During my corporate life, I worked under multiple C-level executives who fashioned themselves as turnaround experts. A couple really were truly adept at turnarounds; the others were clueless pretenders.
What distinguished the experts? They were smart, insightful, and created results that moved an organization forward in lasting ways.
The posers?
They may have created short-term results, but screwed up so much other stuff along the way that the net of all their impacts were negative.
What did the real turnaround experts do?
- Sent a clear message that there was a new sheriff in town without screwing up daily operations.
- Demanded dramatically accelerated STRATEGIC THINKING, so that they could make dramatically accelerated, FOCUSED DECISIONS about what should continue and what they needed to eliminate.
- Didn’t trust people who were part of creating the problem, depending instead on long-term, trusted advisors.
- Introduced new insights to the organization that set the stage for breakthrough innovation.
- Asked great questions AND LISTENED to discover who and what was performing well and delivering results, even if overall results were sub-par.
- Bypassed layers of bureaucracy to deliver (and gain) true, unfiltered messages to-and-from the people who matter most – on the front lines.
- Shared the benefits of change with everyone who stepped up, accepted risk, sacrificed, and delivered.
What about the turnaround posers?
In contract to the experts, the posers would:
- Mandate bold, ill-advised, ego-driven changes that pushed daily activities into a frenzy (or even worse, a standstill) to signal that he (because it’s always a “he,” isn’t it?) is in charge.
- Make dramatically accelerated, all-or-nothing decisions that cut wasted dollars and people as they wreaked pointless havoc on critical functions and positive impacts.
- Refuse to trust anyone who they didn’t know beforehand, unless the new people they brought in were bootlickers and fawned all over them.
- Trot out all of their old tropes, because, you know, they know best.
- Make definitive, "don’t challenge me" comments that rolled over important impacts and great opportunities that deserved pursuing.
- Ignore everyone below them because, who else mattered but them?
- Turn all the credit back on themselves since, at heart, they were narcissists.
What does your world look like?
You are in the position to discern the experts from the posers. Who looks like a real turnaround expert? Who are the turnaround posers?
Final question: If you are dealing with a poser trying to transform a body of people, what are you going to do about it—comply or stand for what’s right? – Mike Brown
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