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With 36 hours to go to the TurnaRound Table Forum hosted & facilitated by ian mc clean & partners on 13th October 2009, the attendees list was a veritable who’s who of Irish industry. Almost 50 leaders from blue chip companies and SMEs from every sector of the business community had committed to come together for a morning of reflection ; to listen to perspectives from 3 guest speakers (Eamonn Eaton, Head of Learning & Engagament at Bank of Ireland ; Adrian McGennis , MD of Sigmar Recruitment ; Stewart Kenny, former CEO of Paddy Power) ; to share best practice and their ideas on how to lead through the uncertainty and to get direction from the vaunted international leadership consultant Blair Steinbach on “How to find your best in the worst moments”

 

At each of the 5 tables, facilitated by an IMC&P consultant, it soon became apparent that many hard decisions have been made, many difficult conversations have taken place and that for many leaders this current downturn is their first brush with adversity. The challenges that the leaders at the TurnaRound Table Forum cited are familiar ones and included.

• Maintaining morale and motivation;
• Leading through continued uncertainty;
• Getting more for less and keeping top talent engaged & committed.

There was a general consensus that it is easy to be a “good” leader during boom times, yet a different skill set is required during a crisis. This different skill set requires the balancing of a long-term mindset with the ability to make difficult decisions in the short-term. Without both these skills, an organisation might well survive the recession but be ill-prepared for the upswing when it happens. During the breakout sessions, the leaders brainstormed ideas to tackle the issues of morale & motivation and leading through continued uncertainty.

There was a consistency in the main ideas that emerged from the 5 facilitated tables. The most favoured ideas tended to focus on the importance of regular, honest and credible communication from the leadership; the need for leaders to be calm and give certainty where possible ; The importance of clarity around goals and objectives and the absolute need for each individual’s goals to be linked to the overall goals of the organization ; the need to encourage resilience in self & others ; the need to adopt a creative approach to the current situation ; the importance of keeping the team engaged and committed and prepared for the upswing through involving them in planning for the future and training & development.

The TurnaRound Forum asked some thought provoking questions of the assembled leaders in relation to their preparedness for the post-recession era. What do you want your customers to be thinking and feeling in 2 years time? What do you want your team to be thinking and feeling in 2 years time? Great leaders see the need to look beyond the current crisis. (The TurnaRound forum used the Chinese character for crisis as it’s motif– in Chinese characters, crisis is represented by both “danger” and “opportunity”).They see the opportunity within the crisis and do not focus solely on the danger. They acknowledge that the glass is half empty but inspire & motivate their team to feel it is half full. How they were going to achieve that is the challenge the TurnaRound Forum Leaders were left to mull over as they departed the Guinness Storehouse on Tuesday!

The Businesses Represented were as Follows:

AIB Analytic Partners Bank of Ireland Bearing Point Dalkia Danone Decent Cigar Company Diageo Forest Pharmaceuticals Friends First Grafton Recruitment

Horwath Bastow Charleton Hotel Partners Interim Executives National Irish Bank O2 Paddy Power Protégé International ServiSource Sigmar VHI Xilinx

Major Challenges

• maintaining morale and motivation
• leading through continued uncertainty
• getting more for less and
• keeping top talent engaged & committed

 

Key outputs

• importance of regular, honest and credible communication from the leadership
• the need for leaders to be calm and give certainty where possible
• the importance of clarity around goals and objectives and the absolute need for each individual’s goals to be linked to the overall goals of the organisation
• the need to encourage resilience in self & others
• the need to adopt a creative approach to the current situation
• the importance of keeping the team engaged and committed and prepared for the upswing
  

Challenging Questions for Leaders

• What do we want our staff thinking and feeling when the Turnaround happens?
• What do we want our customers thinking and feeling when the Turnaround happens?
• Are you more focused on the “Danger” or the “Opportunity” in the crisis?
  (i.e. How is your “Glass”?)