The Business Brickyard

The personal Blog of Howard Mann. Author, Speaker & Entrepreneur. - November 21st, 2008
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We have a strategic plan. It's called doing things.

Herb Kelleher founder and former Chairman and CEO of Southwest Airlines.
03
Oct
08

It's The Striptease That Kills You

Fred Wilson's brilliant post this morning calls for the candidates to focus on a turnaround vs a bailout or "change."

"Leaving Iraq and getting rid of the Bush tax cuts are not the only things we need to do to fix the financial mess we are in but they are the obvious first two things we need to do. When you are doing a turnaround, you need some early wins and those are low hanging fruit that must be grabbed quickly..... That’s what turnarounds are all about. You must make the tough calls."

I have struggled through a few turnarounds in my career and helped a few others through them as well. I can tell you that you do not get through them by saying or doing what is popular.  Leaders have to navigate a ship through a hurricane and that requires tough choices that do not feel safe and require pain and persistence.

Most importantly, as we are learning about reacting to the financial crisis so late in the game, is that turnarounds work out best when you make the hard decisions early.  Sometimes taxes have to go up so they can come down.  As I mention in my book, you need to spend at least 1 dollar less than you earn. Getting a business (or government) back to that truth is hard work.  That is why it is a truism that it is lonely at the top. But if you want to be at the top, this is as much a part of the job as the glory.

The lessons I have learned (the hard way) is best summed up by this famous quote from Henry Kissinger:

"What will come out eventually must come out immediately. The implication being, it's the striptease that kills you." 

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