For 2021, Risk-Taking Is the Answer

Editor’s note: This piece is part of our Columnist Network series, which explores the tactical thoughts and actions from Adweek’s community of high-level experts. Today, John French, CEO of French LLC, wants media companies to be bold and daring in 2021. Below, in his own words, he shares his advice and experience with navigating times of transition. The challenge Imagine you are the CEO. You call the shots—well, as much as your board and lenders let you. You've managed your company through one of the greatest, if not the greatest, disruptions in business history, outside of wars and natural disasters. You're feeling pretty good. But pandemic patience is wearing thin. Private equity owners, lenders and the board are getting restless. Unease is creeping into that "we'll get through this together" attitude. You're beating your Q1 budget, but we all know that was written and approved light-years ago in the fourth quarter of 2020. Those numbers are an easy layup; it's the following quarters that have you worried. What the hell do you do now? The process Be bold! It may seem counterintuitive, but you have more freedom right now to think outside your own comfort zone—maybe more freedom than ever. Look at it this way: If you are successful, you and your company will reap the benefits. If not, you may get dinged by your board, but you took action. You and your management group can take pride in trying something new. Plus, what is failure here? If a plan is carefully thought out and executed, you can mitigate the downsides. Passive, survivalist management will get crushed in the coming year. It's your job to be different and creative. I've had the pleasure of being CEO to some of the largest b-to-b media companies in the world. With that experience, I've learned that when I tried to finesse my way through a challenge, I failed. Take this time between pandemic disruption and full recovery to try something new, innovative and maybe provocative. It was early 2011 when I was running Cygnus Business Media, freshly out of bankruptcy and beginning to recover from the Great Recession. My company, like most, was structured around print, digital, events and data; some of our industries were public safety, construction and aviation. I decided to create "market-facing groups," organized by industry, and appoint one person to run them on all four platforms. If the evp of any of these groups was in front of an advertiser and was asked about events, their answer went from, "I'll have the show people call you," to, "Sure, I can handle that. How big a booth do you want?" These market groups fostered teamwork and an esprit de corps that was palpable. Employees believed they worked for public safety, not Cygnus, which is really what I wanted. Revenue soared! It was a big bet on my part—probably my job—but I believed in the concept enough that, after a passionate presentation, my board believed in it too and supported the reorganization. Credit to them for thinking big. That reorg later made it much easier for us to successfully sell the company four years later, which is a story for another day. The takeaway Right now, you can be creative and gutsy. If not—and you don't recover faster than your competitors—you are in trouble anyway. Years ago, I saw this message on a bumper sticker: "If you're already on thin ice, you might as well dance!" I still love that advice.

Columnist Network

For 2021, Risk-Taking Is the Answer

John French on why now could be the perfect time for your company's reorg

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John French

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