Take care of your key people. As a result, he says, none of ClickAction's officers left in the past year, even as the company's stock price plummeted, wiping out the value of their stock options. Be honest with your employees. They know when things are going bad and there might need to be layoffs. Trying to smooth it over too much, as opposed to being honest, won't work.
People appreciate being told the reality.
Mr. Slayton makes sure he includes his top officers in major decisions. That causes an implosion. Rumors get started, nobody knows what's going on. In hard times, he says, you have to communicate just as much as in good times, if not more. The fear level is palpable.