When the going gets tough ....

...... the tough ask for help, or they should do.

Having steered a large group through the painful experience of an administration process in 2018 I realise more than most how a crisis can temporarily paralyse people in an organisation.

A whole mix of emotions and behaviours can prevent otherwise capable staff from focusing on a range of key steps that will help them emerge unscathed.

I’m afraid that the expression ‘when the going gets tough, the tough get going’ is but a part of any solution. I’ve seen otherwise honourable people display traits that under normal circumstances they’d be thoroughly embarrassed or ashamed about.

Those behaviours can also cascade down to a company’s suppliers like banks where common sense is replaced by self-preservation and achieving ratio targets. In one instance our lawyers, save for the fact they didn’t want a public spat, wanted to sue another professional organisation at the centre of the administration process.  

Since starting our new consultancy in the December of 2018, when fair to say on the back 9 of my career, I’ve learned not to get agitated when someone describes me personally of having too much experience. Whilst I’m not sure the term ‘there’s no substitute for experience’ is entirely correct, it certainly helps those who haven’t really managed through a crisis before.

Am I currently scared for my own business, I'm of course concerned, do I have unlimited business or personal reserves, I do not. What I do have though is a set of tools and experiences that hopefully mean I can navigate the current crisis for Peppiatt & Williams and indeed help some of our clients do likewise.

In response to a question about my determination a friend once responded “if I collapse on a mountain in the middle of nowhere I hope Tim is standing right beside me”. Very kind of them to say but it didn’t stop me having to visit a dark place whilst fighting for my 200 staff in 2018. I can only hope my / our experience can help others to avoid the same journey.

I’m not given to Biblical references normally but ‘ask and you shall receive’. We’re here to help and not everybody will be invoiced for that help.