Turnaround Survival: Street Fights, Advisors & Landing the Plane
In the previous blog in this series, we focused on the cultural glue: speaking the hard truth, avoiding sugarcoating, and protecting the pillars of your organization. Those moves stabilize the team. Now let’s talk about the street-fight reality of crisis, the need for a trusted consigliere, and why only great people and great optics give you a chance to land the plane safely.
Turnaround Survival: Street Fights, Advisors & Landing the Plane
In the previous blog in this series, we focused on the cultural glue: speaking the hard truth, avoiding sugarcoating, and protecting the pillars of your organization. Those moves stabilize the team. Now let’s talk about the street-fight reality of crisis, the need for a trusted consigliere, and why only great people and great optics give you a chance to land the plane safely.
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Don’t Sugarcoat: How to Communicate and Protect Your Pillars
Last time, we covered why shrinking is essential and why half-measures prolong the pain. Cuts must be real, deep, and courageous. Now we’ll tackle the cultural side of turnarounds: communicating hard truths without sugarcoating, and protecting the few critical people who hold up the entire structure.
Don’t Sugarcoat: How to Communicate and Protect Your Pillars
Last time, we covered why shrinking is essential and why half-measures prolong the pain. Cuts must be real, deep, and courageous. Now we’ll tackle the cultural side of turnarounds: communicating hard truths without sugarcoating, and protecting the few critical people who hold up the entire structure.
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Why Every Successful Turnaround Starts with Shrinking
In the previous blog in this series, we confronted the trap of solving “the problem that isn’t” and why clinging to old plans is deadly. The hard truth: if you want to save the business, you’ve got to shed the excess and make deep, decisive cuts.Now we’ll talk about the necessity of shrinking, the dangers of tentative actions, and the courage required to cut fat, muscle, and sometimes even bone.
Why Every Successful Turnaround Starts with Shrinking
In the previous blog in this series, we confronted the trap of solving “the problem that isn’t” and why clinging to old plans is deadly. The hard truth: if you want to save the business, you’ve got to shed the excess and make deep, decisive cuts.Now we’ll talk about the necessity of shrinking, the dangers of tentative actions, and the courage required to cut fat, muscle, and sometimes even bone.
Read More
The Problem That “Is” (and the Deadly Mistake of Solving What Isn’t)
In the first post in this series, we uncovered two brutal truths: most leaders aren’t equipped for turnarounds, and time is your enemy when cash is oxygen. If you miss the early signs, you end up in Stage 4 before you even know it. Now let’s get brutally clear about what matters most in a crisis: focusing only on the problem that is—and letting go of plans that no longer matter.
The Problem That “Is” (and the Deadly Mistake of Solving What Isn’t)
In the first post in this series, we uncovered two brutal truths: most leaders aren’t equipped for turnarounds, and time is your enemy when cash is oxygen. If you miss the early signs, you end up in Stage 4 before you even know it. Now let’s get brutally clear about what matters most in a crisis: focusing only on the problem that is—and letting go of plans that no longer matter.
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The Problem with Turnarounds … They Are Hard!
Turnarounds are tough. In my experience, turning a company around is the single most difficult thing to do in business. It is especially difficult when the captain of the Exxon Valdez is the same person who is charged with cleaning up the oil spill. Sophisticated Boards of Directors tend to terminate the CEO who was leading the company when it got into trouble for two reasons:
The Problem with Turnarounds … They Are Hard!
Turnarounds are tough. In my experience, turning a company around is the single most difficult thing to do in business. It is especially difficult when the captain of the Exxon Valdez is the same person who is charged with cleaning up the oil spill. Sophisticated Boards of Directors tend to terminate the CEO who was leading the company when it got into trouble for two reasons:
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