BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES!! by Peter Wendel, Peter Wendel Group March 2008 | Buffalo, New York
Recommend this article More Articles by Peter Wendel

Here on the Great Lakes, lake freighters move between Duluth. Milwaukee and Chicago to Buffalo and Cleveland - and ports in between - carrying bulk cargo: iron ore, limestone, coal, grain, etc.

Those freighters, and many ocean going ships, have huge openings, called hatches, through which their cargo is loaded and unloaded. These hatches are covered when the ships are 'at sea' to keep sea (or lake) water from entering the ship's hold. If they leak or become uncovered and enough water enters the hold, the ships can capsize and sink.

When these hatches are closed and watertight, they are 'battened down' - hence the old nautical phrase 'batten down the hatches.'

Economists are telling us that our business world is entering a storm - their words are recession, inflation and stagflation. Is it time for businesses to 'batten down their hatches?'

Freighters seldom have the option of heading for port. They have to stay at sea and weather the storm. Businesses can't close up and 'wait for things to blow over.' They have to do their equivalent of battening down their hatches and keep going - recession or no recession.

Those who do best in these challenging times will be those who are prepared. What does being 'prepared' mean?

First, there must be commitment to reaching their destination. They stay on course, continuing to move toward their next port. This is their vision of the future they want to create - regardless of the conditions. Your company needs a vision of the future it wants to create.

Second, there must be alignment of the crew members with the vision, the commitment (and competence) to work together to achieve it. Those who are not committed must be left in port.  To quote James Collins in Good to Great you must have 'The right people on the bus, wrong people off' and the right people in the right seats.

The captain must have a leadership team made up of people who share the passion and have the competence to perform their duties without on-going supervision. She can't be on the bridge 24/7. Team members must work together like a 'well oiled clock.' Likewise, the CEO of the company can't be everywhere at once. You company needs a strong leadership team.

Conditions at sea change - often rapidly. Your business climate changes, too. In both instances there must be free and open communication built into the culture in order to share information, anticipate and recognize changing conditions and respond to new challenges quickly and effectively.

And the ship must be strong and powerful enough to withstand the forces of the storm. Similarly, your organization must be strong enough to survive changing conditions. You must have built systems that support, align, reinforce and magnify the work of your people in order to overcome the challenges you will face to achieve your vision

How is your company doing? Are you prepared for a challenging, uncertain future? Here's what you can do:

• Identify a shared vision of the future you want to create.
• Build alignment among your people so they are enthusiastically committed to achieve that vision.
• Build a strong, cohesive leadership team and have the 'right people in the right seats.'
• Develop free and open communications throughout the company so that you are capable of responding quickly and effectively to changing conditions.
• Develop systems that support your people.

As you anticipate the predicted recession, you have a range of choices:

You can pull back, hunker down, get conservative - like the ship retreating to port until the storm passes. That's not what 'Batten down your hatches' means!

You can move ahead, doing what you've been doing, hoping that what got you here is good enough to get you there.

Or you can 'batten down the hatches' - refocus on your vision, strengthen your leadership team, develop your staff, create an open culture and develop systems that support your people.

The choice is yours. You can hang on, 'playing to not lose' or you can choose the future you want to create and take bold steps, moving into the unknown world of opportunities.

Peter Wendel is President of Peter Wendel Group (Buffalo, New York) an organizational consulting firm dedicated to building high performance organization that are able to prosper and grow in these rapidly changing times by offering succession planning, strategic thinking, team building and leadership development services. He blends a passion for organizations and people with a lifetime of experience both as a business leader/manager and an accomplished consultant.

The Peter Wendel Group specializes in succession planning, building on three elements:

1. Building a strong sustainable organization in which people are aligned toward achieving a shared vision and are in positions that build on their personal strengths and aspirations.
2. Developing a cadre of people who have the vision, passion, talent and skills to become the ‘next generation’ of leaders.
3. Helping the current leaders prepare to make the ‘Grand Transition’ from work into what I call ‘the third phase’ of their lives.

Email: pkwendel@aol.com
Company Profile: Peter Wendel Group
Company URL: http://www.peterwendelgroup.com

Back to Columns page