Nobody sees you swimming naked until the tide goes out

Business has become much tougher.

Cash flow is tighter. Margins are under pressure. Customers are taking longer to pay and decisions that could be avoided two years ago can no longer wait.
It's at times like these that business partnerships are truly tested.

When you started the business together, nobody expected a fallout. You were excited, optimistic and convinced you'd build something great. The roles felt balanced, the energy was there and the future looked bright.  This is usuallythe case with previous colleagues, friends or even family.

Then the tide went out.

As Warren Buffett famously said, "You only find out who's swimming naked when the tide goes out."

When business is booming, it's surprisingly easy for differences in contribution, ambition and accountability to go unnoticed and/ or not dealt with. Success has a habit of masking problems that become impossible to ignore when the pressure is on.

The best businesses and leaders don't wait for the pressure.

They have regular one-to-ones between directors. They challenge each other, review performance, talk honestly about contribution and hold each other accountable long before resentment has chance to build. Just because someone owns shares doesn't mean they shouldn't receive honest feedback about how they're performing.

When cash becomes tight, however, those conversations become unavoidable.

Is your fellow director bringing the same energy they did five or even two years ago?

Are they still prepared to make difficult decisions?

Are they contributing to solving problems or quietly becoming one?

I've seen too many businesses where one director is carrying the weight while the other has mentally checked out or is no longer the right fit. The frustration doesn't come from one bad month. It comes from months, sometimes years, of avoiding the conversation.

If that conversation doesn't change anything, remember that you're not just dealing with a Director. You're dealing with an employee as well.

Those are two very different hats, and both need addressing. Someone can remain a shareholder while no longer being the right person to fulfil an operational leadership role, so they need dealing with separately. Too many businesses avoid taking action because they think it will be impossible to unpick.

Loyalty has its place for sure.

But loyalty should never come at the expense of the business, the people who work in it or the customers who rely on it. You have a responsibility to protect the future of the business, not be loyal to those that are no longer serving the business.

The tide has already gone out for some and the sight isn’t great.

The question is whether you're prepared to have the conversation before the business pays the price.

When I work with clients running their management meetings, it quickly becomes apparent when there is a mismatch in energy, effort and focus.  Mostly we can get alignment and be back on track with a clear vision and a strategy to achieve it.  

An independent voice changes the dynamic. It allows difficult conversations to happen, assumptions to be challenged and decisions to be made that might otherwise be avoided.

But sometimes, it’s already too late and the issue needs dealing with before it gets to that point.

If your fellow director applied for their job today, based on the contribution they're making right now, would you recruit them?

No?  Then why are they still part of the team?

If you and your leadership team are not having the conversations that need to be had, perhaps it's time someone independent was sitting around the table?