Get the right people on the bus

Over the past 3 years I have watched with dismay the demise of a number of successful household named organisations. Some of these have been clients of mine in the past.

So what is the problem? Investors, including the city or VCs decide that the profits are not good enough so they change the CEO and or top team. They parachute in somebody with a reputation from outside the business or even the industry and they proceed to mess it up. How does it happen? Here is my take on it.

Creating success in one business does not mean that the model can be transferred directly to another. The context and culture will be different and the 'success' model may not fit or work. Profits decline and the CEO is changed once again and then costs are slashed, the culture destroyed and profits end up half of what they were in the first place.

You need to have someone running the business who really understands it and has a passion for it. This cannot be replaced by whizzo's with a Harvard MBA or track record with a completely different business. If you make the wrong hiring decision then the business can be screwed.

Very sad to see once great businesses on their knees. So make sure you get the right people on the bus......