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By Dave Anderson

rupt message about standards and miss a prime opportunity to create urgency and focus. The weak links in your organization determine the speed of the rest of the team.

Just as a chain can't pull more than the weakest link allows-regardless of the strength of the other links-your overall production will be compromised by your weak links as well. Weak links lower the collective selfesteem of the whole team. They compromise your standards and impair your credibility as a leader. They are a distraction; they sap morale and break momentum. The team attitude towards weak links normally starts out with "let's help him or her." When no improvement is seen, the attitude changes to resentment. Top performers feel cheapened and diminished working in an environment where others don't pull their weight.

The most devastating weak link in your organization is a bad manager. Bad managers should be given less rope because when a bad manager hangs himself he tends to hang a lot of other good people with him. Use down times as a chance to clean up your roster.

Cut once. If you reduce expenses this month by cutting out free Cokes and bottled water, then two weeks later eliminate company cars, then next month fire the cleaning service. it's like chinese water torture. All it does is continue to distract, demoralize and disrupt. Figure out what you want to cut and get it over with. This includes personnel cuts.

Once you've finished, bring everyone together. Explain what you've done and why. Tell them to put it behind them. Reassure them that everyone and everything that remains has been strengthened by these cuts. Now that they are finished, everyone can focus and get back to work.

Don't develop a loser's limp. Don't blame outside conditions to escape responsibility for your current ills. A downturn always exposes the sins of the good times. These past record years in our economy have created their share of fat, arrogant, complacent know-it-allswho never thought they'd see another poor day. They stopped training hard and making tough decisions and changes. They became averse to risk, maintained rather than stretched, and turned a blind eye to poor performers because business, overall, was good.

Until you and the other managers accept that the biggest threat to your organization comes from the inside and not the outside, you will continue to misdiagnose and mistreat your most serious problems. Typical ones include: lack of leadership, hiring standards. performance expectations. accountability, a cohesive leadership team at the top, vision, strategy, urgency, people-development and a growth environment. These are the inside threats you must go to work to eliminate day-in and day-out.

. Stay positive. Management will multiply the damage and compound morale problems if they tenorize people with threats. excessive criticism and lousy attitudes during slow times. Remember what good coaching is: leading from the front with plenty of speedy, positive reinforcement for worthy performances. A good coach uses honest communication to encourage, motivate, listen and direct. Good coaches give fast feedback and consequences for deficient performances.

. Stay focused on the big picture and remember foremost that the best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining. When better times return it's not a license to coast, become complacent and think you've arrived. Instead it's the best time to train, coach, clean up your roster, set standards that create urgency, make the tough decisions, implement necessary changes, take risks and lead from the front. If these things are done when things are rolling people will stay sharp and focused. Let them know there's still room to improve. When business starts to pick up again, develop a mindset to run up the score rather than sit on the ball.

A peak performance trainer and speaker, Mr. Anderson is the author of No-Nonsense Leadership: Real World Strategies to Maximize Personal and Corporate Potential. For more information. s e e www. lertrntole ad. c om.

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