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The Leadership Training/Mentoring Corner - April Responses
THE LEADERSHIP TRAINING/MENTORING CORNER
In the August 2025 Newsletter, we started a series called “The Leadership/Mentoring Corner” in which we posed a thought-provoking situation for you to think about and put yourself into, asking yourself, “What are your next steps?” Below is the situation that was
APRIL LEADERSHIP SITUATION
Steve, team leader, is managing a group working on an important, time-sensitive project with a tight deadline. Two of the team’s strongest performers are in growing conflict over how to approach the work. One employee advocates for a fast, innovative strategy that could yield impressive results but carries some risk. The other prefers a careful, methodical process that minimizes errors but may slow progress.
As the disagreement continues, team meetings become tense, communication begins to break down, and other team members start taking sides. Productivity is slipping, and the deadline is approaching quickly. The leader recognizes that if the conflict is not addressed soon, it could jeopardize both the project’s success and the team’s overall cohesion.
Steve must decide how to intervene—balancing the need to resolve the conflict, maintaining respect among team members, and ensuring the project is completed effectively and on time.
What should Steve’s next steps be?
We polled several Silver Fox Advisors, and below are some recommendations on what Steve’s possible next steps should be:
- There appears to be misalignment of some of the Committee Members. Steve, as the leader of the Committee, needs to have meetings individually with these members and get alignment on the issues, or the tension and disagreement will continue.
- Steve needs to exercise his position of leadership and take the bull by the horns to make some difficult decisions and move the group to a conclusion.
- One suggestion was to dismiss the entire group and start all over again.
- Another suggestion was to take a mulligan and start all over again with a fresh approach.
- Probably one of the more workable suggestions was to establish one individual on the Committee as a mediator, have this person meet with those having conflicts, and get to a common ground position.
If you need assistance in becoming a better leader, we recommend you start by contacting the Silver Fox Advisors. Silver Fox Advisors are former or present business owners themselves, and they have leadership experience in running a business, and in some cases several businesses, and have dealt with unforeseen and unplanned situations throughout their careers. We encourage you to visit our website at www.silverfox.org to select a Silver Fox Advisor and also to learn more about the Silver Fox Advisors, as well as our great programs and community outreach endeavors.
Silver Fox Advisors' History Corner
Silver Fox Advisor's History Corner
The Silver Fox Advisor organization is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year, and over the course of the 2026 calendar year, we will be sharing with you some of our history and memories in our Monthly Newsletter. Each month, we will feature a brief write—up on some of the more historical highpoints of the past 40 years in this “Silver Fox Advisors’ History Corner”. We hope you find this information of interest, as you will probably know or have heard of some of the individual Silver Fox Advisors who made the organization what it is today.
Last month, you learned about one of the Silver Fox Advisors’ Signature Programs, its Lunch and Learn Program. This month, we want to inform our readers of another great initiative, our Outreach Programs.
Over the years, the Silver Fox Advisors’ Leadership has taken a strong position of supporting organizations outside of the Silver Fox Advisors organization that help, in a charitable way, small businesses across the Greater Houston area.
Examples of some of these, what we call Outreach Programs, are our association with the Better Business Bureau of Houston Foundation. For nearly 20 years, the Silver Fox Advisors have served as judges of the Better Business Bureau of Houston Foundation’s Award for Excellence Program. Silver Fox Advisors conducts training sessions for Better Business Bureau of Houston members wanting to submit applications for the Award for Excellence Program. Each application that is received by the Better Business Bureau of Houston is reviewed and judged twice. Then, at the Better Business Bureau of Houston Foundation’s Award’s Luncheon, the winners are announced and receive their awards. Silver Fox Advisors, who serve as judges, also attend this Annual Luncheon event.
Another, Silver Fox Advisors Outreach Program is the Prison Education Program or PEP, which provides educational opportunities for incarcerated individuals, allowing them to access federal financial aid and to earn recognized credentials. The PEP encourages prisoners to complete a business plan, which is submitted in a competition setting to judges, including Silver Fox Advisors, who work with the prisoners to fine-tune their business plans so when they leave prison, they have a blueprint to establish a small business and earn a living. The program has a long history, and it has been very successful, as evidenced by the extremely low reincarceration rate of participants.
The Silver Fox Advisors Outreach Program with Houston Community College, now Houston City College, includes participating as judges in the HCC’s Annual Business Plan Competition. This competition provides business leaders’ support to students enrolled at HCC who prepare a business plan which is judged by community business advisors like the Silver Fox Advisors. In addition, the Silver Fox Advisors have been providing educational training sessions to HHC students on current business topics. There is no fee to attended these sessions, and a team of Silver Fox Advisors presents the session topic and is available after each session for information exchanges.
The Silver Fox Advisors have also long been a supporter of the Annual Rice Business Plan Competition. This Business Plan Competition includes Gard Student Teams from Colleges and Universities around the World. These teams submit their Business Plans to the Rice Alliance. These Business Plans are graded by judges (including Silver Fox Advisors) who select 42 teams to come to Houston and present their respective plans to nearly 350 business leaders and investors. Every team is awarded a monetary prize. Total prizes awarded at the event each year exceed $1.3 million.
In addition to these more structured Outreach Programs Silver Fox Advisors individually serve on numerous charitable and business-related groups and organizations in a variety of capacities, like Board Chairs and Members, Committee Chairs and Members, volunteers, advisors and financial supporters. Our Silver Fox Advisors give willingly and tirelessly of their respective talents and expertise to help the communities we all live and work in better places to raise families and operate our businesses.
Silver Fox Advisors are proven business leaders and entrepreneurs who for 40 years have been giving back to businesses and communities by advising, coaching, consulting, and mentoring in Outreach Programs across the Greater Houston Area.
Silver Fox Advisors are celebrating 40 years in operation in 2026. Our members are proven business leaders who advise, consult with, and mentor other business leaders, CEO Roundtables, and entrepreneurship programs. We would love to be of assistance to you and your business. For more information visit: www.silverfox.org or call 713.467.5900
