Unfortunately, when everything hits the fan, it won’t be at a time and place of your choosing, and it won’t be just one issue.
Without warning, even when there are only a few clouds in the sky, suddenly you see a bolt of lightning and hear an ominous burst of thunder. Instantly you know it’s about to be showtime, requiring all-hands-on-deck.
It may start with a phone call informing you that one of your worst fears has occurred. As a wave of nausea sweeps over you, your chief accounting officer barges into your office, hands shaking. Trouble comes in many sizes and shapes and, as the boss, you must always be prepared to provide immediate direction. While any one problem could be monumental, two or more are almost debilitating. What to do next?
First, take three deep breaths. Pick up a legal pad and jot down the issues and pull out your standby action plan, crystallizing options, setting priorities of who on your team does what. And clear your calendar of unnecessary distractions.
The trick in attacking multiple major problems simultaneously is to compartmentalize each of them, quickly deciding the downside risks and coming up with temporary fixes to stop any lethal bleeding. At this point you don’t need permanent solutions. Start thinking about economic consequences and other ramifications of rectifying the problems. Recognize the possibility of time-consuming and costly fixes that will surely divert the attention of management away from other current critical goals.
Don’t bemoan your state of affairs; there will be time for that later. Instead, gather your team together, contact your attorneys (just in case) and find out what precipitated these unexpected debacles. For example, was there an underlying morale problem in a plant, or did some union simply choose your company because it was an attractive target? Don’t always expect the worst, but plan for it. Perhaps you’ll get lucky and find out that it was a simple misstep by a lower-level supervisor who antagonized a very small group of otherwise well-meaning workers.
Time can be your biggest enemy or your greatest ally. If you procrastinate and don’t swing into action, you could miss a window of opportunity to mitigate the problems in your favor much more quickly. But beware of doing more damage because your sense of urgency ignites a hyper need for speed that precipitates other issues. One thing is for sure: The good fairy won’t solve these problems. Your only choice is to take charge.
Of course, you’ll have more than a few restless nights; your calendar will become an instant nightmare as you deal with these problems du jour. Nevertheless, at least you’ll have started the compartmentalizing issue process.
A few words of caution: delegate aspects of the problems to your best and brightest but also make sure you’re constantly kept in the loop. An effective leader is much akin to being a juggler and having the skills to keep all the balls in the air simultaneously.
One consolation is that if being the boss was so easy, then everyone would be in charge. Being a good leader requires a keen mind, emotional fortitude and a strong stomach.
Visit Michael Feuer’s website www.TipsFromTheTop.info to learn more about his columns, watch videos and purchase his books, “The Benevolent Dictator” and “Tips From The Top.”
