I feel some sympathy for management, I really do. The atrocities of the past week were pushed down on them from North Carolina. Our managers looked absolutely miserable carrying out their orders from above, powerless to oppose them and lacking any information regarding the direction of the firm.
Ok, that's the limit of my pity.
The smell of blood is still in the air, but it is time for management to step up and manage. They may be hadcuffed, they may be shell-shocked, they may feel powerless to change what has happened, but none of that matters. Everyone is wondering what happens next. Everyone is making up their own minds, always negative, about the future of the firm. Very, very few have enough experience (here and/or elsewhere) to understand how to frame what has happened and that is crushing any possibility of hope. Perhaps the future is bleak, perhaps nobody really has an idea of what happens next, but somebody needs to step up and take the opposite side of the current negative monologue being repeated throughout the firm. It takes courage because all the tangible evidence points in favor of negativity, but through the history of this ridiculous business, bear markets have not caused all firms to collapse. In fact, many retrench and then re-emerge when the market stabilizes. They may undergo major change, and change is painful, but to those who survive, change can be very profitable.
Final thought on this. The people making the most money here have the most to lose. Those MDs and managers need to start taking the lead to calm nerves and improve productivity or else their paychecks will face even more pressure next year.
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