"Gut Wrenching"

A&O&B works with all parties involved in yesterday's huge transactions and so all of us have been busy counselling buyers, sellers, executives, employees, all longtime coworkers at broadcast groups, radio stations and networks we have come to love and admire.

Mergers and acquisitions require adaptability and change.  Mark L. Feldman and Michael F. Spratt wrote the book on the subject back in 1998. 

"Increasingly, the companies that win are those that learn faster, act quicker and adapt sooner. They will compress time by making and executing early, informed decisions about economic value creation, ruthless prioritization and focused resource allocation. They will use these decisions to take early firm stands on management deployment, organization structure and culture. Their actions will increasingly be linked to long-term, sustained economic value creation."

As someone who manages or works for one of those companies, you know intellectually the truth of of that paragraph, yet your individual needs and fears add relationships and emotion to the personal calculus which can work against getting what needs doing done.

I have another time-tested book I recommend that everyone read at least once a year which helps me with that process.  @ParachuteGuy Richard Nelson Bolles is now semi-retired, but his work goes on as the need is greater than ever.

Recent graduate of Villanova Law School Andrew Dellaripa blogs that it's important to be cautious about giving advice in situations like this:  "Good advice sticks to your very soul. The kind of advice Obi-Wan’s ghost gives.  Bad advice, though, is outdated, archaic clichés pulled from large-font posters of cats in baskets."

So, I'll go light on advice for you except to suggest that this weekend is a great time to think about your own personal goals, abilities and career.

The clearer you are on what makes you succeed the better communicator you'll be when that new leader you'll be working for begins opening up about your new role.

If you need a mentor to help with this process please reach out to any of the A&O&B team.

Your success is our success.