Tough enough to wield the axe but with a tenderness that lifts morale? You'll cope well in the crisis, but bosses can use this valuable strategy in good times, too

In recessions, directors must achieve two outcomes that often conflict: to be tough enough to deliver the results, and be tender enough to maintain morale and to keep key staff. Leaders have to play good cop and bad cop at the same time.

Recessions are when managers have to discover the bad cop act and the art of what I call "unreasonable management". In the last major downturn of the early 1990s, I was working with a leading electronics company that was about to go bust. The firm's president sent out a simple message to every division: "Get me 20 per cent off headcount, costs and working capital within 12 months, or get out." This was met with disbelief by all the division heads. They all came back with excuses, such as "we can't cut costs, we're growing", "we can't cut costs now, we cut costs by 20 per cent last year", or "we can't cut costs, we already have the best costs in the business".

A more reasonable leader would have then listened to all the reasons why 20 per cent was impossible and he would have set more tolerable goals. And the business would now be bust. When you accept excuses, you consent to failure. Reasonable leaders do not achieve much.
Unreasonable managers are not bullies, who are awkward about everything. Good managers learn to be difficult selectively. They pick one or two must-win battles. They set goals which stretch, but do not break people. Critically, they understand how to help their team succeed. They play bad cop in setting goals, good cop in helping teams achieve their objectives.

The president of the electronics firm, who played bad cop in setting the goals, turned good cop to help his team meet the targets. To start with, morale was at rock bottom as people feared for the future. The four principles of the president's good cop act were simple.

Be clear about the goals and flexible about the means. He did not try to micro-manage everything. He forced his team to take responsibility, and then trusted it to deliver.

Over-communicate. Once the goals were set, his time was not spent planning, reviewing and decision-making. He communicated: listened, encouraged, coached and supported.

Focus, focus, focus. In crises, everything can seem to go wrong at the same time. Ineffective leaders panic and indulge in a plethora of initiatives which confuse everyone and waste resources (the government, please note). Strong leaders create simplicity out of complexity and order out of chaos by focusing on the
few things that really matter. In the president's case, 20 per cent off costs was the must-win battle.

Stay positive. Followers dislike FUD—fear, uncertainty and doubt. He created clarity, focused on the successes and the future, and did not allow people to indulge in the blame game. The good cop, bad cop act is not just for recessions: it is for high performance at all times.