Reorganization is not for the weak of heart.
It is a tragedy when business turnaround fails and the reorganization is lost. Described in this blog is the mind of CEO when a second chance is on the horizon and the company is coming back from financial destruction, absolute failure and a hopeless situation. Destruction gives way to instruction and Restructure — all hands on deck, and the ship, for the first time in a very long time, stops sinking. When that happens the proverbial demons rise from the sea, and offer new options for the CEO. These options are laced with what could be the “four horsemen”, (Drugs, Alcohol, Unhealthy relationships, Gambling). Old habits, bad habits haunt the new company and lure even the strongest — and if the CEO yields — slowly but surely, things turn back for the worst. This blog is an excerpt from my notes, and it is all to often that the dark side prevails and mediocrity endures, and destiny unfortunately is put on hold, again.
The bummer about my job is watching people hurt themselves. Almost everybody comes with me out of the gate strong and solid. Corporate managers, CEO’s, Owners, CFO’s, CPA’s, everybody is on board. And then the money comes in, and the proverbial ship takes flight again and climbs up as the Phoenix from the ashes. All parties are happy — and then this is where the anomaly happens. The owner gets some ideas of how to make it better, as if everything that happened before, was just a warm up act to this new great idea. And it begins. An owner takes over, and all the troops follow suit.
Great ideas abound, money is talked about with great ego — and it would seem all that has been learned, and all that has been earned, and all that has been yearned for, and most importantly all that has been achieved in the TurnAround man is simply set off to the side and off the company goes back into the oblivion of “I got this, nobody else seems to understand my vision, so I’ll do it myself…”, and so it begins, the ship drifts, the owner/operator sees the new sky as a ray of brilliance when in fact it is not the sky at all — rather it is the reflection of INSOLVENCY waters glistening below as the company is turning towards a heading that is straight back dangerously close to the deep six.
I have watched good people succeed and then throw it all back for nothing more than a short-lived feeling of grandeur. I make no mistake when I say that a second chance happens only one time.
When it’s working, stay with those things that got you up and out of harms way, lest you be romanced by self importance and a flamboyance of self that is more costly than any tax bracket. For those of you who have worked the program, stay with it — don’t let your demons flirt with you — stay the course, no matter what voices you hear in your head. If you choose a different course than the one that has rescued you in your darkest hour, you have chosen the direction of insolvent waters and the demon will allow for you to succeed a long time, until you’ve made enough mistakes that your age, your finances, your family, your connections, and your faith, have all been used up and you’re out, completely dead in the water and it’s too late, the ship rolls over and the blessings of life have been drowned out by your own self.
For those of you who are hoping to find a reorganization solution trust in the Rettig Corporation, save this blog, and read it on the day you decide to take the navigational charts and make an unfortunate adjustment. And then call me 720.662.7668, I am here to help.
