Todd R. Lachman is president of MARS SNACKFOOD U.S., a $3.5 billion division of Mars Inc. that offers a range of iconic products, including M&Ms, Snickers, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, and Dove.

Back in January 2007 you decided to change the way you and your top team lead and manage. Why?

Despite the fact that we had world-class products and talented associates, for the past several years growth had been lackluster; market share had been slipping; there were no common business goals across the organization; there was an overall lack of accountability; employees were disengaged; and customer relationships needed attention. It was time for change.

Now that we're knee deep in another Presidential race-and if you believe the talking heads, it's one of the most important ever-this is a good time to reflect on the issue of leadership. Who would make a better leader: Barack Obama or John McCain?

Pat Drew, GDS consultant and expert in preparing executives for international assignments, discusses what she learned from helping to improve a flawed process for transferring executives overseas.

Presenting Situation: The VP of R&D of a major division of a U.S. consumer goods company sought to repair a broken process for the worldwide transfer of executives. . . .

AMA Podcast: Leading Top Teams for High Performance

Tune in to Howard's recent podcast for the American Management Association. Click on the link below, then click on "Play in Popup" at the bottom of your screen.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Howard Guttman was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the New Jersey Historical Society, to which he will lend his expertise in building high-performance teams and organizations.