The Crisis Turnaround: Lead Through Crisis and Position Your Company for Strength
Jeff Hilimire
Ripples of Hope Publishing (2020)

The Chinese character for “crisis’ has two meanings: “peril” and “opportunity.”

This is the second of four volumes in the Turnaround Leadership” series; the other three focus on turning around  an organization (2019), a great team (2021), and a workplace culture (2022). I highly recommend all of them. For reasons that are best explained by Jeff Hilimire, the order of publication has little (if any) relevance to the timeline of the business narrative he develops.

He suggests this order when tracking his story’s timeline: The Culture Turnaround, The Crisis Turnaround, The 5-Day Turnaround, and then The Great Team Turnaround. He is a superb raconteur, anchoring key business concepts within real-world situations, no doubt based on their wide and deep experiences. The protagonist (Will)  and colleagues as well as his company and its board members are fictitious, but almost all of those who read this book can readily identify with the issues to be addressed, the questions to be answered, and the conflicts to be resolved.  The Chinese character for “crisis’ has two meanings: “peril” and “opportunity.” Long ago, I concluded that a crisis does not develop qualities of character, it REVEALS them. That’s true of individuals and it’s also true of organizations.

This book has two authors and one narrator, Will, among its cast of characters.  If the company he heads continues on its current course he will lose his job and the company will be acquired by another. My objective is not to provide a plot synopsis. Details are best revealed by Hilimire  in context, within a frame of reference.  My purpose, rather, is to suggest why the material in this book could be of substantial value to C-level executives (or their equivalent) as well as to those who aspire to become one. Also, to anyone who enjoys reading a good story, whatever its subject may be.

Whatever their size and nature may be, all organizations need effective leadership at all levels and within all areas of the given enterprise. It is no coincidence that companies annually ranked among those most highly admired and best to work for are also annually ranked among those moszt profitable, with the greatest cap value in their industry segment.

Consider this brief excerpt from Lao-tse’s Tao Te Ching:

In this volume and in the other three of the “Turnaround” series, Jeff Hilimire provides an abundance of valuable inf0rmation, insights, and counsel that can help almost anyone to make better decisions and execute better solutions when  rsponding to a challenge before it becomes a crisis. True, some crises occur unannounced and often when there are other issues that must also be addressed. In that event, remember the point earlier that  the Chinese character for “crisis’ has two meanings: “peril” and “opportunity.” Especially when facing  a major crisis, it can be a gtreat opportunioty for both individuals and for their organization to shine, to make a best effort, to differentiate themselves from their competition.

While you are reading this book, I suggest that you highlight key passages, and, record your own comments, questions, action steps (preferably with deadlines), and page references as well as your responses to questions evoked and to lessons you have learned. Pay close attention to the “plot” developments as well as to key points strategically inserted throughout the narrative. These two simple tactics — highlighting and documenting — will facilitate, indeed expedite frequent reviews of the most important material later.