Explore the challenges of guiding struggling companies, making tough personnel decisions, uncovering fraudulent practices, managing cash flow in consultancy, and resolving family business challenges with a turnaround consultant.
Good business leaders prioritize decisive action over waiting for perfect solutions.
Employee feedback is crucial for identifying key issues and potential cost-saving measures in struggling companies.
Deep dives
Challenging CEOs to Make Tough Decisions
In the podcast episode, it is discussed how CEOs, especially those accustomed to success, struggle to admit when things aren't going well in their companies. The role of a turnaround consultant like Jeff Vogelsang is highlighted, emphasizing the challenge of getting company leadership to make difficult decisions. Vogelsang stresses the importance of choosing the 'least crappy option' to move forward, indicating that good business leaders prioritize decisive action over waiting for perfect solutions.
Insight into Identifying Company Issues
Jeff Vogelsang's approach as a turnaround consultant involves arriving at struggling companies with questions rather than immediate answers. By engaging employees and listening attentively, he uncovers key issues affecting the company's performance. Vogelsang emphasizes the significance of employee feedback in identifying common themes and areas requiring focus, leading to potential cost-saving measures and strategic realignments.
Navigating Personnel Decisions and Handling Stress
In the podcast, Vogelsang delves into the challenging aspect of his role concerning personnel decisions. While not primarily focused on mass layoffs, his work often involves targeted terminations of individuals not fitting the company's direction. The emotional toll of such decisions is acknowledged, highlighting the necessity of maintaining a balance between professional demands and personal life. Vogelsang's transparency about the complexities and stresses of his job offers insights into the critical role of a turnaround consultant in managing difficult situations.
Diagnosing what ails struggling companies, choosing the "least crappy option", and managing constant stress with Jeff Vogelsang, a turnaround consultant. What kind of personality do you need to lead turnarounds? And what does it mean to make someone "available to industry”?
NEW BOOK ALERT! You may be aware that I’ve written or co-written five business books, including The Power of Moments and Made to Stick. I’ve got a sixth book coming out in January called RESET: How to Change What’s Not Working. It’s a book intended to help you and your team get unstuck, to overcome the gravity of the way things have always worked. Learn more about the book or preorder it here.
Got a comment or suggestion for us? You can reach us via email at jobs@whatitslike.com
Want to be on the show? Leave a message on our voice mailbox at (919) 213-0456. We’ll ask you to answer two questions:
What do people think your job is like and what is it actually like?
What’s a word or phrase that only someone from your profession would be likely to know and what does it mean?
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