Getting Unstuck
The Leadership Journeys: Getting Unstuck
Responsible for getting a stagnant or failing organization back on track? Time to get unstuck.
As all of us are knee-deep into the COVID-19 pandemic, I thought looking back on the hardship that was the 2008 “Great Recession” could draw helpful parallels. Here’s what happened to me in that time and what a great leader taught me. It’s very applicable for the here and now!
I was trying to dodge a bullet by switching careers in mid-2007. I worked at an engineering consultancy that relied heavily on the housing market. We all knew we were chasing a bubble. Some could even admit it. I was one of them. So I got out just in time. I thought I was wise. Little did I know. (Insert adage about a fire and a frying pan here).
I jumped into a construction products technology start-up. We had a few interesting patents and a flagship customer in the commercial/industrial market (not housing!) so we thought we would be able to make it a success. We were speeding ahead and ironing out the production system when September 29, 2008 happened. The single biggest stock market loss in one day. Talks of bail-outs for big banks and the auto industry filled the radio waves as I drove from suppliers to factory to headquarters desperately trying to keep the business afloat. It was no use. The tech start-up died. But there were even bigger challenges to come.
I was pulled back to the holding company. Troubles were many with its core business. Orders were quickly drying up across all product platforms. We were struggling to make payroll and pay vendors. We had to cut to the bone on production staff. My specific task was to get that production team back on track. I had very little experience with the system and even less in the way of resources to make it happen. But I had a great CEO. He was steady, gritty and full of optimism. A true leader and the kind of person you can follow when you’re taking bullets from all sides.
Step by step we dug out. We fought well into the following year. A combination of grit, creativity and a whole lot of sacrifice from the team got us through. Most of all, we had a great leader at the helm. We repurposed the technology from the start-up. The holding company was the leader in their industry and had posted record profits thew previous year. They got unstuck in the midst of the toughest construction market in fifty years. And they stayed that way.
Perhaps your situation is every bit as daunting (or more so) as 2008. We believe these same principles apply today! When you’re getting unstuck, you need to do three things to be successful:
You need to be a person worth following.
You need to provide crucial clarity.
You need to build a great team.
Being a person worth following is all about being authentic and approachable. Being authentic in the midst of hardship is to face the brutal truth with honesty and optimism. Being approachable is about letting your people demonstrate their humanity and talk them off the edge and moving forward.
You will also need to provide crucial clarity in the areas of Purpose, Vision and Values. You will need to cling to your why (purpose) and convince others that it’s all worth the fight. You’ll need to set a course and provide the plan to get there (vision) and you will need to keep your culture intact (values) as you navigate hard places in your journey.
You also need to build a great team—to get the right people in the right seats. You need to motivate and develop them. You need to give them a path to grow. And you need to help them lean into healthy conflict when necessary to maintain a healthy culture.
That’s a high-level overview of what it looks like when you’re getting unstuck. A five-phased approach on the “how” and “when” is codified in the Rootstock Getting Unstuck Journey Map.