3.1. Gain and Keep the Confidence of Senior People

Typically, when I arrive at a client location, a variety of executives are tasked with briefing me on the situation. I learn about the individuals involved, the various relationships of the players, and whatever other information these high-level staffers think is important for me, an outsider, to know. Frequently, the focus of these discussions shifts from the problem at hand to criticism of the leaders; the staffers begin assigning blame for the current situation, speculating about the causes and sources of the existing environment, offering miscellaneous indictments of style, complaining of the failure to adapt or adopt preventive or preemptive measures, and generally assessing the leadership ...

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