Harvard Business Publishing

Funny: the "three things a leader should do in a downturn" is what most executives say they will do, but almost an exact opposite of what they actually do. Maybe that is why most executives are Managers and not Leaders.

I think that being a good steward of your responsibility implies that you be courageous in a time of adversity. If the leader is innately nebbish then in that time of need he/she will crumble and as such will employee the status quo.

That being said, I agree with Taylor that most managers stall or fail in crucial environments. I would add, however, that being a manager and being a leader are two different things. Moreover being a steward is beyond both. That is not to suggest that managers should not possess courage but most do not.

Great post Tammy.

M

Tammy,
I couldn't agree more. Leaders must use the organizational and team capital that they have in challenging times by leveraging their 'villages'. I recently wrote a piece on this topic which generated some good discussion. My piece can be viewed on my personal blog at:

http://ninasimosko.com/blog/2008/06/02/maintaining-the-momentum-in-tough-times/

Of course, I'd love your comments/thoughts.

I think that the gut reaction of "circle the wagons" such as cutting training, non-essential travel, face to face team meetings and hiring freezes all contribute to the problem.

In tough times it is more apparent to me to change the rules or boundaries - step on some toes, push back on the rules and similar disruptive things.

I'm personally experiencing these issues right now and it makes every discussion a battleground. These drain energy and dampen enthusiasm leaving the team exhausted every day.

All the guns are pointed in instead of pointing out.....

My lord! It's like you dropped into my workspace for a week and took notes....
I have asked this question many times over the last year or two: When you realise you are lost, and that you have headed down the wrong path...why do you think the same systems, models, thinking styles, and behaviours will lead you out of the wilderness?
This short-sighted slash and burn mentality is even more compounded by the fact that everyone else is doing the same thing! In hard times, those who succeed are invariably the ones who dare to be different, who look for opportunities rather than try to protect what they have...
What a great article.

Excellent points!

Too often managers panic and closet themselves in their offices.

Great leaders know that this is the time to be visible and communicating with the team. What a perfect time to review and revise your strategic plan and share the process with everyone. Everyone can be assured that there is a well thought out direction and take accountability for their part.

One couldn't agree more. But, these things are to be actually put into practice. This calls for great LEADERSHIP QUALITIES.

Effective delegation / communication and motivating the TEAM for common good. Most importantly the LEADER should comand respect - which will come basically from 'walk the talk' - genuine concern, transperancy and mutual respect.

Chaitanya Shah
SME - Facilitator
Mumbai - India

I guess most executives know this by head, but not by heart! True leaders do emerge during tough times and through their actions, members feel confident that the trust is enough to tide them over and turn adversity into opportunity. It won't even be unusual to see people doing beyond what they are normally capable of because leaders motivate.

Thanks for reminding us.

Best.
Alain Yap
Morph Labs Inc

Tammy's article has a merit for the underline situation.

However, there are some hidden dangers:

1: Good times turn into hard times, question is those top brass, still living in past, are they changed?
Case and point AIG
They can influence and push for short term selfish agenda.

2: Top management may get feedback but override and stay on "business as usual".

This will create a bad image and team can loose interest.

In addition, there is always a danger of "group thinking" to create an effect of ’space shuttle disaster’, or ‘second invasion of Iraq’.

On the other hand having manager stay put in their office, allocate time for meeting via PC, and join the discussion. This may be more productive. This will reduce influence and people be bolder, and express their point of view.

In addition, it will save non-productive travel time, expenses for the place etc. etc. "Penny save, penny wise". People will learn from practical example.

It is easy to now blame CEO for their lack of management skills when things are not going well, but I wonder how many employees would show hands for their lack of competencies when thing were good.

As per Tammy's article these times are going to be hard, people will have to take salary cuts and change jobs to sustain the current situation, only the great companies would sail through the rough times, but lets all be positive.

Leaders can take this opportunity to make the organization a (probably)lean and mean machine. The ills can be gotten rid of and new and effective ways of doing things can be introduced. This would have been naturally difficult during the good days but will be easier now. However as pointed out by the article and comments only leaders can do it and not Managers!

Great post Tammy.
While it is generally acceptable that leaders have a view of the total forest,it is during the tough times that we need to understand that it is the group of trees that make a forest.
From this perspective it is best to engage as many people as possible for the reasons cited.
It will also throw up a possible leader who could hone his skills with such exposure and will develop the capability to look at the forest as well as the tress.
Ravi

Tammy,
All your prescriptions are great, but when you mention
"Interactive Complexity", bear in mind that this is an extremely complex issue that has not been clarified yet in theory. Therefore it is very hard to give in this context advise of purely prescriptive character. I doubt that this will be of much help in a situation, where management operates for quite a long time with a systemic error that leads to today's snowball effect. The error is both in the hardware and software of our systems and this can not be clarified, redesigned and operationalized overnight, amid the reining crises! One thing is for sure.
We have to revise the basic axioms of our thinking and
economic models no matter if we like it or not to be able to survive and that's where non-linear,creative and
heuristics solutions can be a partial remedy. But let us
face it.The whole international trust in the U.S., system
and currency has vanished and can't be restored that easy. The system of management is also broken into pieces and can no more dominate the world and tell them what to do, this is already history. From this point
where do we go? To talk about strategy, leadership etc,
when the problem lies in the roots thinking and assumptions is a bit naive and reminds me of tribal
witchcraft,which is non relevant in cases like ours. The
situation demands more.
Regards and good luck.

Tammy,

It's me again. Since I know that you are a great story teller, I am tempted to share with you something to ease the rather tense atmosphere now days.
To give you an idea of how I feel in the " Balkan Reality Show" I will best cite a recent answer to a friend who was complaining from the stress he is exposed to:

Ilko my dear friend, please hold on and keep feet above the ground. It is difficult to outlive the hatred of the day as Jesus once taught. Let us not mention
the stupidity to plan for the future. I laughed a lot when hearing the following joke: On a board meeting in one of the leading New York banks, the CEO,
said with a dose of sadness and disappointment in his well modulated voice-" Unfortunately as a summing up I have to report the following about our stake
holders: 'They are Stupid, Inconsistent and Treacherous. Let me clarify why- 1)Stupid to hold their money with such crooks like US; 2) Inconsistent to para rely
fool around with other Banks, than YOUR'S; and 3) Treacherous enough, when we ran into real trouble to desire to pull out ALL their Money, leaving us in
an empty boat in the middle of the 'Financial Ocean'- Cheers Ladies and Gentlemen!" By the way my name originates from SLAVONIC and is spelled
MIKHAIL, but in the U.S., they call me MIKE. AS you can guess I carry SAINT MICHAEL'S name and he is my true protector! WITHOUT
him taking care of me, I seriously doubt that I would have survived . Clearly I have some special mission to have been born in such a difficult
place to live like Bulgaria, or simply I am punished for committed sins in my past existences and now I have to learn my lessons in order to evolve for the principally unknown FUTURE.

Hard Times Demand Teamwork -- Not an MVP
Tamara J. Erickson
I agree to you sincerely but then the times when the sailing is smooth the boss always thinks he is always right and allows little to be passed on to he teamwork. There is a question of union too that they have in mind. More team work, mote the union holding the hold on the employees.
To add to this when the house of the employees is possessed and if he has no home, he tries to rely on the boss to back him up for little accommodations to enable him to settle down. This are the times, when the money is short, the team would like to work in harness but then the employers too are equally afraid of the powerful team forming.
It just does not work with the team getting stronger. The weak link is always there.
I thank you
Firozali A.Mulla

Tammy's writing makes sense; it is practical and creates a synergy.
Tammy’s tip makes me visualize people sailing in the boat. As the boat moves, they get caught into storm. There was a forecast for the high wind, but not the level they were experiencing.

At this point, we count on everyone, and as helplessly try to find ways and means to stay afloat; we use everybody’s help and ideas. People came together for personal interest; now turn into common, collective interest. The synergy developed does well for everybody. The group becomes one and ready for sacrifices.

The suggestions that leaders should focus on building collaborative teams within an organization particularly during an economic downturn rings true, especially in light of the support that is found in the accompanying article. While it would be optimal if team building was always a primary component of organizations, those that are able to develop cohesion, collaboration and commitment will enjoy a competitive advantage during these challenging economic times. It would be particularly interesting to compare and track organizations in similar industries (i.e. compare two telephone companies like Nokia versus LG) - one with an active emphasis on building team building with one that does not - and see how they perform during and after the global slowdown.

This was a great post that really emphasizes a key aspect of teams: the success or failure of teams is dependent on the leader. This is especially important during a downward spiral. Leaders must realize that they need to not be so egocentric and utilize the resources they have. Additionally, with an increasingly complex organizational environment it is becoming even more important to have effective teams and communication among these teams. Work environments are simply not the same anymore and without having an understanding of things like: "virtual participation" and "collective metacognition" leaders will not be able to effectively lead their team to success.

I think you make some great points about how organizational leaders can use the strengths of everyone in an organization to achieve organizational goals, especially in hard times. Your suggestions relate highly to team leadership theory. According to this theory, the leader's role in achieving team effectiveness includes providing a clear and ambitious goal and motivating team members to believe that it is worthwhile, building relationships and trust within the team, and establishing standards of excellence so that no one falls behind. Good team leaders are open and objective. They are able to evaluate the team's skills and problems and can effectively employ every team member's strengths to achieve goals. So I guess you could say that especially in hard times, it may be a good idea for organizational leaders to look to the team leadership approach

I liked the building relationships and trust deep within the organization as a task for a leader. I strongly support working on teams. I actually just read an article by David Thomas "Diversity as Strategy" about IBM's diversity strategy. It is interesting how much trust the Gerstner and Childs had with their employees to even convince them to undergo this diversity initiative. However, during and after the initiative the leaders and followers began to ask questions and challenge the status quo.

In building that relationship and trust with followers may I also suggest a high level of social and emotional intelligence. Daniel Goleman makes an excellent point about the leader's ability to not only know themselves, but also how they are perceived by others. Both of these intelligences can further strengthen the relationship and trust that is so crucial in a leader, follower relationship.

Change is hard for most people, and without that trust in the leader, an organization can easily experience failure over success from a change initiative. With IBMs diversity initiative, they had trust from their followers beforehand, but they also instilled more trust in them with their leadership ideas pertaining to their individual diversities.

Dear Tammy,

Your blogsite is really complete. I normally now go to the "voices topic". But I am more worried about the furlough thing. I don't think we can address the whole world's furlough. Even here in our shipyard, we are seriously thinking about it.

At the risk of being presumptous, and my sincere apologies for even thinking that I could suggest to the mentors group- Academics, my sincere desire was to eliminate the possibility of furlough's in your team by suggesting to include CEO interviews. This alone would make everyone very busy since it entails a lot of travel needing a lot of personnel.These are hard times. Again my sincere apologies for even thinking presumptously.

As to the blogsite, the "voices topic" are for me more than enough of a library for daily use. But I think many new readers may have been attracted first to our duets and thus may not have fully appreciated its use located on the right side(I apologize for being presumptous here).

Thus the objective of my response to your article, to create in the minds of new readers (not the experience ones) - by segmenting the "voices topic" usability into different segments of usability in their daily life as an executive. there is more to the blogsite than duets.

I once run a cluster of fastfood stores. We have great products. but sales were still dull. It only took off, when we rearrange the product offerings into "breakfast", "lunch", and "dinner". It added focus on particular niches because it altered existing customer mindsets about looking at our products. Our sales took off. The added benefit was a better segmentation of our costs of sales too. But that's another story.

I believe each executive's day as divided into time periods require different topics to make him look great to his people, his family, his friends, not just looking great during meetings.

The beauty of your "voices topics" is that one can use the vast repository of wisdom for each time segment in an executives daily grind. From their ascent starting mid-manager to CEO; from a start-up to a big firm; from the bottom of the S curve up to the top of the S curve. It gives one a real edge over other executives. That's why I don't read much of my books anymore.

Again sincere apologies for being presumptous. I am very insecure born from thinking if one has really helped one's friends by staying or otherwise better depart asap. There's a thinline between being impolite and being helpful. But since we ruled the radical jump-out the deep dives will start now. It will help the new readers to give equal attention to the "voices topics". Because the value of the wisdom there, is that it can really make their lives very meaningful.