In the third quarter of 2008, Warren Bonham started to see the early warning signs of the recession that was to come.
People weren’t using as much fuel as they had been, and the pricing environment started going haywire.
Yes, something was definitely coming for the president and CEO of Insight Equity Acquisition Partners LP, which does business as Direct Fuels. And that something was a 16 percent drop from peak to trough in diesel fuel demand — a big hit for the $485 million regional fuel distributor and specialty refiner.
“There’s only so much you can do,” he says. “What we tend to do around here is try our best to keep the team focused on the right issues and the right things that you can control, and you can stay awake worrying and crying yourself to sleep every night over the things you can’t control, but there’s no point doing that.”
Instead of doing those things, he chooses to focus on communicating with employees and creating and maintaining a plan.
“Leadership is pretty easy when you have a lot of tailwind at your back and things are going your direction,” Bonham says. “But great teams and effective leaders stand out when the going gets tough.”
