Page 174 - Accelerating out of the Great Recession

A NEW MANAGERIAL MIND-SET

downturn tend to accelerate ahead of their competition during
the recovery. Moreover, the risk to market leaders is corre-
spondingly higher when they are slow to respond during
volatile times.
Of course, not all the new realities that we have described
will appear at once or affect all companies and industries in the
same way—and some may turn out to be temporary rather than
permanent. But executives need to ready themselves for a jour-
ney on a road that could be long, winding, and steep.
It will therefore no longer be enough to play just to play; it will
be necessary to play to win. As Vince Lombardi, legendary coach
of the Green Bay Packers football team in the 1950s and 1960s,
once put it, “Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser.”

■ NEW REALITIES, NEW MANAGERIAL MIND-SET ■

To cope with today’s challenges, executives will be required to
question, reassess, and redefine their managerial mind-set. They
will need to reexamine the context in which they make deci-
sions and act as leaders. Some basic beliefs and received mana-
gerial wisdom will need to be challenged. And executives will
need to prepare for the unexpected.
As we write this book, the future of the global economy
remains uncertain. Our base assumption, as we have said, is for
a sustained period of sluggish growth. But two additional sce-
narios remain possible: one is the risk of a “double dip”—a
return to recession; the other is the prospect of a fast recovery
accompanied by high demand and increased inflation.
To be credible, leaders need to acknowledge that recovery is
likely to mean a long period of slow growth for the economy—

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