BJ Pfeiffer is president and CEO of Enterprise Solutions Technology Group, a woman-owned IT services firm based in Madison, Wisconsin. She also runs The EmployAbility Project, a local nonprofit organization that provides training, support, and job placement for people with disabilities. Looking to build a thoughtful growth strategy for the company and new ideas and skills for her nonprofit work, Pfeiffer turned to HBS Executive Education. In this interview, she discusses how the Leading Professional Service Firms program helped her to bring critical focus and alignment to her company's key initiatives.
It was an incredible learning experience that totally transformed who I am and how I think as a leader. The depth and breadth of the content, the interactive classroom format, and the study groups all worked together to provide total-immersion learning that was perfectly suited for me. I expected to learn some new business skills, of course. But as I thought deeply about how the cases related to my goals and objectives, I found myself evolving new thought processes as well.
To put it bluntly, I'm not flying by the seat of my pants as much. I'm taking time to plan—and to make more deliberate choices. Now I understand that taking the time to think about issues and plans in depth is not a luxury—it's an essential component of running a business. As a result, I am now looking at challenges from more angles and finding new opportunities.
Right now, I'm working on a joint venture with another company that seems well aligned with ours, and I'm asking better questions. I've also become more creative in my approach to my nonprofit work. Thinking about alternatives to "business as usual" has helped me put some new ideas on the table for our board.
I was surprised and delighted by the diversity of the group, which provided a wealth of ideas and perspectives. Our study group gelled immediately. We started out thinking that we shared nothing in common, but came to realize that we were more alike than different. After we got to know one another, we began talking in shortcuts. Because we were on the same wavelength, we no longer had to explain all the background.
We're all on LinkedIn now. So, we continue to ask questions and exchange ideas, stimulating one another's thinking. I like knowing that if I have an issue, I can count on people across the globe to respond. It's a powerful network and an invaluable resource.
The HBS faculty structured the curriculum so that each session built on the previous one, and skillfully integrated the new information with what we had already learned. After we reviewed one case, the owners of that particular firm flew in and discussed the case with us. We had the rare opportunity to speak directly with those leaders about their decision process. This brought us up close to a real-life business deliberation.
I also appreciate that Leading Professional Service Firms engaged directly with the tough emotional challenges of leadership and encouraged us to recognize our limitations as human beings. After one particularly intense session, I said to one of the faculty members, "You're the first person in my life who told me I didn't have to be perfect."
During the program, we talked a lot about alignment—getting the mission, strategy, processes, and people to line up well. For me, that required critically examining the way business is traditionally conducted—in our city and in our company—and asking, "Is this the most direct route to the desired result?" When I came back, I looked carefully at the business processes we were using and then worked with my team to improve them.
I also experienced a major shift in thinking. That new perspective—a drive for focus—permeates every decision I make now. I ask myself how a given activity is likely to impact our success, both in the short term as well as the long term. As a result, we're becoming much more focused on defining the capabilities we want to develop, the clients we want to attract, the process we use to get new customers and contracts, and the people and skills we need to add.
The biggest takeaway for me was the importance of focus. We are a smaller technical consulting firm with highly skilled people, and we often compete with much larger businesses for contracts. It's important for us to pick our battles. I'm now a better thinker, planner, and strategist. The new thought processes I've developed will directly contribute to my company's success and longevity.
