Below there are a few case studies. Some deal with actual projects executed by 1 Executive Retreat®, others are reported, and others still are a product of imagination, all equally probable in the world of business. We present a way and circumstances in which 1 ER® method can be applied.

Among the executive board members, while at budget planning, a conflict concerning resources explodes. The CEO realizes that two of his executive team members – a man and a woman – go headlong on the collision course, which eclipses everything that the executive board should be taking care of, and sets the tone for cooperation within the group which is unbearable for all other members of the team. 1 ER® Business project answers following questions: why the CEO couldn’t/wasn’t able/didn’t want to settle the case? Why did the VP (woman) enter into the conflict with the COO (man)? What was the COO’s approach towards the problem? Why did the other members of the team allow the situation to persist despite its being unbearable? What was the proper solution in this situation?

CEO of a service company whose particular executive board members are interested in different agendas, each one having different priorities and speaking different languages. The question arises: is this situation strategically beneficial/neutral? Why does the CEO notice it now? Does this influence the company now but hasn’t before? What has changed? Is this a problem? In such a project it turns out already at the preliminary interviews/stage that every team member speaks a different language, everybody has a different idea as to what the major problem within the company is. Analysis shows this right away. It often turns out that the company has just undergone an entire consulting process with a recognized consulting firm, which was supposed to solve the problem. But wait – what problem? The consulting project was a waste of time and money because it had no chance to uncover what 1 ER® does reveal.

Company – new technology provider. The problem of a competitive position and competitiveness in general; not addressed, but rather replaced by ‘portfolio range’, ‘marketing campaigns’, ‘brand or product positioning’. 1 ER® project drags the truth out of the executive board about their fears, anxiety and fatigue. We find the source, different for everybody, by the way. During three sessions of ER within one year the company climbed from no. 3 to no. 2 on the market and is getting ready to challenge the leader. It was a successful turnaround of anxious, burned out, workaholic technocrats into brave, relaxed leaders. During the first offsite, everybody hurt so much when forced to speak about things they did not want to speak about. ‘Unfortunately’ the 1 ER® method is ruthless in this respect;

The CEO of a retail group struggles in maintaining his engagement and feels burnt out. Calls 1 ER®, makes an appointment and decides for 1 ER® Private option. It emerges from our meetings that 1 ER® Business project is also necessary, and we simultaneously deploy coaching with elements of  psychoanalysis. The CEO feels alone, he can’t manage to level with executive team. It turns out that the symptoms from which he suffers are transferred entirely to the professional ground  – the team dislikes working with him, because matters and decisions are prolonged beyond infinity, the whole company bogs down in sloth, puts off problems and challenges ‘till tomorrow’. It is in a constant ‘procrastination mode’. Getting the whole team to realize this situation, in which everybody has some blame , is the beginning of the hard and painful process of the restoration of balance and energy in the team. The CEO has gone to 1 ER® Home also , but that’s an entirely different story;

Madam VP, trading industry, extremely skeptical towards the project, which never went beyond the preliminary phase in her company. Two analytical sessions were enough for her to realize that her assumption that work-life balance problems don’t concern her, is magical, escapist thinking. The discovery of the very difficult problem her private life posed, and 1 ER® Home which followed (which she ordered for herself and her spouse), has restored the proper proportions in her private life priorities;

A company suffers from outrageous turmoil in customer service. Performance indicators within the call center and a broadly understood after-sales support are plunging sharply. It seems that the company is unable to deal with the problem and will be forced to accept HQ know-how, along with a very expensive visit of a few intervening specialists. The executive teams look really bad in the eyes of their bosses at HQ. The company is known for very high standards for its after-sale support, and its portfolio comprises very demanding corporate clients. 1 ER® project reveals the trivial fact that locating the customer service and support department under the sales division, does not correspond at all to the competence of the people taking care of it at the executive level. A simple move, consisting in the separation and allotment of an independent flexible team, along with recruitment of a new department head as an independent manager reporting straight to HQ, turns out to be the bull’s-eye solution. It couldn’t have been worked out before because of the intersecting interests of the stakeholders of the situation, which was only demonstrated during the offsite;

The Ukrainian war results in a decline in orders of 60% from this country. At the same time the company has increased its capacity by 30% by modernizing its production line, financed by leasing, owing to a dynamic growth specifically in the Ukrainian market, which is the most valuable among international markets for the company. What is more, the whole team of the daughter company in Ukraine has received substantial bonus rewards for the previous year’s achievement which produced the best revenue in the history of the company. The CFO claims that the Ukrainian operation must be closed immediately, because it will bring huge losses already this year. CSO and CHRO are against that opinion, each arguing in his own way. The CEO is unable to make a decision, swings between opinions; meanwhile, the demand for action, for decision making among the executives increases. 1 ER® project would show in which way every member was led to his/her argumentation. Which one of these arguments makes sound business sense, and which only plays a small part in common-sense business solutions? At the end of the offsite the CEO would have full clarity as to which decision needs to be taken, as well full clarity as to what has prevented him before, or is still hindering him from taking it;

After having been taken over by a huge multinational in their field, the company faced substantial changes coming its way. The executive team – experienced and strong managers – felt anxious about the approaching unknown. The CEO, who was an architect of the transaction, couldn’t understand why all of a sudden everybody is taken in by the rigidity in decision-making and  impotence in operations. The company has drifted for a few months. The 1 ER® project, precisely and meticulously planned and prepared, with single point agenda (of course), has provided each and every participant with a meaningful insight into his/her fears and anxiety. The team could never have known about them, had they tried to use a consulting firm or tried to figure it out by themselves. Simultaneously, the CEO has found out how to address each and every member of his team separately, as well as all together. The insight which 1 ER® provides, the tactical discipline of the meeting, quickly leads to the establishment of factual claims and truths at the company level as well as at the personal level;