Anyone have a good learning resource on transition culture at a distressed company post-acquisition?
Feeling pretty good about a distressed co. we just picked up but the culture is seriously fucked because the last owner was not running off a real management structure.
Step #1 - Make sure you have a REALLY GOOD PLAN and muster your courage. Understand that you need to break some eggs to make this omelet. Step #2 - Conspicuously clean break and bathrooms, show respect for the workers Step #3 - Fire an executive and let everyone know there is a new sheriff in town. Don't chicken out, this is critical. Let it be known publicly that Joe wasn't carrying his weight and there's a new standard that we all need to hold ourselves tol. Fire anyone else dragging ass, the more entrenched, the more valuable their head. Step #4 - Give the speech; Change is here, take advantage of it or it will take advantage of you. Step #5 - Double the speed and intensity, start meetings 2 minutes early and lock the door exactly at start time. Come early, stay late, dig deep into every corner of the building. Get everyone off kilter, imbalanced, seeking direction and routine. Step #6 - Drive process and accountability, Let that be the new direction and routine Step #7 - LEAD by example. Raise prices on customers in front of your team, slash costs with your vendors in front of your team, squeeze everything, kick ass, take no shit, demand results.
Step #8 - Identify your stars and love them. They want to succeed, they want the challenge, they want to run up a hill for you. You need to give them a piece of your soul and you'll have their devotion for years.
Be a leader - not a manager.
Good luck. Everything I said above is harsh but it works. That simple formula can make a dead company worth tens or hundreds of millions in 2 years.
I think I love you. Thanks, always on point with the distressed deals. Already doing most of that btw, anywhere specific or a particular book you like on turnarounds/distressed?
Shittiest thing I've found so far with two of the distressed deals I've done is just how much more stressful it is than a normal company. Sounds obvious but good Lord there's always some random bullshit issue dragging down that precious ebitdaddy
Anyone else want to go lift weights after reading that?
Could literally feel my test levels go up by 666
Stealing this. +1SB
let your senior management (that you are probably hiring fresh) dictate the specific culture. The culture described above won’t work in every company. You need discipline but that comes in many forms. Clean bathrooms are a cute idea but ultimately meaningless. We don’t fire “an” executive to make a show, we’ll fire as many as me ne
It’s easier to change people than to change a person
better to cut too deeply at first and have to bulk up than to keep too much dead weight / culture sucks around
it will take about twice as long as you expect which is why moving quickly is so important
Honing in on what you said at the end, definitely doing daily meetings with management has helped keep everyone very accountable and makes it easy to tell who is putting in work and who we can remove without feeling much impact.
Are there any specific books you'd recommend on distressed strategy/management?
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