Business leaders need to get back to basics and focus on doing the fundamentals right if they are going to get through and succeed during the current financial crisis.

That is according to Marylee O'Neill, a senior partner in delta organisation and leadership at Oliver Wyman, who was in Bermuda meeting with business leaders last week to discuss what they see as the biggest challenges facing their companies and the plans to overcome them.

International management consultant Oliver Wyman, which set up new offices in Bermuda last month, has published a report entitled 'Leading Through a Crisis', which highlights seven key issues.

Ms O'Neill said she had been talking with about 60 of her company's clients worldwide about what needs to be done as leaders in today's economic turmoil, starting with having a greater focus on the matter at hand.

"Really if you think of every crisis or period of uncertainty you would expect less focus, there is the danger of getting disengaged and distracted and individuals are slower to operate, they are looking for information, and, at the extreme, customer service and relationships with clients suffer," she said.

"Often speed to execution is no longer there and in today's business that is very important."

Ms O'Neill said that people are a company's most important asset, something which bosses need to concentrate on, alongside their business strategy, decision-making and management efficiency.

She reckons one of the vital parts of an organisation is finding and keeping talent, especially with those staff who feel unsettled in their position and are looking elsewhere for work.

But, equally critical is acting like a leader and being visible among employees and customers alike, Ms O'Neill believes.

"US leaders are saying that there is no substitute for personal contact," she said. "Be high tech, but high touch at the same time."

Other steps to being a good leader during such hard times, range from keeping staff and clients informed of what is going on at the business to how it affects them to sharing leadership responsibility throughout the organisation, according to Ms O'Neill. Above all, she sees some opportunities to come out of every crisis.

"People are looking at if there is going to be an opportunity for me and whether what I am doing is being valued," she said.

"Remember, out of any crisis there are good opportunities - there is an opportunity to get an organisation more aligned and and more focused on the business.

"You have to look at what you are doing, how far you are going to get and what has changed and what has not changed - ask people what they are going to do more of and less of and how you make that decision."

Ms O'Neill claims there a number of consistent themes emerging from those leaders she had liaised with on the Island, similar to those challenges facing firms globally, such as having good succession plans in place and growing their businesses from within, the effectiveness of boards and governance, as well as risks posed by the economic and financial issues.

"People are sharing a lot of similar concerns - we live in a very connected world and depending on the specific industry or whether it is international or local, each business has certain issues," she said.

"Here in Bermuda, people, like any business leaders in the world, are still trying to lead through what they see as uncertain times.

"Leaders are creative and many of the international leaders are extremely adept at managing across many countries and clients and so are used to big growth challenges and they have to develop to meet that challenge.

"Our big message is that it is back to fundamentals and these are going to serve you well during these tough times - after all, everyone in a crisis is looking for leadership."

TIPS ON SURVIVING THE DOWNTURN

1. How you change your organisation is as important as what you change. Awash in calls for dramatic changes in strategies and business models, successful leaders must remember that the processes they employ as they change key aspects of their organisations will be just as important as the actual substance of the changes they envision.

2. Develop a game plan that positions you to play both offence and defence — and both at the same time. One of the most complicated aspects of the current situation is that it will require almost every company to reduce spending, bolster cash flow, and focus on the balance sheet while, at the same time, looking for ways to take advantage of unique opportunities for growth — particularly through unusually attractive acquisition possibilities.

3. On defence, approach cost reductions strategically and with an understanding that downsizing affords important opportunities. Few companies will be able to avoid some level of downsizing. In practically every industry, business is slowing, revenues are down, and the priority has shifted from profitability to shoring up the balance sheet.

4. On offence, be smart but prudent about taking advantage of unique opportunities to acquire businesses and talent. Leaders in almost every industry are telling us that this is a situation where the strong will get stronger if they can handle the risk of making strategic acquisitions at what look like historically low prices.

5. Strategy selection is easy; it is execution that is really tough. One of the most common ways in which companies fail is that they design brilliant strategies that are incompatible with their capacity to successfully execute them.

6. Remember those clichés about 'Our people are our most important assets'? They are true.

7. In the face of pervasive uncertainty, the first imperative for leaders is to act like leaders. This is the moment, more than any other, when the CEO must simultaneously fill the roles of strategist-in-chief and battlefield commander.