Based in Silicon Valley, John Haag guides CallisterHaag as managing partner and provides a host of coordinated services designed to bring companies back to positive results. Transformation-focused, John Haag’s range of expertise includes financial restructuring and team performance optimization. A recent Forbes article brought attention to a 2016 Deloitte survey in which only a small minority of companies reported that they were able to build effective global leaders. One fundamental issue was that psychological and tech tools were often deployed in situations that required solutions not based on behavioral psychology or tech parameters. With analytics essential to boosting team performance, there are many situations in which the solution may require more intuitive, ground-level knowledge. For example, team motivation that should in theory be effective can fall flat when workers are too tired or spread too thin, and motivational strategies undertaken in these situations may be detrimental to the company as a whole, as stress-linked health issues take root. Assessing team readiness for initiatives often takes an experienced eye. Another aspect of this involves setting in place the appropriate project sponsors, coaches, and mentors for given tasks. In this regard, experience counts: one McKinsey research paper found that leadership development programs that achieved objectives were several times more likely to involve the active participation of positive role models, in the form of senior leaders with extensive experience in their field. The upshot is that inspiring others and fostering talent requires in-the-trenches knowledge that a tech-driven system alone cannot provide.
A San Francisco-based turnaround management executive, John Haag guides CallisterHaag Consulting as a partner. Over the years, John Haag has engineered numerous restructuring processes that brought renewed profitability to small and medium-sized enterprises.Ideally, reorienting a struggling company can be accomplished without destroying its core operations, brand, or mission. Aspects of operations that may have been neglected internally include the potential of the core product or service, which has receded in domestic markets, to do well internationally.In addition, a brand that has diminished in the view of consumers but is still a recognized entity has the potential for revival. This can involve updated marketing approaches or a renewed focus on the quality that the brand once represented.In some cases, what is harming operations is not consumer perception, but issues related to expanding too fast without a long-term supply chain and distribution strategy in place. Often the work of turnaround consultants centers on back-end aspects of operations that are cumbersome, inefficient, or too expensive for the actual value of the product or service delivered. Wearing all these hats when transforming a company requires the type of in-depth insight that can only come from those that focus on turnaround strategies.
John Haag serves as a partner at Callister Haag Consulting, a California-based firm that guides businesses in securing financing and making smart investments. Prior to his involvement with the company, John Haag earned a master of business administration from Columbia University. The business program at Columbia offers an ever-evolving core curriculum that adapts to changing business demands. It gives students the opportunity to build essential career skills in the business hub of New York City, which grants them access to leaders across a variety of industries. Over the course of their studies, students gain experience with recognizing opportunities and approaching challenges with a multidisciplinary perspective. Students will learn strategies for success in competitive environments and how to respond to challenges using dynamic solutions. Instructors provide students with the necessary guidance to become effective business leaders and develop entrepreneurial proficiencies. While Columbia does not offer concentrated areas of study, students may customize their education by taking courses in 14 academic field divisions.
A veteran business executive, John Haag is currently a managing partner with California-based CallisterHaag Consulting. In his leadership capacity with the firm, he provides clients with a wide range of services, including risk management, venture capital consulting, and systems and process analysis. John Haag has also served as a turnaround consultant for multiple companies.One of the most important traits for an entrepreneur or business executive is self-confidence, a can-do attitude that can help them lead companies through rough patches. Paradoxically, these very same traits can cause problems when business owners’ self-confidence and sense of independence blinds them to deeper problems within their organizations.Deep-rooted company problems often require the perspective of an outside observer such as a turnaround consultant, who will observe and analyze a company’s structure and operations and make suggestions for improvement. Here are three signs that it might be time to call a turnaround consultant.1. Feeble financials. Overextended credit, poor inventory management, and overloaded debt are a few signs that a company is in financial distress. A qualified turnaround consultant can conduct a rigorous analysis of the financials and create a plan of action.2. Ineffective or overly concentrated management. A strong management structure allows mid- and upper-level managers the freedom to make decisions and take accountability. When all decision-making rests with one person, such as the CEO, this can create a leadership void at other levels of a company. Additionally, an ineffective or non-participatory board of directors is one sign of management inefficiencies.3. Falling behind competitors. Sometimes market lag is the result of larger economic forces or seasonal business cycles, but there could be more fundamental reasons endemic to the company. For example, perhaps the company has not kept up with the latest technological trends in its industry. A turnaround specialist can analyze and identify areas of weakness and provide strategies for rectifying them.
