7 Ways to Thrive when your Company is Acquired
Mergers and acquisitions have winners and losers. You’re the winner if you’re on the acquiring side. You’re the loser if you’re being acquired.
Disingenuous winners tell people that things won’t change. This is a lie.
Change:
Reporting structures change. You may have fewer direct reports. You may have a new boss. People will be transferred or terminated.
Economies of scale mean you’ll lose autonomy. Relationships with established vendors may go away, for example.
Clinging to the past makes you an enemy of progress.
7 ways to thrive when your company is acquired:
- Remember that fear makes you stupid. Fighting the inevitable may make you feel big, but it’s small and self-destructive.
- Prepare to be terminated. Reconnect with friends. Build new relationships. Start looking for a new position inside or outside your current organization.
- Shift loyalties. The old has gone. The new has come. If you don’t shift loyalties, you’re a traitor. Don’t make new people and new leaders the enemy. You work for a new organization now.
- Go gently to the gallows. Make transitions easy, even when it means you’ll lose your job. You may be asked to train your replacement. Do it with a smile. Resistance is futile and self-destructive.
- Ramp up gratitude. The practice of gratitude elevates you above the poison of bitterness. “Resentment is like eating poison and hoping someone else will die.” (Quote Investigator)
- Express flexibility. Let higher ups know you’re willing to change jobs or relocate, assuming you are. Being part of a larger organization often provides new opportunities.
- Practice compassionate leadership during turbulence. If you’re stressed, your team is stressed even more.
- Avoid complaining.
- Don’t minimize pain. “I know it’s uncomfortable. How can I help? How can we make a smooth transition?”
(#6 and #7 are insights from a corporate leader who is currently in an organization that has been acquired.)
How might leaders navigate the turbulence of being acquired by another company?
What tips do you have for thriving during an acquisition?
Bonus material:
7 Tips for Surviving a Merger or Acquisition (CIO)
Surviving a Merger (MindTools)
Great list! Maybe add a couple points about finding new homes for the people you’ve been leading. A responsible exit strategy for any leader should include (as much as you can) designing the landscape after you are gone.
Thanks John. The thing that is most impressive during M&A is a leader who focuses on others.
The last two points of this post come from a leader who is making it his goal to help his team navigate turbulence. Help them find new jobs, transition out, find new assignments.
It takes strength and compassion to be the kind of leader you describe.
Dan, this is so timely. Although we were ‘merged’ 5 years ago, everything has pretty much stayed the same while the new company spent time understanding what we do- (it’s complicated!). Now they know, and we are seeing the beginnings of the coming changes. I 100% agree with these tips but….
From a Manager position, how to you share these tips with your direct reports, while still staying positive about the coming changes? I want my team to be well equipped with whatever change comes their way, but I also want them to be the ones that survive the changes! I also want to personally abide by these tips and if I share these with my direct reports, it may appear to the higher ups that I’m not ‘with’ them.
Thanks Sandy. After posting this morning, I started writing more for tomorrow. Your insights and questions are powerful. Stay tuned. There’s more to come.
Dan
All very true. Often firms announce deals as a merger of equals. This is never true. Someone was the buyer and their people are the winners. Period.
When acquired I found it is best to be one of the first to walk to the middle of the bridge to meet the other team. Sometimes you need to go to the middle and beyond several times before one of the other team greets you. But in the end, people notice and remember those who make the early effort.
Brad
Thanks Brad. The message I take from your insight is be the one who takes initiative. It’s easy and feels safe to expect others to take initiative. Better own your own world than let someone else own it.
This is an interesting topic. While we have not gone through a merger/acquirement, several of our executive leadership members recently retired or moved to higher roles in another institution. The newer members are between 1-4 years “old” with the organization (and a president who has been here 20+years). The amount of change and shift is palpable and uncomfortable as I imagine it would feel if a takeover occurred. Several of your points can be taken as advice so I can continue to work to support those I lead. Middle management is an interesting squash of aligning with direction from above, and supporting those who are directly impacted and not feeling heard. Numbers 3, 5 and 7 are my areas to focus on to continually work on being a positive and compassionate leader. I look forward to your thoughts based on Sandy’s questions, too. Thank you for this post.
Thanks H. The term middle-management takes on new meaning during an acquisition. Wise leaders will take the challenges of people in the middle to heart. It might be tempting to make pronouncement from on-high. But if you want to build culture and retain top talent inclusion is better than pronouncements.
Best wishes.
So just wondering on this one; “Go gently to the gallows. Make transitions easy, even when it means you’ll lose your job. You may be asked to train your replacement. Do it with a smile. Resistance is futile and self-destructive.” Is there any research or data that shows this is a successful approach in the long term even if one is terminated?
Thanks Roger. Great question. I base the idea on leadership character. Act in ways that express who you are, especially when it’s difficult or dangerous. I didn’t look for research to validate the idea.
If anyone finds research on this, I’d be interested.
I didn’t have space to explain or explore the idea in the post. However, the alternative is not supporting the transition. I can’t see anything useful in footdragging, resistance, or sabotage. (Not that you’re suggesting any of these.)
One thing does come to mind. Help the transition without expecting benefit. If, for ethical reasons, you think the new company is not worthy of your service, leave as soon as you find a new position.
Dan I wholeheartedly agree, that is the best way to go out, leave them with a good impression of you and how you handled the transition and exit because you never know who buys who and who might work for someone in the future. Anyway, you can then say you did the “right thing” even if you got shuffled to the door. I was just curious if anyone had really looked at this to validate what I and others feel is the right exit strategy?
This HBR article touches on the concept of “going gently” in that it suggests taking the opportunity to do a self-analysis rather than fighting change. It calls for examining your strengths & weaknesses, and identifying opportunities & threats (SWOT analysis).
https://hbr.org/2017/03/surviving-ma
Great article, so it comes down to looking for the “opportunities” that exist in the new dynamic and seeing how one might fit short term, medium term and long term. I like that. Being positive about new opportunities to learn, to grow and to produce.
Exactly. Glad you found this useful.
Please see the article I posted below.
I found the stories useful. A case study is one step closer to research.
I would love to hear more about this topic as I am quite fearful that the healthcare organization I work for is heading towards a merger. Want to be prepared for the “worst” but keep my eye on the potential opportunities that change can bring. This will help me for sure but it can also help me to help others who work with me and for me. Thank you, Dan!
Thanks gap… It’s refreshing to see someone preparing for opportunities. Sometimes we miss the opportunity that comes with uncertainty and turbulence. If there ever was a turbulent sector, it’s healthcare.
The company I work for is going through being acquired right now. I’ve had all the emotions that go with this type of change, but I had a senior leader discuss the importance of attitude. As a leader, my attitude is seen by my team and my attitude is a reflection of more than just me to the new company. It hit home. I have a responsibility to my team and I will do my best to reflect the professionalism and character of my team to the new company, so they have the best opportunities in the future.
Thank you for this post and I look forward to tomorrow’s follow up!
Thanks RW. Your experience serves to illustrate the power of attitude and leaders who help us prepare for opportunities. I use the term opportunities because it’s easy to look at these situations as problems.
You wrote, “so they have the best opportunities in the future.” This captures the heart of leading a team through being acquired.