(TMA International Headquarters)
TMA
has benefited greatly from leaders with an unwavering commitment to building the
premier professional community dedicated to corporate renewal and turnaround
management. In preparation for TMA’s 15th Anniversary Convention in San
Francisco October 8 to 11, past chairmen who are still TMA members and current
Chairman Randall S. Eisenberg met with Cecilia Green, TMA’s director of public
relations, to offer their views on TMA and the corporate renewal industry. What
follows are short excerpts from those interviews.
Gilbert C. Osnos, CTP
1990-1991
“We
had two levels of membership….I don’t believe TMA would be as big and as strong
today if we had still two classes of members, so I think the decision to make
one constituency of all the various groups that support TMA, turnaround
activities, made — and still makes — a lot of sense.”
“The Code of
Ethics was a natural progression in TMA becoming a professional organization or
an organization of professionals.”
Gerald P. Buccino, CTP
1992
“The one
thing I think TMA needs to continue to provide and continue to focus on is
education, not because we don’t understand how to turn around a company, but
because education forums bring us together. We get new ideas, new
challenges.“
“The
turnaround business is not a business limited to just bad times. There are those
out there who still believe that. … Turnaround skills are good management skills
in any environment and in any cycle, on any scale of a business. Good turnaround
skills prevent failures.“
Thomas J. Allison, CTP
1993
“We’ve gone from where … it was a
backdoor cottage industry to where today it’s taught in major institutions. So
there is a passion for learning. There is a passion for teaching. There is a
passion for making this industry stronger. As we make it stronger, we save jobs,
we save businesses, and we make our economy stronger.
“This
organization has been able to grow in good times and bad times. I think that as
long as we continue to be inclusive and continue to have the ability to share
knowledge and include people, we’ll see our organization grow and become
stronger … The future, I believe, is unlimited.”
William J. Hass, CTP
1994
“The diversity is an advantage as well as
a disadvantage. The disadvantage is we all see things a little bit differently.
The advantage is that when we come to a conclusion that represents reality from
a variety of different perspectives, it usually is the best
solution.”
“I think we
have a great group of volunteers. Nobody builds an organization like this alone.
It takes a lot of time. We’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of volunteers
willing to spend tremendous time to build the organization and then also the
finances to hire a staff to help those volunteers with the day-to-day things. If
we can trust one another, if we all are focused on making the organization
great, we can really do something great.”
John M. Collard, CTP
1995
“The Turnaround Management Association is
relatively unique in that is has a number of different constituencies, all of
which get involved when a company falls into some kind of problem or troubled
situation. They all work together through the process. TMA, I think, has been
very beneficial in bringing that forward.”
“I think
that companies, irrespective of the economy, are going to go through surges in
the economic life cycle of the business. They’re going to grow. They’re going to
do things right. They’re going to do things wrong. They’re going to go out of
business. Sometimes industries are going to change and take companies with them,
irrespective of the economy. … I think this profession is going to be around for
a long time. I think this association is going to be around to speak for it for
a long time.”
John Wm. “Jack” Butler Jr.
1996-1997
“You need to be able to give people everyday value, and
I think we do that through The Journal of Corporate Renewal.
We do it through chapter programming. We do it through a wide variety of
initiatives that the national and international organizations promote. We also
do it through the Advanced Education Workshop and through the CTP
program.”
“I think
it’s important for this organization to have a high profile. … We are an
organization that needs to communicate what we are, what we’re doing, what our
views of the world are and make sure that it’s out there in the court of public
opinion.”
“It’s
important to have quality leaders. It’s important to have diverse leaders. It’s
also important to have different leaders and to be sure that there is always
opportunity for fresh blood and new energy to come into this organization and
have a leadership role over the years.”
Thomas D. Hays III, CTP
1998
“I met a lot of wonderful people along
the way and so the involvement in helping grow the institution has also
nourished many friendships and professional associations to this
day.”
“I think the
networking is very important from many levels. You meet your peers. You get a
chance to measure people, and they get a chance to measure you as to how you
deal in different situations. So when you come in and deal with a person in a
tense situation, a lot of … the trust-building has already been done, so we can
move much faster through the process.”
Martin J. McKinley
1999
“As the leader of my company, that is
probably the most important thing that I look for in an association and in an
organization — the ability for people within my company to be able to learn, to
grow, and to develop.
“If you look
at the educational initiatives that have been undertaken recently, if you look
at the benefits for the members that have been undertaken recently, if you look
at the tremendous growth and the international relations that we’ve developed in
recent periods, our association is now a global association and is providing
global benefits for our members.”
“As we
approach our 15th anniversary, I would only encourage all of the members to take
full advantage of this association. To me, it’s been one of the most personally
rewarding endeavors I’ve undertaken in my career.”
David L. Auchterlonie, CTP
2000
“I think that as the industry has grown,
there has been a need to have much higher qualifications, professional
qualifications, and I think that is where TMA really has been very
instrumental.”
“I
think the
membership will grow dramatically over the years, particularly in the
international markets, as the franchise name becomes much more familiar
internationally. … I think the CTP program is vital to that growth
globally.”
“The
personal friendships and the relationships that each of us has developed in this
group are lifetime relationships that will never go away, and I think those are
the things that we take with us in our profession. I think it’s an exciting time
to be part of that.”
Melanie Rovner Cohen
2001
“What makes TMA unique and desirable to
me is the interdisciplinary nature of our members and the way we work. It is
much more likely that I will work with fellow members of TMA during my
professional career…than with lawyers in other practice areas.”
“We all
share the same practice, the same goals, the same commitment to restructuring
and to corporate renewal. It’s a wonderful place to learn and to grow and to
feel good about what you do.”
“We started
with a handful of truly dedicated and committed people. We worked, and we
started from nothing and look what it has turned into. We’ve grown to 6,000-plus
members, with many chapters in many countries making a real difference for the
benefit of corporate renewal.”
Peter L. Tourtellot, CTP
2002
“We’ve always had troubled companies. It
is not something that just happened in the last 15 years. …But what is unique is
that we’ve made a profession out of managing these companies out of trouble or
through a process, and we’ve brought together disciplines that are involved in
reorganization or revitalization of companies. Fifty years ago I’m sure it was
done from the seat of your pants. Today it’s done more
scientifically.”
“The journey
has only begun. I see the association 15 years from now in excess of 12,000 or
15,000 members. I see it as an organization…with maybe 40 or 50 chapters
worldwide. ... There’s much that this association can do and accomplish, and I
just see that the next 15 years will make the last 15 years look pretty much
like a walk as opposed to a run.”
Randall S. Eisenberg, CTP
2003
“I was somebody who really started right
out of graduate school and spent a number of years working with very talented
individuals in learning how to fix underperforming companies. That was a
tremendous learning experience and seasoning that I think has benefited me as I
continued with my career.”
“Our
certification program, the Certified Turnaround Professional designation, is
critical to this association and to our industry. One of the things we need to
recognize about our industry is that there are low barriers to entry. Because of
that, we need to be able to differentiate between those individuals who have
made corporate renewal and turnaround management their profession and career
from those people who are transitioning in careers.”
“One of the
things TMA has done is to bring credibility to our industry. … We have helped
Corporate America recognize that we bring highly skilled professionals with
unique expertise to situations that are in high distress and bring order to
chaos.”