When Anne Mulcahy took over as head of Xerox in 2001, few believed that anyone could save the company, particularly an unknown ‘insider’ with limited financial acumen, who had joined the company right out of college. The company was facing bankruptcy, in the midst of a SEC investigation, and was staggered with a debt load of $19 billion. Despite all these obstacles, succeed she did, bringing Xerox back to profitability by 2005 and out of debt by 2006. In a speech Mulcahy gave at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, she had this to say about her success: “The best high-performing companies aren’t typically led by big name CEO’s, but by leaders who build great teams. When people ask me how this company made so much progress so quickly, I think they want to hear that there was something particularly brilliant about the strategy or the planning. The reality is: it was the alignment of the people around a common set of goals.”
Baxter International’s CEO, Robert Parkinson, who was named by Forbes as one of 2008’s ‘Best CEO’s You Don’t Know’, credited his company’s success to its clear focus and discipline. In the article, he was quoted as saying, “Too often organizations get distracted by competition, economic uncertainty or growth for growth’s sake. A successful leader is able to keep the organization focused on its priorities and relentless execution of its strategy.”
When I was Chief Administrative Officer at Hyperion during the height of the dot com implosion, we were able to course-correct only after the executive team aligned ourselves and the company around ‘1 – 3 – 5’; ONE clear vision of the future (Desired Future State), THREE ‘over-arching’ Business Priorities, and FIVE Strategic Assaults.
What are your experiences and/or learnings about successfully managing through crisis? I’d love to hear them. Cheers, Amelia
Tags: alignment, clarity, Leadership
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Our turn around at Lori Bonn from 2004-2005 was based only on these principles. I had only a few broad ideas of how to resolve our issues and they didn’t add up to a predictable success in my projections. But our team took the general direction and then added and expanded on them to go from what seemed hopeless to a record year. Working together with clarity, focus and with everyone playing a part.
You’re spot on, Amelia. Anne Mulchay’s comment about success coming back around to being able to align around common goals is so true. I’m surprised how often I’m brought in to coach mid level managers to help them improve their INFLUENCE skills. They’re learning how their “relationship capital” can drive efficiencies in the workplace. It’s a lesson we can all revisit. Knowing how to make positive deposits in our relationship banks is critical, so that when we need to reach out for help, people won’t hesitate to step up. When we pay attention to our approach, our delivery, and our intentions in our communications with key stakeholders we get quicker results. Instead of picking up the phone or emailing, when possible walk the halls and pop in on your peers and co-workers. Strong leaders plant the seeds of alignment on a daily basis. In a tough economy, we have an opportunity to deepen all of our relationships and reach out to help someone out of work as well. Eventually things will turn around, and they’ll remember who stayed in touch.