Step out of your shoes
If the challenges that McEwan was facing weren’t enough, it quickly got tougher when the firm also had to eliminate positions soon after he took over.
“That was probably the hardest time,” McEwan says. “We had come to the conclusion that we needed to let a few people go. ‘Had we done everything that we could? Had we stretched it as far as we could? Are we doing the right thing for the other associates that are going to remain?’”
These were all questions McEwan and his leadership team had to deal with and answer for themselves on their own time. The more pressing concern for the organization was getting those employees who remained to get past the fear that they might be the next ones to be shown the door.
“I honestly tried to put myself in the position of, ‘If I was sitting out there, what would I be feeling?’” McEwan says. “‘What does this mean to me? Am I next? Are we done? Where do we go from here?’ So while it was a difficult message, when I put myself in their shoes, I thought, ‘What is it that I wanted to know about what is going to happen today, tomorrow and the next day?’”
McEwan realized that he couldn’t make any promises about anyone’s future. But he could share his feelings about the organization’s future and explain that, as of today, he very much needed them to be part of it.
“It’s being able to relate that message of, ‘Here’s the situation we’re in. Here’s what it means to you. Here’s how you fit into our plans and strategies,’” McEwan says. “That’s what people want to know. ‘What does it mean for me?’”
McEwan had to get out and talk to his people. He had to show them that their ideas were essential to shaping the firm’s future.
“The best leaders understand and they are curious and they listen to where the minds and hearts of their people are at,” McEwan says. “You can’t underestimate how much time and effort that takes. You can’t properly lead people from one situation to another unless you know where they are at. That’s going to determine the course of action that you need to take.”
McEwan tried to make sure he would remember what he was hearing so he could formulate that course of action by putting ideas into buckets.
“I try to put it into central themes,” McEwan says. “I like to keep things to three. Beyond that, it gets complicated. Keep it simple. Try to develop some themes around what you’re hearing. That’s very effective and an easy way to get your mind around it and your thoughts organized.”
Connect yourself and others
McEwan wanted to get everyone energized to help Deloitte’s clients, who were going through the same tough economy that employees were. He hoped that by focusing on the intense effort that Deloitte needed to make to calm client fears, he could connect them to the greater cause and at least reduce some of the more personal fears that employees felt.
“I tried to really get our people to turn this into a positive and really understand that while, yeah, this may be a difficult time for everyone, this is really the time when our clients need us,” McEwan says. “[They needed] to take their hearts and minds off of looking inward and really turn it into what our core values are of client service and being a trusted adviser.
“You have to come back to what are we here to do? In our case, it’s really all about our clients and our people. … If you can bring it to that level and put it in the context of core values and reason for being and put it in that perspective, I think that takes some of the tension and conflict out of the conversation. You can get people to open up.”
One of the best ways to get others to open up is for you to do the same. When McEwan met with employees, he tried to show his excitement and passion for Deloitte and the things he and his employees could accomplish together.
“If you’re transparent and you stay true and you really believe as a leader in what you’re doing, you don’t have to be careful as much because that’s what you believe and that’s the way you are,” McEwan says. “You have to be true to yourself. People will respect you for that. Otherwise, you appear to be disconnected.”
When you appear disconnected, it’s easy for your people to assume you don’t care. That’s not going to help you sell your plan and it may even hurt you as word travels across the organization.
“There’s nothing worse than going through a meeting and walking out of the room and they’re saying, ‘What’s he thinking? He’s completely out of touch,’” McEwan says. “Everything you say and do is passed on through three or four conversations. So it’s very important to think before you open your mouth.”
