KEY POINTS:
If you're an experienced manager looking at your next career step, the economy's problems might suggest an answer: seek out a turnaround situation where you can truly make a difference.
Executive coach Mark Sutherland, of executivecoaching.co.nz, says some managers have no idea how special their skills are and what good use they can be put to elsewhere.
Credibility is key. You have been very good at what you have done, so people believe you can achieve what you are saying you can achieve, says Sutherland. "You use that credibility power to stamp on the ground and say, 'This is how to do this'."
Before you go for the interview, do the research. "Load yourself up with as much information and learn about everything," he says. And once you are in the hot seat, interview every senior person in the organisation one-on-one.
Then "talk to the janitors, the $14 an hour staff. They will tell you the truth". Consultation with customers should follow, then it's time to shape the management team, put an agenda together and create a strategy.
"A manager in a turnaround situation can't succumb to pressure; you have got to have really strong legs," says the former Olympic rowing coach.
He recommends the book, You're in Charge, Now What?: The Eight Point Plan by Thomas Neff and James Citrin, in which the authors interview a number of high-profile American chief executives about their leadership techniques.
When you are in a new job, you are in a "temporary state of incompetence" says AOL's Jon Miller in the book, yet you are expected to do the most when you know the least.
"Part of bringing about change is you have got to have big balls," says Sutherland. "You are going to upset people, but if you save the company you will make a lot of people happy."
Look for small victories to keep the team and customers motivated, he says.
Take a leaf out of Gordon Ramsay's book. Sometimes people need to be shocked into action. And lead by example. While Ramsay does seem to rather over-react to seeing cockroaches in the kitchen, he does clean his own kitchen three times a day and he looks after his staff better than anyone, says Sutherland.
The executive coach is a strong believer in the emerging workforce of professional executives who are able to take their skills to other organisations.
Ralph Norris is one of them and Auckland school principal Iain Taylor could be another contender in this area. Taylor is this week leaving Gladstone Primary, a decile 8 school in Mt Albert, to be principal at Manurewa Intermediate, which is a decile 1 school.
"If I'm not going to be the one to do it, who else will want to?" he says.
Taylor is dedicating the next five years to turning around the school he attended.
Taylor, 41, has a bit of a reputation in education circles for being a turnaround man. Ponsonby Intermediate, decile 4, was set to close when he came along in 1994. He put in place a plethora of special programmes, a new homeroom system, and went out door-knocking, lobbying for new students. It is now a decile 8 school; the roll, which was 37 when he arrived, is now over 500.
Taylor is a leadership junkie with a plethora of management books on his office shelf. His masters thesis was entitled "Passionate Leadership". But he is well aware that he can't do this turnaround on his own.
"It will work provided I get the right people around me - I'm not a one-man show," he says.
One of the first things Taylor wants to convey at Manurewa Intermediate is that he is earnest about what he is doing, and this is what any manager should do in a change situation.
"I have got to prove that I am there for the right reason, that I am interested in them, that I like them, that I want to be there," he adds.
It will take three years to change attitude and perception and establish systems, and another couple of years to develop quality, he says.
Taylor has one key characteristic which is essential for change managers. "I don't angst about stuff," he says. "I don't shout and scream. I can drive out the driveway and it's over - I work bloody long hours, but I don't take the thoughts of the day home with me."
Turnaround expert Cath Handley, chief executive of Youth Horizons, which helps young people and families with behavioural and mental health problems, is well-known for rescuing Palmers Gardenworld in the 90s and for building up the Ellerslie Flower Show. She has the same ability to disengage as Taylor.
Success as a change manager is to do with your own profile, your own leadership style and your ability to manage stress, says Handley.
Leadership can be learned, she says. "But it can't be tested till you are put in an extraordinarily difficult position and are making difficult calls that are a test of leadership."
There are huge benefits to putting yourself out there and going in and rescuing a company, she says.
Handley generally finds her management team in the organisation.
There's no point in throwing the baby out with the bathwater, she says.
"It is of course possible at most senior levels you will get fallout, because you are imposing a new set of standards which will not work for certain people."
It's not all bad.
Turnaround managers do get good feedback.
It is heartening and understandable because these are people's livelihoods. And people are very loyal to the managers who come and rescue them.
Gill South is a freelance business writer based in Auckland
