Four hard-fought lessons for managing through volatility

Andrew Cairns left school on a sunny June Tuesday in 1978 at the age of 15. On the Wednesday he started working as an engineering apprentice, vowing never to go back to any form of education.

Forty-five years later, he’s got two degrees – in engineering and management – and is still studying, learning and taking exams.

Andrew Cairns CMgr FCMI has developed a love of learning

What changed his attitude to education was being made redundant several times in the early 1980s. “I very quickly appreciated that being the same as all the other applicants didn’t get me back in to work. So I started to improve myself.”

Andrew took night classes in subjects that would be useful to him and to potential employers. He started to read more and attend business events. This constant learning and development – which doesn’t have to be work-related – has stayed with him. “It’s something I actively encourage others to do.” To keep himself fresh, he mentors new and existing managers. “However, the best tools I find are to simply keep an open mind, question and listen.”

A management turning point

A crunch point in Andrew’s career came when he was working as an operations manager at a small manufacturing company. The market took a severe downturn and the company went into liquidation. On the day the liquidators were brought in, the owners couldn’t face telling the employees what was happening and why, and so the job fell to Andrew.

“I don’t mind admitting that at this time I was frightened and trying to contain my emotions. With a young family myself, I was acutely aware of the impact removing the ability to earn was going to have on so many families. Being a young manager in my early 30s with only five years of management experience to draw on, this was the first time that I had ever had to make so many people redundant, which was 30 including me.”

Andrew had recently obtained a post-graduate diploma in operations management (through what was then the Institute of Management). Part of the course involved role-playing a redundancy situation. “It’s what got me through the shock that everyone experienced that day.”

Crucially the course taught him the importance of listening. The liquidators worked at a “frightening” speed, and Andrew needed to be seen as honest and trustworthy by the employees and owners. “Without this we simply would not have achieved the outcome we achieved.” He also had to be selfless, decisive but, above all, to make sure that assets were properly valued and not just sold to the first bidder, and that the best buyers were identified.

In his archive of documents, Andrew still has letters from the liquidators and owners thanking him for his leadership through this period. In his current role, as head of operations at Gameflex on the Isle of Man, he continues to keep up with how the role of a manager is changing (a key reason for being a CMI member). He recently tested out CMI’s new Management Diagnostic tool as part of his ongoing professional development.

Reflections on leadership through volatility

While Andrew has lived through periods when interest rates hit 15% and inflation hit the high teens, he is aware that for many people he works with this is a new experience. So what will this volatile period require of managers and leaders?

Listen for the silences

“Listening isn’t just about what people say; it is about what they aren’t saying. Watch out for people who are normally talkative, loud or have an opinion on most matters. Quite clearly, there isn’t much that I can do to effect change on the global stage, but what I can do as a manager is to listen, guide, mentor, and support people through their own challenges.”

Gather information that contradicts your view

“One thing learned during my formative years was to look at more than one source of news/information; in the 1970s this meant going to the library, reading “red tops” and broadsheets or listen to the BBC and ITV news. In today’s world we tend to focus on newsfeeds that meet our needs or reflect our narrative. So I would challenge people who are disappearing down a rabbit hole of information, that they watch, listen to or read news that contradicts their needs or narrative; this will help provide the questions or information they need to get a more balanced view and to help them make informed decisions.”

Keep positive

“Right now, coming out of Covid and with the constant bombardment of doom-and-gloom news, it’s exceptionally difficult to stay positive. But it’s so important. I’m not saying to put a brave face on things, I’m saying look at all the good things in your life at home, work and outside; focus on those as it will make an impact on your positivity that, in turn, reflects on how you are perceived and how others around you behave.”

Make decisions

“We all make mistakes and make the wrong decisions. I make decisions based on the information I have available to me at the time. Only time and new information determines whether the decision is right or wrong. The strength of a manager or leader is to acknowledge if they have made a mistake or the wrong decision and, if required, work to correct it rather than to let others pick up the pieces.”