I attended executive training for a couple of years. The members were all CEOs and would come to the group in monthly meetings with a very wide range of problems from: 'my VP Finance does not complete his work on time and offers an endless stream of excuses. I need to exit him. What's the best approach?' To 'My unionized interior finishers are abusing their time clock, how should I approach the union to correct this?'

The coach used an effective 5-step approach to the resolution process:

1. Present: The presenter makes a clear, one-sentence statement of the problem.

2. Clarify: The sounding team asks clarifying questions: 'How long has the VP been behaving this way?', 'How well do you know the local union leadership?' Only clarification at this step. No suggestions yet.

3. Suggestions/Recommendations: 'Conduct a confidential search, negotiate an exit package and move on. Be sure to keep the BoD up to date on this.'

4. Reaction: Presenter indicates the suggestion they believe is most likely best for them.

5. Accountability: Next meeting, the presenter reports whether they took action, and whether the results benefited from the discussion.

Phases 2 & 3 were conducted in round-table style, with each team member interracting one at at time.

The results were typically effective. The presenter didn't always take the advice, but always reported that the process had provided insight.

FWIW.