FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Executive Tower 102, or “ET 102”, stands for Germany’s most customized executive academy – a knowledge house founded with the objective of developing the “executive of the future”. Our task is to support executives in a highly agile environment, combining diagnostics and an individual development plan.  

The client works his/her way through a module-based program tailored to fit his/her own requirements – in terms of time, location, subject matter and personnel. A psychologically trained, experienced executive guides the growth process, designed for the long term, and acts as a sparring partner and mentor.

We diagnose and develop catalyst potential for the world of fast change, and thus, for example, also the potential for the CEO of the future. Our scientific basis for doing so is the theoretical framework called “Leadership Agility”, derived from the comprehensive international business experience and best practices of leading companies.

Forming the background of ET 102 is the “Leadership Agility” theory, developed by Harvard graduates Dr. Stephan Josephs and Dr. Bill Joiner, Boston. In their many years of field research, these organization developers dealt with the question: How have companies, successful in the past but then suddenly on the verge of bankruptcy, managed to catch up and assert themselves on the market in the long term while other companies have disappeared?

Those corporate leaders who have had sustained success on the market – what have they done differently or better?
The answer: they credibly live out agile leadership – personally, in the context of their team and in the entire company. Leadership agility means first of all being flexible in your mind, mentally and intellectually. Executive Tower 102 therefore addresses issues of agility, going beyond process optimizing methods such as Scrum or Kanban.

Leadership 2.0 means recognizing, accepting and shaping necessary culture change in the area of leadership. Agile leadership goes beyond process methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban. It’s about a profound change in the way employees and managers think and act, not least to allow such methodologies to even become effective in the long run. Why?

Driven by digitalization and globalization, the level of complexity and the dynamics of the decisions executives are now making are increasing exponentially. The leadership methods that were successful in the past no longer fulfill the requirements of the future. Challenges seem ultimately unsolvable; the conditions under which they arise change too quickly. Problems, once solved, pop up again and again, causing loss of control in boardrooms. What is more, this situation is no longer going to change. Rather, it is going to become more acute. To deal confidently with this development, agile executives are needed.

The first step towards understanding an executive’s current position on the way to becoming an agile executive is the LA 360° Check. It centers on the three qualities relevant to change:

• Conducting important talks
• Initiating changes in the company
• Leading teams

Each of these leadership qualities is examined in four specific innovation-relevant areas:

• Stakeholder agility
• Self-management agility
• Creativity
• Putting agility into context

As a result, the executive feels strengthened for the change and, depending on his/her current situation and mental state, is able to further develop his/her potential more intensively.

Building on its results, we work with the client to develop a modular plan that focuses on the client’s needs and resources in terms of duration, frequency and level of detail. It can cover between 3 and 30 working days and be interrupted temporarily. If the client’s requirements should change en route to completing the plan (for personal or professional reasons), the plan can be adjusted accordingly.

We start at the point where management schools – even very good ones – stop.

You have successfully managed your first career steps; your responsibilities in the company are growing – nationally and internationally. You generally enjoy your work; maybe you have also already started a family; you sense the demands on you as a manager continuously increasing; on the one hand is your boardroom’s increasing demand for innovative change – on the other, your employees’ and family members’ demand for calm and stability. This inner conflict, this ambiguity worries you. There is hardly any time left for exercise, hobbies or family. It seems to you that life-long learning is becoming increasingly necessary.

At Executive Tower 102, we begin by getting to know you as a person with your needs and personal goals. Only then do we begin to develop ideas and, based on these, create a program that is practicable for you and that will enable us to best support you in your development.

• Am I at the right company?
• Agile corporate development – sounds like another one of those new trends … or maybe not?
• Hadn’t I better start my next job in Asia?
• Industry 4.0 – are we fast enough?
• Expertise vs. General Management – how does that go together?
• Wouldn’t this be a good point in time to go into business for myself?
• Build high-performance teams – how should that work? I didn’t choose to take on these employees; they were transferred to me…
• Mergers – how do I manage to integrate these new employees culturally?
• Offer to become CEO.  Do I really want that? I wasn’t there when my daughter was born, and I missed her first day of school. Should my son experience that now too?
• Finally, a managing director / division manager in the corporation – maintaining EU contacts: when should I still do that?
• Offer to go to New York. But what will my husband do then?
• Regional Director for Latin America – will I have to give motivational speeches in Portuguese? Couldn’t I also do that in English?
• I need to take a deep breath... I just feel overwhelmed right now... Am I at risk for burn-out?
• Finally the job offer from the US – and my wife wants a divorce...

….

Customized short-term and long-term consultation – basically everything an executive needs to be able to fulfill his/her leadership role – including support in the non-work context. The following are examples:

Leadership

• Leadership Agility CEO Check
  The first step towards understanding an executive’s current position on the way to becoming an agile executive is the CEO Check – a specially designed means of 360° feedback. It centers on the three qualities relevant to change:
  - Conducting important talks
  - Initiating changes in the company and
  - Leading teams.
  
  Each of these leadership qualities is examined in four specific innovation-relevant areas:
  - Stakeholder agility
  - Self-management agility
  - Creativity
  - Putting agility into context
  
  The result: every feedback recipient sees which of his/her behavior patterns are particularly future-oriented and what influence posture has on these patterns.
   
• Culture analysis for companies
  - Status quo in the company: How ready is my company for the future?
  - Guidance in the development of agile executives, agile teams
   
• Custom-made development programs lasting between 3 and 30 days
  - Silver: status quo analysis, prospects
  - Gold:  status quo analysis, prospects, feedback and reflection, first specific steps
  - Platinum: status quo analysis, prospects, feedback and reflection, “reverse” job placement
   
• Agility forum – executives exchanging ideas

External communication

• Handling the media
  - Understanding and controlling the press
  - Social media
• Appearance and presence
• Camera and studio training

Corporate social responsibility

• Daily reflection with top-level managers, politicians and VIPs on politics, philosophy and society, in cooperation with the Aspen Institute and the German Marshall Fund
• Impetus: speakers, presentations, interactionally presenting topics by means of group moderation
• Retreats for very small groups

Work-life balance

Support for the executive’s personal and/or family environment, for example in case of

• Burnout
• Dependency
• Divorce
• Mobbing
• Legal cases