No Playbook? Build One: How Turnaround Leaders Create a Path Forward

When a company runs out of time, there’s no clean handoff from strategy to execution—there’s only action.

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In Part 2 of his conversation with turnaround veteran Becky Roof, Drew McManigle moves from the human stakes of restructuring into the mechanics of crisis leadership: how turnaround leaders step into uncertainty, strengthen alignment, and create a path forward when none exists.

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Because in real-world restructurings, the plan isn’t something you follow. It’s something you build—while everything is in motion.

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You Don’t Start from Zero—You Start from What You Have

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Even in chaos, there’s usually a starting point—albeit not a perfect one.

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"Hopefully, you start with a company that has a business plan,”Becky says. “It may not be the right one. It may be half-baked. It may be an unreliable strategy. But I think you've got to start with something.”

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That’s the reality most outsiders miss.

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Turnarounds don’t begin with clarity. They begin with incomplete information, flawed assumptions, and a business plan that may already be breaking down.

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Progress comes from pressure-testing what exists—not waiting for something better to appear.

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The Job Isn’t to Take Over—It’s to Align

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One of the biggest misconceptions about restructuring is that outside advisors come in to replace management.

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In practice, the opposite is true.

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“You’re not there to take their jobs,” Becky explains. “You’re not there to shove the management team aside and say, ‘Don’t worry about anything. The cavalry is here. We’ve got it.’”

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Instead, the work is collaborative—and often delicate.

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“You’re never going to know as much about the company as the insiders do,” she adds.

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Which means success depends less on authority—and more on credibility, communication, and trust.

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If You Want the Truth, Don’t Stay in the Boardroom

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Spreadsheets tell only part of the story. The rest comes from the floor.

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“I like to walk the halls of a company and talk to people,” Becky says.

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That’s where the real information lives: in conversations with employees who understand what’s working—and what isn’t.

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“There’s always a few treasures or gems in a company,” she adds—people who see opportunities that turnaround leaders may not have surfaced yet.

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In other words, insight isn’t just top-down. In many cases, it’s hiding in plain sight.

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Urgent Isn’t Always Important

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Crisis compresses everything. Every issue feels immediate.

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But not every issue matters equally.

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“You know, ‘urgent’ and ‘what’s important’ aren’t always the same thing,” Becky says.

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That distinction becomes a leadership discipline.

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The ability to prioritize—what must be solved now versus what can wait—is often the difference between stabilization and collapse.

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Why the Work Still Draws People In

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For all its intensity, restructuring remains a magnet for talent—and not by accident.

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Drew describes the job in terms most people outside the industry immediately understand: being dropped into a crisis with no runway.

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He recalls trying to explain it to strangers on flights—back when people still talked to each other—only to be met with disbelief at the pace and pressure of the work.

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“I get a call on Friday, and they can’t make payroll on Monday, and so I’m supposed to go in and fix it,” Drew tells curious fliers. “And they look at you like you’ve grown horns and say, ‘Why would you do that?’”

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His answer is simple.

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“It’s fun. It’s interesting. It is a fun job.”

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Becky explains why that answer resonates with so many people who enter the field—and stay.

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“First of all, if you’re an adrenaline junkie, it’ll work out great—but you don’t have to be one,” she says. “If you’re looking for something that is going to be very motivating, you’re going to change what you’re doing every several months or every year because you’re going to be on different kinds of cases.”

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The variety is part of the appeal—but so is the depth.

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“If you want to learn a company inside out, you get the opportunity to do that,” Becky adds.

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For those early in their careers, her advice is practical.

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“Build your tribe,” Becky says. “Find mentors. And they don’t have to be female.”

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The stakes are high. The timeline is unforgiving.

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But for the people who choose this work, that combination of pressure, variety, and problem-solving is exactly what keeps them coming back.

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Takeaways For Leaders

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• Start with the plan you have—not the one you wish you had
• Alignment beats authority in complex situations
• The best insights often come from inside the organization
• Prioritization—urgent vs. important—is a core leadership skill in crisis

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Listen to the Full Episode

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Reviving Giants is presented by MACCO Group and hosted by Drew McManigle, a veteran turnaround professional who brings decades of in-the-trenches restructuring experience to each conversation.

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To hear the full discussion with Becky Roof, listen to the episode onthe Reviving Giants podcast page (and wherever you get your podcasts).

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TL;DR

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When companies run out of time and liquidity, turn around leaders don’t wait for a perfect plan — they build one in real time. In this episode, Drew McManigle and Becky Roof explore how restructuring professionals step into chaos, align stakeholders, and prioritize what actually matters.