WHO CAN HELP THE CEO - Case Study Example

Amory suggested that Eliot be set up with an executive coach. Eliot did not agree with the advice and regretted having called Amory. When Eliot became CEO of TrakVue he made some optimistic sales projections which came back to bite him. The board saw Eliot as being behind in his results due to the foolish projections he made two years earlier. Eliot also consulted his problems at the company with another friend, Bob Gellingham, who worked in public relations. He suggested that Eliot should land one or two big accounts to change attention away from the problems.

The executive coach that Amory set up for him told Eliot he was in denial about the business problems. Another coach told him to seek advice. Eliot thought that it was the coachs job to give that advice. The coach also told him that he rarely seeks input from anyone: subordinates, peers outside the company, or customers. Eliot resented the advice because he sought the coach was uninformed about the dynamics of his business. He was worried that the board might fire him in their next meeting since he had lost two sales VP during his tenure as CEO.

The article ended by offering three different views from commentators. Jerry Rao who was a CEO himself suggested that keeping the problems within is not the right rout. When he faced similar problems to Eliot he looked for the advice from the board of directors. He also said that colleagues may have agendas that lead to detrimental advice, thus it was a smart idea to use coaches or consultants. He said that assistants often can provide good insight. The second commentator, Susan Ashford, questioned Eliots leadership and that he did not admit his weaknesses.

She said that Eliot avoided seeking advice from his colleagues. The last commentator, Stephen Socolof, said Eliot has to reassure the board about his capacity to run the company. He said Eliot should ask for help from mentors and other experienced people. The article showed the