A few weeks ago, I was sharing a walk and a focused “work conversation” with a dear friend. He has been dealing with an emerging issue among the executive team at his company, and we discussed scenarios, alternatives and action plans as we “got our steps in” that sunny afternoon. As the conversation progressed, the situation became clearer and more worrisome to me, the “outside observer.” As I shared some advice (you knew I would have a couple of ideas, ha!) the primary message I was trying to pass along was regardless of scenario… take action NOW and get better prepared to take more action IMMEDIATELY!
This need for a heightened “sense of urgency” was clear to both of us as we finished our walk, and my friend headed out to start taking action that same evening. I won’t divulge any details, but the action steps taken have led to major executive changes, organization realignment and board level communications on the new path forward. A few days ago, this same friend texted over a quote from that reinforced the situation and the path we discussed…. “Once you know there’s a problem, delay only increases the danger” (David Ricks, Chair and CEO Eli Lily).
Across my career, I have been struck by how many times we waited too long to deal with things we knew were a problem. I reflect on individuals who we KNEW weren’t making the grade…. often senior executives whose poor performance not only affected the business but was destructive to the organization/culture broadly. In hindsight in each circumstance…” delay only increased the danger.” None of the situations got better with time… quite the opposite, and just like my friend’s recent challenges you must dive in and get prepared Immediately to take action quickly. It doesn’t just happen on its own…. You must work hard and fast to stop the delay at hand!
This whole situation reminded me of a moment when I worked for The Coca-Cola Company in the mid-1990’s. Business was booming, stock prices rising, and Coke had just been awarded the most admired company two years in a row by Fortune Magazine (1995 & 1996). As a part of the 1996 annual report, our Chairman Roberto Goizueta included a quote from the German poet/novelist/playwright Goethe in his annual letter ( see below.) The focus was on taking action and the specific phrase that stayed with me was “Boldness has genius power and magic in it. Begin it now.” At that moment, in early 1997 there didn’t seem to be any major issues or concerns facing The Coca Cola Company that we couldn’t handle… and in reality, we were on fire! What none of us knew at that moment was that within 18 months Roberto would have passed away, we would proceed through four CEO’s and executive teams in less than 8 years… the stock price would plummet, major layoffs would begin, and in a very short amount of time we all KNEW there were a lot of problems all across the company!
The message of this essay is all about taking action, and not getting comfortable/complacent with delay. I worked at Coke for another eleven years post Roberto’s letter above and worked hard on a myriad of areas that needed real help… all things that “delay” only made worse. I had to work on my own “action orientation” and to be inspired by Goethe’s quote… “begin it now.” I encourage readers of this essay to let these words…”delay on increases the danger” … to really sink in and work hard TODAY to take action where needed immediately!
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