Leading outside the lines: How to Mobilize the (in)Formal Organization, Energize Your Team, and Get Better Results

RESTRUCTURING ZACHRY

So far, we’ve seen how CEOs of major companies have led the mobilization of the informal organization. It’s always helpful to have the drive coming from the corner office. However, people at all levels of an organization can play an important role in leading the mobilization. In the following example, it was two mid-level leaders at Zachry who helped mobilize the informal organization to facilitate the restructuring of the company from a single business into two separate business units.

In January 2007, life for the Zachry Group was good. Over its eighty-five-year existence, the privately owned, family-led company had grown and diversified significantly. From its beginnings as a small highway constructor in 1922, it ...