You Hired the Michael Jordan of Finance: Now What?

You can't have "no" people.

You hired that Guru to either "shake-up" the organization or at the very least improve the organization.

If they spend an inordinate amount of time circumventing the "no" people (and lets define this as people whose first answer is "no". Their thought process is: "it can't be done"; without thinking about or researching the possibility that it can be done. These people offer no alternative or other solutions except the "no".

So, the "no" people either have to go (not an easy choice) or senior management needs to impart an "anti-no" attitude.

I've seen this in turnarounds, where the "no" we can't do this people slow down the turnaround, while the business tumbles slowly into bankruptcy. By the way, these people have a vested interest in the company (it's their livelihood, often times for many years), but just can't get out of their own way.

It is NOT just a matter of hiring a Jordan, a James, or a Bryant. Each of these "stars" found out the hard way that their skills alone cannot give them championship rings. Heck, even Miami found out that having 3 star players (on it's own) does not matter . In each and every instance, the attitude, perspective and the role that the "star player" will play and the team members around him is what counts.