Taking over

[LPTiger 5,202]

This post is about becoming the head of and taking over a large and important business unit/organization. Please forgive the length of the post.    In 2011 I was hired by an S&P500 financial institution to oversee its legal department.   The department had about 100 employees and had been without a leader for over a year.   In AU's case, the football team has been without a leader for 2 plus years.   The first thing I wanted to do was familiarize myself with the 100 employees and figure out who was critical to mission success, who could be good role players and who likely needed another job.   Fortunately, after many one on one meetings, observations and interactions, I found that just about all were very committed and competent.  At the same time, I also needed to figure out what they needed FROM ME to make them a better lawyer, paralegal, staff member, etc.   I'll be honest, I thought I was really good at this kind of stuff,  but that process took much longer than I expected.  I shifted some responsibilities and made some other changes, but what I learned was that my team really just needed someone who believed in them and had their back -- no matter what.   They simply needed  support. The prior manager was so afraid of making a mistake he basically told the department to not make any decisions -- just kinda hang out in the shadows, put your mind in neutral.   Once I took over I told them we are going to call balls and strikes.  We are going to make our opinions known and we are going to be a driving force behind our banks success.  I think CHF is trying to figure out what our team and specifically our QB needs from him...   Remember he had to tape the players names on their helmets just a few weeks ago. The names tell you something but not how to get the best out of them.  Like my law department, AU football is a massive organization.  CHF is still figuring out who does what and how to make everyone a cog to AU's success. He is still trying to figure out who, out of 40 plus newcomers, deserves a bigger role.     I'm crazy about AU football yet I need to remember to give CHF a little grace and realize the dire situation he was brought into.   He will figure it out, and we just need to be supportive along the journey.   Just my 2 cents.  

[AUINSY 2,228]

Good perspective! I wish you’d come into my workplace and straighten things up too! WDE

[TigerHorn 1,354]

Great analogy! But paragraphs are your friend. 😁

I took over a failing division of a large international conglomerate a few years back, so your experience resonates. It was a freestanding entity that had a completely broken management team. One of the guys who stayed through it, a VP, would later confide that "It took me several months to get used to working with an ethical CEO".

Your post brought back a lot of those memories, and my trial might be even more reflective of what CHF took over, in that the prior CEO made almost all decisions without consulting anyone, and then just rolled them out by surprise at the 11th hour. He was very detached, as we have heard CBH was. It takes a while to right a ship like that, and neither you or I had to deal with NCAA limits on how much time we could spend with our people, which must make things 10x harder. On top of all that, CHF has 40-odd "new employees" to work with, and lost a chunk of his experienced leadership to boot. 

I really don't think we can get things fully together until maybe LSU or so. It would be great to make enough progress to go into College Station and steal one in two weeks, but that will be a herculean task. If CHF even pulls that one off, he's a candidate for SEC CoY. I do think we should progress enough to take the next four after LSU though, if we have what we think we have in Jimmies and Joes. 

[AURex 2,054]

2 hours ago, LPTiger said:

This post is about becoming the head of and taking over a large and important business unit/organization. Please forgive the length of the post.    In 2011 I was hired by an S&P500 financial institution to oversee its legal department.   The department had about 100 employees and had been without a leader for over a year.   In AU's case, the football team has been without a leader for 2 plus years.   The first thing I wanted to do was familiarize myself with the 100 employees and figure out who was critical to mission success, who could be good role players and who likely needed another job.   Fortunately, after many one on one meetings, observations and interactions, I found that just about all were very committed and competent.  At the same time, I also needed to figure out what they needed FROM ME to make them a better lawyer, paralegal, staff member, etc.   I'll be honest, I thought I was really good at this kind of stuff,  but that process took much longer than I expected.  I shifted some responsibilities and made some other changes, but what I learned was that my team really just needed someone who believed in them and had their back -- no matter what.   They simply needed  support. The prior manager was so afraid of making a mistake he basically told the department to not make any decisions -- just kinda hang out in the shadows, put your mind in neutral.   Once I took over I told them we are going to call balls and strikes.  We are going to make our opinions known and we are going to be a driving force behind our banks success.  I think CHF is trying to figure out what our team and specifically our QB needs from him...   Remember he had to tape the players names on their helmets just a few weeks ago. The names tell you something but not how to get the best out of them.  Like my law department, AU football is a massive organization.  CHF is still figuring out who does what and how to make everyone a cog to AU's success. He is still trying to figure out who, out of 40 plus newcomers, deserves a bigger role.     I'm crazy about AU football yet I need to remember to give CHF a little grace and realize the dire situation he was brought into.   He will figure it out, and we just need to be supportive along the journey.   Just my 2 cents.  

Sorry, but this is 10 gazillion words with no paragraphs, no coherence, just run-on. I'd love to know what you have to write, but have no patience for this. Sorry.

 

[lost 452]

A common goal has a way of pulling teams together. Find that specific igniter and it will set aflame the passion and determination to succeed. 
For many teams it has been some sort of adversity, or an inner challenge. Some faced doubt or such as AU , a time of poor leadership and a glimpse of Hope Caddie brought. 
 

AU needs to rally as a team behind what Freeze has brought. There are a lot of different circumstances represented with all the transfers in, and young freshmen and the few that remained after Harsin. But if they can find that certain something this could be a very special season. 
 

[augolf1716 21,434]

8 hours ago, AURex said:

Sorry, but this is 10 gazillion words with no paragraphs, no coherence, just run-on. I'd love to know what you have to write, but have no patience for this. Sorry.

 

But you have the time to post the same complaint a second time for all of us to read. Once is enough....

[bigbird 60,580]

14 minutes ago, augolf1716 said:

But you have the time to post the same complaint a second time for all of us to read. Once is enough....

More than... 

[augolf1716 21,434]

38 minutes ago, bigbird said:

More than... 

numnuts is mispelled.......get it

[bigbird 60,580]

3 hours ago, augolf1716 said:

numnuts is mispelled.......get it

Not often, why do you ask? 

[TexasTiger 13,136]

13 hours ago, AURex said:

Sorry, but this is 10 gazillion words with no paragraphs, no coherence, just run-on. I'd love to know what you have to write, but have no patience for this. Sorry.

 

Maybe it’s just me, but you don’t sound truly sorry.

[augolf1716 21,434]

1 hour ago, bigbird said:

Not often, why do you ask? 

I forgot numnuts

[Viper 3,139]

16 hours ago, TigerHorn said:

paragraphs are your friend.

^^^ THIS ^^^

[tbone4jc 2,241]

18 hours ago, LPTiger said:

This post is about becoming the head of and taking over a large and important business unit/organization. Please forgive the length of the post.    In 2011 I was hired by an S&P500 financial institution to oversee its legal department.   The department had about 100 employees and had been without a leader for over a year.   In AU's case, the football team has been without a leader for 2 plus years.   The first thing I wanted to do was familiarize myself with the 100 employees and figure out who was critical to mission success, who could be good role players and who likely needed another job.   Fortunately, after many one on one meetings, observations and interactions, I found that just about all were very committed and competent.  At the same time, I also needed to figure out what they needed FROM ME to make them a better lawyer, paralegal, staff member, etc.   I'll be honest, I thought I was really good at this kind of stuff,  but that process took much longer than I expected.  I shifted some responsibilities and made some other changes, but what I learned was that my team really just needed someone who believed in them and had their back -- no matter what.   They simply needed  support. The prior manager was so afraid of making a mistake he basically told the department to not make any decisions -- just kinda hang out in the shadows, put your mind in neutral.   Once I took over I told them we are going to call balls and strikes.  We are going to make our opinions known and we are going to be a driving force behind our banks success.  I think CHF is trying to figure out what our team and specifically our QB needs from him...   Remember he had to tape the players names on their helmets just a few weeks ago. The names tell you something but not how to get the best out of them.  Like my law department, AU football is a massive organization.  CHF is still figuring out who does what and how to make everyone a cog to AU's success. He is still trying to figure out who, out of 40 plus newcomers, deserves a bigger role.     I'm crazy about AU football yet I need to remember to give CHF a little grace and realize the dire situation he was brought into.   He will figure it out, and we just need to be supportive along the journey.   Just my 2 cents.  

Great post!!

16 hours ago, AURex said:

Sorry, but this is 10 gazillion words with no paragraphs, no coherence, just run-on. I'd love to know what you have to write, but have no patience for this. Sorry.

 

 

1 hour ago, Viper said:

^^^ THIS ^^^

Some people just have to find anything to complain about! This is a sports forum not English 101. 

Edited September 14, 2023 by tbone4jc

[Viper 3,139]

19 minutes ago, tbone4jc said:

Some people just have to find anything to complain about! This is a sports forum not English 101. 

No paragraphs makes anyone’s writings a very difficult read.  

[tbone4jc 2,241]

12 minutes ago, Viper said:

No paragraphs makes anyone’s writings a very difficult read.  

Is that a proper sentence?😆🤣😂. Just messing with ya!

[JerryAU 1,694]

Are we okay to question the coach's decision making on player personnel or not?  

I see this particular thread begging for patience with the new staff, new players, new schemes, new language, etc.  Then I see posts that straight up dislike the QB shuffle the coaches are implementing and suggesting this offense is Gus 2.0 with the predictable & scripted play calling. 

[Hank2020 3,225]

17 hours ago, AURex said:

Sorry, but this is 10 gazillion words with no paragraphs, no coherence, just run-on. I'd love to know what you have to write, but have no patience for this. Sorry.

 

I think you are correct. You absolutely have no patience, it’s about equal to your tact, Lol

[LPTiger 5,202]

18 hours ago, AURex said:

Sorry, but this is 10 gazillion words with no paragraphs, no coherence, just run-on. I'd love to know what you have to write, but have no patience for this. Sorry.

 

Rex, my contract negotiations with AUFamily were both extremely short and fairly contentious.   My first proposal consisted of a hourly rate of $750/hr (and full benefits including a company car, 100 hours per year of private jet travel, a paid membership at Augusta and daily chocolate covered strawberries delivered before 7:30AM) for content production that would be succinct, properly paragraphed, coherent and tightly wound together.   AUFamily's first and last proposal was "we will pay you nothing and you will like it" --  although Bird did offer me a sack of partially consumed seeds and Golf offered a broken shaft persimmon headed 7 wood.    Now, if you want to step up and shell out some dough, I can adhere to any reasonable restrictions.   If not, sorry my man I'm just going to keep making you upset.   Seriously, point taken.   I'll try to do better.  

[LPTiger 5,202]

20 hours ago, TigerHorn said:

 

I took over a failing division of a large international conglomerate a few years back, so your experience resonates. It was a freestanding entity that had a completely broken management team. One of the guys who stayed through it, a VP, would later confide that "It took me several months to get used to working with an ethical CEO".

Your post brought back a lot of those memories, and my trial might be even more reflective of what CHF took over, in that the prior CEO made almost all decisions without consulting anyone, and then just rolled them out by surprise at the 11th hour. He was very detached, as we have heard CBH was. It takes a while to right a ship like that, and neither you or I had to deal with NCAA limits on how much time we could spend with our people, which must make things 10x harder. On top of all that, CHF has 40-odd "new employees" to work with, and lost a chunk of his experienced leadership to boot. 

 

So how long did not take you to turn it around?   A company run without ethics is a company doomed to failure at some point.

[augolf1716 21,434]

20 minutes ago, LPTiger said:

although Bird did offer me a sack of partially consumed seeds and Golf offered a broken shaft persimmon headed 7 wood.

In my younger days I loved my Powerbilt persimmon driver, 3 wood and 5 wood but never a 7 wood

[Potatooooooes!! 1,375]

25 minutes ago, LPTiger said:

Rex, my contract negotiations with AUFamily were both extremely short and fairly contentious.   My first proposal consisted of a hourly rate of $750/hr (and full benefits including a company car, 100 hours per year of private jet travel, a paid membership at Augusta and daily chocolate covered strawberries delivered before 7:30AM) for content production that would be succinct, properly paragraphed, coherent and tightly wound together.   AUFamily's first and last proposal was "we will pay you nothing and you will like it" --  although Bird did offer me a sack of partially consumed seeds and Golf offered a broken shaft persimmon headed 7 wood.    Now, if you want to step up and shell out some dough, I can adhere to any reasonable restrictions.   If not, sorry my man I'm just going to keep making you upset.   Seriously, point taken.   I'll try to do better.  

If you do better I'm going to be pissed

[LPTiger 5,202]

47 minutes ago, augolf1716 said:

In my younger days I loved my Powerbilt persimmon driver, 3 wood and 5 wood but never a 7 wood

I figured that might cause a response.....

[AU Tytrocious 24]

21 hours ago, AURex said:

Sorry, but this is 10 gazillion words with no paragraphs, no coherence, just run-on. I'd love to know what you have to write, but have no patience for this. Sorry.

 

My favorite part was the unnecessary deep dive in his personal history for the first half. I hung in there to see how it tied into auburn football and I’ll just say you didn’t miss much. I think you’ve gotta follow the Wadsworth constant for a post like this. 

[TigerHorn 1,354]

3 hours ago, LPTiger said:

So how long did not take you to turn it around?   A company run without ethics is a company doomed to failure at some point.

Within 11 months, I had cash flow+, first three months in the company's history. We had a turnaround plan centered around an attractive acquisition that we could have bought with their own cash flow. The other company's CEO and I hit it off, and the plan was for him to be the strategic vision guy for product and brand, while I would run the overall business and get things made, delivered, etc. Well, COVID hit in the midst of a leadership transition at our parent company, which promptly panicked, and set out, axes in hand, to cut expenses $3B worldwide. Our modest little turnaround plan was a rounding error.

The acquisition target got PE backing eventually, carried out the original CEO's vision that I was onboard with, and now is 5x their original size. I wound down the division at the end of '21. And managed to pull that off 35% under budget, mostly by selling more stuff than they thought I could and negotiating better exit deals with suppliers & creditors. 😟 I got them to take a portion of the budget underrun and use it for severance for the remaining staff. They hadn't planned to give any, but that's an Asian (non-Japanese) company for you. 

[AUbritt 611]

3 hours ago, augolf1716 said:

In my younger days I loved my Powerbilt persimmon driver, 3 wood and 5 wood but never a 7 wood

Golf in his younger days....

Edited September 15, 2023 by AUbritt