“Visibility is critical, now more than ever,” she says.“Leaders have to be out there. It can’t all be video and e-mail. It’s also being able to answer (employees’) questions transparently. You have to be realistic and not sugarcoat where you’re going.”
Doing those things help a CEO build good will and secure much-needed buy-in from employees.
“By telling employees some idea of the path, it builds on it,” she says. “You get the framework out and let them fill in the picture. That’s how a larger cap company can be entrepreneurial, can get a business back on track and get it growing again.”
It also is important to work with customers that may also behaving trouble. Elsenhans says you can’t just throw them to the wolves.
“You have a contract, which protects your rights. And that’s important,” she says. “But if you can be a bit more flexible and meet a customer’s need during a tough time, you can build a better customer for down the road. Companies that have worked hard to be flexible are going to come out of this better.”
The bottom line is that CEOs managing through tough times need to have the ability to be flexible and adapt. That, Elsenhans says, will make or break your business.
“If you don’t innovate, you’re going to die,” she says. “Even very large companies. If you are not attuned to the disruptive forces in your marketplace and reacting to those through innovation, you’re going to be left behind.”
How to reach: Sunoco Inc., www.sunoco.com
