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Do Not Depend Solely on the Doctor in the House to do the Surgery
By Mike Teng

Many business leaders are good at starting a business or maintaining one that has already
been well established. However, they are not good at fixing a seriously sick business. Avoid bankruptcy by hiring the turnaround experts.

They often do not have the experience, skills, temperament or willingness to do a proper
turnaround. Sometimes, the business leader himself is the hindrance and obstacle to the
entire turnaround process because of past encumbrances and prejudices. An outsider is
quite often required to execute the turnaround.

Most of the time, a troubled company cannot be fixed solely from the within. The
management may harbour too much prejudices, vested interests and baggage. If the
medicine is too bitter, management may not have the guts to swallow it. The company
needs somebody from the outside who is able to say “no” firmly when necessary. If the
internal management is the cause of the internal woes, then the use of internal
management for the turnaround is like using leeches to cure leukaemia. The condition of
the patient will not improve and may deteriorate as time passes by.

An outsider brings some unfair advantages to the turnaround game. You have no
emotional baggage tied to a new dream or a historically interesting but economically
irrelevant service. Nor are you beholden to the big bosses. You can ask dump questions
without looking dumb. One or two of those dumb questions will turn out to be brilliant
ones.

Contrary to expectations, you will find you are accorded loyalty from employees. Other
executives have to work hard to earn this devotion. These employees understand that you
represent their last chance, and that you did not create the problem. They knew that the
business was wobbling off course before the board or owners understood it. With the
right demeanour and without rudeness, the employees will guide you immediately toward
the major problems. Few will hold back if you listen hard. They know that if you really
quiz them and they will lose their jobs anyway, it is less painful for them, since both of
you have tried to salvage the situation.

Turnaround specialists coming from your specific industry are usually quite good. Their
names are familiar in the industry and you can check on the reputation of these specialists.
They also probably already know something about your company.

These specialists can make objective decisions that the ailing company’s management
cannot. Some take on full-time positions within the company as the Chief Executive.
Others may be engaged as consultants with full authority and access to the company’s
accounts. They are there to cover the wound, conduct surgery or resuscitation. Once the
job is done, they move on as these guys may not be the types suited to running a healthy
company. Majority of executives are not suited for a turnaround as this unique situation
demands extraordinary leadership. When these turnaround specialists take over the helm
of the management, they swiftly proceed do the things that the Chief Executive ought to
be doing before the company gets into trouble - restructuring.

When you are afflicted by cancer, see an oncologist and do not rely on your family doctor.

http://www.corporateturnaroundexpert.com

Dr Mike Teng (DBA, MBA, BEng, FIMechE, FIEE, CEng, PEng, FCMI, FCIM, SMCS) is the author of the best-selling business book “Corporate Turnaround: Nursing a sick company back to health”, in 2002. In 2006, he authored another book entitled, “Corporate Wellness: 101 Principles in Turnaround and Transformation.” Dr Teng is widely recognized as a turnaround CEO in Asia by the news media. He has 27 years of experience in corporate responsibilities in the Asia Pacific region. Of these, he held Chief Executive Officer’s positions for 17 years in multi-national, local and publicly listed companies. He led in the successful turnaround of several troubled companies. He is currently the Managing Director of a business advisory firm, Corporate Turnaround Centre Pte Ltd, which assists companies on a fast track to financial performance. Dr Teng was the President of the Marketing Institute of Singapore (2000 - 2004), the national body representing some 5000 individual and corporate marketing professionals in Singapore

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