Directors of distressed businesses often know they need a Turnaround Manager. They hire one, bring them in, and then… start telling them what to do.
It’s understandable. These directors have built the business, lived through its ups and downs, and now face the terrifying prospect of losing control. But Marshal Goldsmith was right when he said: "What got you here won’t get you there". The same thinking that led to the problem won’t lead to the solution.
The hardest part of a turnaround isn't the financial restructuring, the operational cuts, or the negotiations: it’s convincing those who have always been in charge to let go. When directors can’t let go of the control they once had, when they second-guess every move or resist necessary changes, they risk turning a recovery into a drawn-out failure.
A Turnaround Manager isn’t a consultant offering polite advice. They must be appointed with the mandate to take control, make hard decisions, and drive change – often in ways that make directors uncomfortable.
The best directors recognise that their job during a turnaround isn’t to dictate but to support – because real change happens when the Turnaround Manager is allowed to do what they were hired to do.