Jim Pedrick, former Vice President, Strategic Marketing Analysis, Charles Schwab & Co., current Senior Vice President of Marketing – U.S. Retail, ING Americas, shares his perspective on the value that Lawrence Ellis brings to developing high-performance teams.

Situation Summary

The Strategic Marketing Analysis (SMA) function at Charles Schwab & Co. plays a pivotal role in determining the company’s overall strategic business direction by presenting critical data, analysis and recommendations to the CEO, president, executive vice presidents and other senior leaders several times a month.

The vice president of this function, Jim Pedrick, was tasked with building the team from scratch, and turning it into a high-performing team within a very short timeframe.

"Lawrence had a stellar reputation throughout Schwab, and I was impressed with his previous work with me. However, as confident as I was that he could help me build an excellent team, I wasn’t sure how much anyone could accomplish in such a short timeframe.

In those few months, Lawrence provided critical coaching and consulting from the start, helping me to refine my vision and thoughts, working to clarify key aspects of our sponsorship within the larger organization, and providing important counsel during interviews to help determine which candidates would be the best fit for this group.

Once the team members were selected, Lawrence’s talents proved even more valuable. He brought a wealth of information about and experience with teams, and a rigor and discipline of practices for developing our team. Through a range of activities, we worked on everything from team structure and team-member competencies to work-process improvements, mission and vision, and navigation of company politics.

Lawrence’s approach focused on getting outstanding results, using efficient work processes and building a healthy workplace climate — and our team benefited in each of these areas.

While I left Schwab for the challenge of a more senior position at a larger international company, I’m still in touch with SMA team members. I hear that the foundation we put in place continues to serve the team well.

I’ve worked with several excellent teams throughout my work life, on the sports field, and in other arenas — both as a team member and as a team leader. SMA was one of the best teams I’ve ever worked with, and I owe that, in large part, to the work of Lawrence Ellis."

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