The Aerospace Executive Podcast

Fixing That Which is Broken: The Mindset of Turnaround Specialists

Turning around an ailing company is a challenge most people would run away from, but some executives are actually built for patching up the Titanic. The individuals who can thrive in this situation know how to embrace the chaos, roll up their sleeves and make the hard decisions that set the organization on the right course.

 

What traits does a turnaround CEO need to have?

 

In this episode, I’m joined by my producer, Matt Johnson to discuss the challenges and opportunities of being tasked with saving a sinking ship.

 

A turnaround specialist has to have a management style that gets people to rise to the occasion. -Craig Picken

 

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

 

• What we can learn from Elon Musk taking over Twitter
  Turnaround CEOs are meant to step in, blow things up and build back better, but they don’t win popularity contests. How do they deal with the detractors?
  
  
• Why some turnarounds fail
  What are the 4 ingredients of a successful turnaround?
  
  
• The best examples of turnaround specialists
  How do you know that you have the temperament and skills to turn a struggling company around? 

 

Learn More About Your Host:

 

Co-founder and Managing Partner for Northstar Group, Craig is focused on recruiting senior level leadership, sales and operations executives for some of the most prominent companies in the aviation and aerospace industry. Clients include well known aircraft OEM’s, aircraft operators, leasing / financial organizations, and Maintenance / Repair / Overhaul (MRO) providers.

 

Since 2009 Craig has personally concluded more than 150 executive searches in a variety of disciplines. As the only executive recruiter who has flown airplanes, sold airplanes AND run a business, Craig is uniquely positioned to build deep, lasting relationships with both executives and the boards and stakeholders they serve. This allows him to use a detailed, disciplined process that does more than pair the ideal candidate with the perfect opportunity, and hit the business goals of the companies he serves.

M&As Matter: What They Tell Us About the Landscape of Our Industry w/Bill Alderman

If you run a small business, M&As may not be something you pay attention to because they are happening at the big picture level, but they affect the entire landscape of the industry. Whether a company gets snapped up or spun off, these movements create a ripple effect throughout the marketplace.

 

Even if you’re a smaller operator, the strategic, technical and competitive impacts of company consolidations will be felt by everyone, and the more we keep abreast with it, the better off we’re going to be as leaders.

 

What purpose does M&A serve to the entire industry? If we’re entertaining merging or being acquired, how do we get things in order? In this episode, aerospace and defense M&A banker Bill Alderman returns to discuss the impact M&A has on the entire industry.

 

If you’re aware of what’s going on with M&A and the value of your company within its supply chain and customers, you can be a more competitive leader of your business. -Bill Alderman 

 

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

 

• What M&A means for the industry
  On a large-scale operational level does M&A really matter?
  
  
• The political implications of M&A
  At what size does an organization get so big it starts to get looked at more closely by the political sphere?
  
  
• The truth about many major operators
  Why are so many major OEMs struggling? 

 

Guest Bio

 

William ‘Bill’ Alderman is the Founder and President of Alderman & Company who are aerospace and defense M&A bankers. Bill has always had a passion for aviation, and is both a commercial pilot and aircraft owner. Today, he uses his expertise, coupled with his interests to represent Middle Market Sellers in the Aerospace and Defense industry.

 

To find out more, go to:
https://aldermanco.com/ 

 

You can also call or text him on: 

9144144070

 

Or email him at: 

wa@aldermanco.com 

 

 

Learn More About Your Host:

 

Co-founder and Managing Partner for Northstar Group, Craig is focused on recruiting senior level leadership, sales and operations executives for some of the most prominent companies in the aviation and aerospace industry. Clients include well known aircraft OEM’s, aircraft operators, leasing / financial organizations, and Maintenance / Repair / Overhaul (MRO) providers.

 

Since 2009 Craig has personally concluded more than 150 executive searches in a variety of disciplines. As the only executive recruiter who has flown airplanes, sold airplanes AND run a business, Craig is uniquely positioned to build deep, lasting relationships with both executives and the boards and stakeholders they serve. This allows him to use a detailed, disciplined process that does more than pair the ideal candidate with the perfect opportunity, and hit the business goals of the companies he serves.

6 Reasons Why People Leave An Organization & How to Stop the Bleeding

When people think of what motivates a person to quit their job, money is the first thing that comes to mind, but very often it’s not even at the top of the list.

 

The reasons people leave an organization go far deeper than monetary gain, there’s usually a lot more they aren’t getting from their company. In fact, we can attribute a career move to 6 reasons. Identifying these reasons as leaders helps us improve our culture so we can keep the best people on our teams.

 

In this edition of Million Dollar Careers, we talk about retention and what makes people leave.

 

If you’re exchanging a known for an unknown, there better be a good reason, and it can’t just be money. -Rob Houghton  

 

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

 

• Why money isn’t the key driver for a change
  Moving jobs is a highly stressful process, what makes someone willing to go through all that?
  
  
• How to keep employee boredom at bay
  How do you keep the A players who need to constantly be challenged engaged?
  
  
• Why leaders have to create security for their people
  Is high staff turnover due to companies actually quitting on their people?

 

Learn More About Your Host:

 

Co-founder and Managing Partner for Northstar Group, Craig is focused on recruiting senior level leadership, sales and operations executives for some of the most prominent companies in the aviation and aerospace industry. Clients include well known aircraft OEM’s, aircraft operators, leasing / financial organizations, and Maintenance / Repair / Overhaul (MRO) providers.

 

Since 2009 Craig has personally concluded more than 150 executive searches in a variety of disciplines. As the only executive recruiter who has flown airplanes, sold airplanes AND run a business, Craig is uniquely positioned to build deep, lasting relationships with both executives and the boards and stakeholders they serve. This allows him to use a detailed, disciplined process that does more than pair the ideal candidate with the perfect opportunity, and hit the business goals of the companies he serves.

Want to Be a Better Leader? Just Pick Up the Phone

For how much time we spend on our phones, it’s astonishing how afraid people are of picking up the phone and just having a conversation. Progress is made and things come together in conversations that can’t be had via text and email.

 

Trying to force all communication through text and emails has led to passive aggressive texts, angry emails and other totally avoidable confrontations.

 

Why are we so afraid of getting on the phone? What are the only acceptable uses of email and text?

 

In this episode, I’m joined by my producer Matt Johnson for this edition of Million Dollar Careers. We’re talking about why we need to get over the reluctance to pick the phone. 

 

No angry customer was ever made happy via email. -Craig Picken

 

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

 

• Why delaying bad news is such a fruitless exercise
  Are we avoiding tough conversations by communicating via text or delaying and aggravating the inevitable?
  
  
• How to dissolve a tense situation and avoid a nasty confrontation
  What causes our fear of the phone in the first place?
  
  
• The ONLY times text and email are appropriate
  If you’re on the receiving end of passive aggressive text or email, how do we deal with it? 

 

Learn More About Your Host:

 

Co-founder and Managing Partner for Northstar Group, Craig is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives for some of the most prominent companies in the aviation and aerospace industry. Clients include well-known aircraft OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing / financial organizations, and Maintenance / Repair / Overhaul (MRO) providers. 

 

Since 2009 Craig has personally concluded more than 150 executive searches in a variety of disciplines. As the only executive recruiter who has flown airplanes, sold airplanes, AND run a business, Craig is uniquely positioned to build deep, lasting relationships with both executives and the boards and stakeholders they serve. This allows him to use a detailed, disciplined process that does more than pair the ideal candidate with the perfect opportunity and hit the business goals of the companies he serves.

Reverting to the Mean: How to Win in an Irrational Labor Market

In nature, the rule of balance reigns supreme - things will always return to an equilibrium, no matter what. In finance, reverting to the mean is a certainty, a swinging pendulum will always return to center.

 

The employment market is no different - right now everything is irrational, and it’s driving everything from jet pricing to salaries, but eventually the music will stop.

 

The challenge is keeping your business stable while things rebalance and still being able to play the game at a really high level on handicap mode.

 

How do you retain the best people when you can’t afford the crazy salaries being driven by this market? In this episode, we talk about the challenges in today’s job market and how to deal with them.

 

This labor shortage isn’t temporary - it’s structural, it’s demographic and it isn’t going away. -Craig Picken

 

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

 

• The truth every company must grapple with
  Are your expectations realistic for the long-term or are you just making decisions on the sugar high of an irrational market?
  
  
• Why the pressures on the job market persist
  Will the employment market ever return to the normal we knew before, or will it readjust to a whole new normal?
  
  
• How to eliminate barriers to success on your team
  If it’s hard to find talent, how do you make your existing talent more productive? 

 

Learn More About Your Host:

 

Co-founder and Managing Partner for Northstar Group, Craig is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives for some of the most prominent companies in the aviation and aerospace industry. Clients include well-known aircraft OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing / financial organizations, and Maintenance / Repair / Overhaul (MRO) providers.

 

Since 2009 Craig has personally concluded more than 150 executive searches in a variety of disciplines. As the only executive recruiter who has flown airplanes, sold airplanes, AND run a business, Craig is uniquely positioned to build deep, lasting relationships with both executives and the boards and stakeholders they serve. This allows him to use a detailed, disciplined process that does more than pair the ideal candidate with the perfect opportunity and hit the business goals of the companies he serves.

Million Dollar Careers: When Is the Right Time to Quit?

Resilience and determination are highly sought after traits, and sometimes that’s what it takes to stay in a challenging job or career. But when the environment becomes too difficult or toxic, we just have to cut our losses and quit.

 

But how do we know if we've reached the end of the line with our jobs? What can we do to prepare before throwing in the towel?

 

In this episode of the Million Dollar Career Series, Robert Houghton and I discuss knowing when to fold 'em.

 

If you’re thinking about folding, understand what it is that you’re looking for. -Craig Picken

 

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• How to identify a toxic job situation
  What can you do to prepare for when you have to quit?
  
  
• Why you have to know why you’re quitting
  How can we avoid contagious quitting?
  
  
• How having an outside advisor can help you
  Why do we need the insight of someone else to know if we’re making the right move?  

 

Learn More About Your Host:

 

Co-founder and Managing Partner for Northstar Group, Craig is focused on recruiting senior level leadership, sales and operations executives for some of the most prominent companies in the aviation and aerospace industry. Clients include well known aircraft OEM’s, aircraft operators, leasing / financial organizations, and Maintenance / Repair / Overhaul (MRO) providers.

 

Since 2009 Craig has personally concluded more than 150 executive searches in a variety of disciplines. As the only executive recruiter who has flown airplanes, sold airplanes AND run a business, Craig is uniquely positioned to build deep, lasting relationships with both executives and the boards and stakeholders they serve. This allows him to use a detailed, disciplined process that does more than pair the ideal candidate with the perfect opportunity, and hit the business goals of the companies he serves.

Million Dollar Careers: 5 Questions You Need to Ask Before You Make a Move

It’s really easy to wreck a great career when you make decisions based on emotions and take action with no real vision, and unfortunately, we’re seeing a lot of that right now.

 

There are many people making career moves for the sake of it instead of taking a rational approach to make sure the job actually serves them long term.

 

Just like planes, your career needs a flight plan, measurable milestones and a realistic endpoint.

 

How do we simplify the decision making process? In this edition of Million Dollar Careers, we talk about the importance of starting with the end in mind. 

 

Before you quit your job and trade a known for an unknown, make sure you know what the end is. -Rob Houghton  

 

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• The cost of jumping ship without thinking it through
  Why are many of the people quitting their jobs doomed to end up frustrated again?
  
  
• Why vision and self-realization are so important
  Are you on the path that leads you to your desired end point? If not, how do you change that?
• Emotional moves vs. rational decisions
  How do you take a measured and vision-informed approach to mapping out your career?

 

Learn More About Your Host:

Co-founder and Managing Partner for Northstar Group, Craig is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives for some of the most prominent companies in the aviation and aerospace industry. Clients include well-known aircraft OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing / financial organizations, and Maintenance / Repair / Overhaul (MRO) providers.

 

Since 2009 Craig has personally concluded more than 150 executive searches in a variety of disciplines. As the only executive recruiter who has flown airplanes, sold airplanes, AND run a business, Craig is uniquely positioned to build deep, lasting relationships with both executives and the boards and stakeholders they serve. This allows him to use a detailed, disciplined process that does more than pair the ideal candidate with the perfect opportunity and hit the business goals of the companies he serves.

Quiet Firing: The Other Side of Quiet Quitting & Why It’s Just As Bad

There’s a lot of passive aggressive behavior in the working world right now, and doing the bare minimum isn’t just something employees do - companies do it too.

 

Quiet firing is the practice of slowly freezing out an employee hoping they self-select out, instead of just facing the issues head-on. It’s dishonest, unproductive and wholly unnecessary and entirely avoidable. How can you tell you’re being quietly pushed out? How can organizations refrain from quiet firing?

 

In this edition of Million Dollar Careers, we dig into quiet firing and why it’s such a bad practice. 

 

Hiring authorities and supervisors really owe it to themselves, their company, and the individual candidates to confront the issue. -Rob Houghton

 

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• What to be on the lookout for
  From demotions to reassignments, quiet firing takes on many forms. What are the subtle signs?
  
  
• The people who’ll never get quietly fired
  Can you take corrective action when you realize you’re being quietly fired?
  
  
• Why quiet firing is the action of a cowardly leader
  If an employer isn’t happy with an employee’s performance, why is it so critical to cut the BS and just let them go? 

 

Learn More About Your Host:

Co-founder and Managing Partner for Northstar Group, Craig is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives for some of the most prominent companies in the aviation and aerospace industry. Clients include well-known aircraft OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing / financial organizations, and Maintenance / Repair / Overhaul (MRO) providers.

 

Since 2009 Craig has personally concluded more than 150 executive searches in a variety of disciplines. As the only executive recruiter who has flown airplanes, sold airplanes, AND run a business, Craig is uniquely positioned to build deep, lasting relationships with both executives and the boards and stakeholders they serve. This allows him to use a detailed, disciplined process that does more than pair the ideal candidate with the perfect opportunity and hit the business goals of the companies he serves.

Why Curiosity & Questions Take You Further Than Confidence & Answers

Even the most talented and driven people can find themselves feeling stuck in their careers, dealing with job circumstances that suck the life out of them.

From working with quiet quitters, to feeling like you’ve hit the ceiling in the organization or your capabilities not being noticed, how do you get unstuck?

What actions can you take to keep expanding and building up your profile? In this episode of Million Dollar Careers, we talk about navigating some of the common issues people face in their careers today. 

 

Curiosity and questions will get you a lot further than confidence and answers. -Rob Houghton

 

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• How to become the smartest person in the room
  Why is curiosity such a critical character trait of people with million dollar careers?
  
  
• The power of a quiet hiring initiative
  Do companies rob themselves of valuable talent by favoring external hires over the ferocious players within the organization with the potential to become superstars?
  
  
• The smartest way to flex your expertise
  How do you show your network that you have the mental capacity needed to excel?  

 

Learn More About Your Host:

Co-founder and Managing Partner for Northstar Group, Craig is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives for some of the most prominent companies in the aviation and aerospace industry. Clients include well-known aircraft OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing / financial organizations, and Maintenance / Repair / Overhaul (MRO) providers.

Since 2009 Craig has personally concluded more than 150 executive searches in a variety of disciplines. As the only executive recruiter who has flown airplanes, sold airplanes, AND run a business, Craig is uniquely positioned to build deep, lasting relationships with both executives and the boards and stakeholders they serve. This allows him to use a detailed, disciplined process that does more than pair the ideal candidate with the perfect opportunity and hit the business goals of the companies he serves.

Becoming THE Guy or Gal: The True Million Dollar Career Advantage

The foundation of a million dollar career is your ability to be so valuable and knowledgeable that people need you more than you need them.

You don’t have to be the CEO to have this advantage - you just need to master your craft, show that you’re an asset and position yourself strategically to use your voice when it matters.

In this edition of the Million Dollar Careers, Rob Houghton and I discuss how to become THE guy or gal in the organization, and how it supercharges your career.  

 

You want to be the expert, you want to be the person people come to when they need something, and that’s where you get your freedom. -Craig Picken

 

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• The power of thinking differently
  Being willing to go against the grain and “red team” is highly valuable, but how do you do it without upsetting the team dynamic?
  
  
• How to build up your mental acuity
  Making great decisions is key to a successful career, but how do we build that skill?
  
  
• How to become an indispensable resource
  How do you find and own a valuable corner to dominate in your industry or company?

 

Learn More About Your Host:

Co-founder and Managing Partner for Northstar Group, Craig is focused on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives for some of the most prominent companies in the aviation and aerospace industry. Clients include well-known aircraft OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing / financial organizations, and Maintenance / Repair / Overhaul (MRO) providers.

Since 2009 Craig has personally concluded more than 150 executive searches in a variety of disciplines. As the only executive recruiter who has flown airplanes, sold airplanes, AND run a business, Craig is uniquely positioned to build deep, lasting relationships with both executives and the boards and stakeholders they serve. This allows him to use a detailed, disciplined process that does more than pair the ideal candidate with the perfect opportunity and hit the business goals of the companies he serves.