotes at end of page) and improved employee morale and operational efficiency, with the stated goal of increasing client loyalty and retention.
COMMUNICATION
I was initially tasked to define and implement operating processes. I resolved that without proper communication habits, the best processes would still be doomed to fail.
- Proactive communication between staff, managers, clients, vertically and laterally. No bypassing or overriding a manager and assigning tasks directly to team member: respect managers' ownership of their responsibilities.
- Empower individual contributors to make decisions on how to perform the work, but hold managers accountable on deliverables and team performance. Guide them to clarify department and individual goals, objectives and performance metrics.
- Meetings to always be announced with agenda. Postpone if participants are not prepared. Always state purpose of meeting and cross-check progress regularly. Always take the time to write and circulate meeting notes with decisions and deliverables.
- Correct your staff if they are not proactive and efficient communicators. Let them correct you as well.
PLANNING
A reactive approach to management challenges resulted in years-old documentation and ad-hoc contingency plans, with no succession plans in place.
- Contingency/backup plan compiled for all positions, starting with me then my direct reports
- Ownership of processes and documentation.
- Management tasks organized by priority and overall milestones/deadlines, not micro-managed. However, time estimate queried up-front and weekly review of management tasks.
SELF-ACCOUNTABILITY
The lack of clear process ownership resulted in constant interdepartmental blame and a culture of last-minute effort. Interdepartmental trust was badly broken.
- Earn trust by taking responsibility on deliverables, then delivering.
- Gain visibility on specific metrics (department financials, project progress and department staff feedback on manager's performance).
- Opportunity to contribute quarterly positive management input in several management-only offsite meeting that I led. Ask what you can contribute to others rather than point out what others failed to contribute to you.
"Mathieu is a highly skilled executive that understands operational disciplines and technical applications. He transitioned from running a team of software developers to overseeing operational procedures and organization across our entire company."
Jerry McGee, President and CEO at Excel Telecommunications
"[Mathieu] particularly excels at challenges with multiple variables - finding his way, while the rest of us stumble around. [He] operates on both the strategic and the tactical plane. This is a rare combination of abilities but it is what makes him so effective in finding solutions and so enviable as a colleague."
John Lee, President & CEO, eventScheme LLC
"[Mathieu's] determination for companywide success, willingness to go above and beyond, excellent work ethic and his ability to create systems for organizational growth set the bar for me and everyone he worked with. As a manager, he expected the best of his team and in return he gave them the best of him. I have the deepest respect for him and all his contributions to Ambassadors."
Brandi Nunez, Executive Project Manager, Ambassadors
"[Mathieu's] leadership skills has helped improve the operations within the housing division and [he is] a very respectable person in the company."
Carina Ocampo, Global Account Manager, Ambassadors
"Mathieu is a true leader and keen eyed manager who sees the finer details without losing sight of the bigger picture."
Arun Aggarwal, PMP, Zenith Insurance Company
"[Mathieu is] organized, efficient, extremely competent, and has an excellent rapport with people of all levels in the organization."
Jevonne Glaser, Controller Ambassadors