Six Ways to Slow Down Smart

By: Christine CanabouWed Dec 19, 2007 at 9:14 AM

How do people accustomed to life in the fast lane handle slower times -- and prepare for the next cycle of growth? Grab a cup of decaf and read through this advice.

Joe Grimaldi

President and CEO
Mullen
Wenham, Massachusetts

I once took a Skip Barber race-car-driving class. I don't race cars, but I walked away from the course with an extremely useful insight: You've got to slow down to go fast. Racing is all about the turns. You must know when to brake on the turns, so you can maintain control, and when to accelerate out of the turns, so you can go full speed on the straightaway. It's all about pacing. Right now, we're taking a pit stop to get prepared for the long stretch.

I obsess about one thing today: talent. Do we have the best team in place to come out of the turn rapidly? Do we have the best person for every single job within the company? Now is the time to upgrade talent. Even companies that have gone through layoffs are hiring people through the backdoor, because finding truly outstanding people is difficult. We will turn rapidly if we have the right talent working together in an energized environment.

So how do you stay charged up in tough times? You must have a clear vision of your company's purpose in life. I'm not talking about some lofty, far-flung cause. I'm talking about culture. Right now is a good time to invest in your culture, because talented people aren't just looking for stability; they're looking for a sensibility. Having a cause means making your people think your company is worth their time and their energy. A cause keeps people focused, especially if senior managers carry that cause through the organization and live it themselves. Still, despite your best efforts, passion will only come from about 70% of the organization, at best. The others will never get it.

The reality is that I can't guarantee anybody else's job any more than I can guarantee my own. We're all in the same situation. We're all dealing with challenges, but I'm nowhere near the verge of slitting my wrists. In fact, I've never felt more calm and assured of what I'm doing.

Joe Grimaldi (joe.grimaldi@mullen.com) joined Mullen in 1982 as the director of client services. With billings of $620 million today, Mullen was recently ranked the 31st-largest agency in the United States by Ad Age. Before joining Mullen, Grimaldi was a management supervisor at Hill Holiday. In 1975, he began his advertising career as a media planner at Benton & Bowles.

Patrick Lencioni

Founder and president
The Table Group Inc.
Emeryville, California

There are three groups of people in today's economy: the people who got laid off and are forced to slow down, the people who are employed and choose to slow down, and the people who are employed and are too frenetic to slow down. And frankly, between the former and the latter, the jobless are far better off mentally than the frantic folks spinning their wheels in companies. The people who know how to get a grip now will get ahead later, when the economy turns around.

Sanity is smart. So for the employed, here's my advice: Jump off the adrenaline bandwagon and get yourself and your organization healthy again. For starters, spend time investing in training and development. You can't afford not to. When things get crazy again, you will turn your attention to more urgent matters. It's also a great time to hold an off-site and delve into some high-level strategic planning.

There are also stupid ways to slow down. In the off-season, sometimes the most results-oriented companies fear that their employees are going to screw around, because they have less work, and so they start to overmanage their employees' work hours. Bad idea. Rather, companies should encourage flexibility so that people can relax. Along those lines, managers should work people smarter, not harder. Times are tough; don't make them tougher for people. Another thing to avoid is delusional optimism. Don't expect the economy to turn on a dime. Don't take financial risks. And don't encourage employees to stay if they don't want to stay.

In the end, the art of slowing down smart is about one thing: confidence.

Patrick Lencioni (pat@tablegroup.com) founded the Table Group Inc., a management-consulting firm that specializes in organization and executive development, in 1997. Previously, he was the vice president of organization development and communication at Sybase. Lencioni is the author of The Five Temptations of a CEO: A Leadership Fable (Jossey-Bass, 1998) and Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: The Four Disciplines at the Heart of Making Any Organization World Class (Jossey-Bass, 2000).