TCII :: Management Consultants

People are easier to lead when things are good. Growth and success makes them more tolerant of bad management. But what about when things are really, really bad?

In my experience, people can be amazingly resilient in the face of trouble, so long as they have leaders they can trust and who they feel are communicating with them directly and honestly - even when the news is grim.

If your business is suffering, there are a couple of things you need to do before anything else:

• get to grips with the fact that the ground has shifted, and
• analyse the forces that caused the shift.

Once over that hurdle, you can think about where you'd like the business to be at the end of this transition period:

• Poised for growth?
• Leaner and meaner?
• Or ready for a sale?

Then you need to define the minimum acceptable criteria for weathering the transition, and what the priorities will be during this period.

Once you've drawn up an achievable recovery plan, communication is key - communication with employees, customers, suppliers, the bank, and so on. Radiate confidence, of course. But above all, keep a hold on reality and don't promise what you can't deliver.

Finally, if you have to cut, cut once and cut deep. This will be far less painful than repeated rounds of small reductions.

What would you rate as the most crucial leadership quality for seeing a business through a downturn?