3. Get a plan early on

One of the first things you need to do when leading a turnaround opportunity is to get a plan in place early on.

Preparation for a company turnaround begins long before day one, but one of the most important things you need to start with is pulling together a plan and making sure that everyone is aligned on it.?

Getting a plan in place has a range of benefits, both for your term as a CEO and the success of the turnaround.?

Quite simply – without a plan, you don’t know where you’re going.

Done is better than perfect

An effective plan is a priority, but any plan is better than no plan.

In my experience, a plan needs to be in place regardless of how prepared you are. Ideally, you would want both, but if you don’t know all the problems within a company, or who might be best fit for the various roles, then at least get a plan in place so that you have something to work with.

There needs to be at least a ‘storyboard’ or a narrative of how you are going to transform the company.

A mistake is to allow a vacuum and to let things drift. This means there is no clarity or certainty in your new tenure, something that is needed to align all colleagues with clear goals in mind.?

Companies are often failing for this very reason – they have no clear plan in place, and the disorganisation of management and the company is what has brought the company into disarray. A new CEO without a plan has no hope of changing anything.

Get a plan in place, even if it’s just for 6 or 9 months. You can always adapt the plan after.

Reassurance

A great byproduct of getting a plan in place is the reassurance it provides.

A company going through a turnaround is likely to be full of anxious colleagues and stakeholders, often accompanied by a lack of transparency and direction.

Your role as a CEO tasked with turning the company around is to provide reassurance, and a clear plan will allow early communication and collaboration with all colleagues.

Getting a plan in place serves as a beacon for everyone to follow, which immediately opens communication lines, and makes things like moving colleagues on a much easier ordeal, as there is a clear objective in mind.

Furthermore, even the most talented CEO cannot see everything at all times. A plan will ensure that colleagues can make the right decisions when you are not there, as unforeseen challenges will inevitably crop up.?

A plan also democratises everything and creates a plan that nobody is above.

It will position your role as a CEO as being leadership with integrity, instead of tyranny, and will create transparency from day one.