Michael Gonsiorowski was facing a challenge unlike any other he had faced in his life. National City Bank had just been bought by The PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and the regional president of the bank’s Central Ohio region had a lot of nervous employees who wanted to know how this blockbuster deal would affect their jobs.
“People are sitting there going, ‘Jeez, am I still going to have a job?’” Gonsiorowski says. “Early on, you really don’t know until more of the details of the plan get figured out. You try to get as much information to secure people and their futures as quickly as you can.”
But when it’s still so fresh, even in your own mind, how do you know what information to provide? How do you know that the information you are providing will prove to be accurate? How do you know that your own job is secure?
Those were just a few of the challenges that Gonsiorowski faced in trying to keep things moving at the offices for which he was responsible. In the end, the key to getting your company through a potentially life-changing development is your ability to follow the principles that guide you every other day.
“How is this going to feel? How do you behave? How do you lead through that transaction?” Gonsiorowski says. “As it turns out, it’s the same kind of basic leadership principles you would engage in in any change situation. Lots of communication and honest dialogue around as much as you know the facts to be as they develop.”
Here’s how Gonsiorowski calmed fears, honed his message and did his part to put National City Bank in a position to be ready to become part of the 56,000-employee PNC in less than three months.