Do you have the right leader?

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Tough times make having the correct management all the more vital, says Peter Williams.

Entering phase one of this recession a few years ago, many of us expected more change among retail leaders.

The individual who led the growth and success of a company in the good time is not necessarily well equipped to deal with its downsizing or retrenchment.

But for some reason change didn’t happen on the scale expected. Maybe the non-executives or the owners felt that it was too risky and, of course, the hiring process can be lengthy and does not guarantee business improvement.

Some boards came to regret that decision. Retailers that lost sight of their proposition or failed to react firmly enough to adjust the size of the cost base or the store estate, have undergone some kind of insolvency process to continue their existence, are still struggling, or have disappeared.

If you are the creator of the existing strategy and the leader of an enterprise that is now failing, it is very difficult to have both the courage and objectivity for dramatic change.

That’s why, coming from the outside, turnarounds can be so rewarding – providing of course that one is joining the wounded and not the dying.

Simple, clear, significant strategic improvements can be identified and even implemented quickly. Open debate with the top team and a collective agreement to the action plan are still necessary, but there isn’t the time to continue with that process for too long. Each member of the top team needs to be either on the bus, or off it and working somewhere else.

When Blacks was being auctioned over Christmas, the bidders were rather surprised to find the senior team in relatively positive spirits, despite dire current trading and the public furore over the financial position of the company.

The reason was that we had fashioned a coherent plan to reposition both the Blacks and Millets fascias and re-energise the business through a series of initiatives mainly related to product, store environment and retail disciplines.

The team had something they could believe in. What we lacked was the financial resources – something which, thankfully, under the ownership of JD Sports should not be an issue.

There are leaders who are prospering in these difficult times. Ian Cheshire has quietly led Kingfisher to be a major international force, despite tough economic conditions in its home market.

John Browett, after some dark days with Dixons, has landed a golden retail job at Apple – testament to how UK retail management ranks so high against its worldwide competitors.

When I joined Asos six years ago, Nick Robertson was responsible for a UK business with a turnover of £30m. Now it’s a £500m enterprise selling to virtually every country in the world.

Nick has successfully made that massive step from creating and managing a start-up to leading a significant international business that is innovative even by the standards of the internet.

These successful individuals have a clear sense of their worth to the organisation – what they are good at, but also where they need help.