In the eye of the storm? Six strategies to get through it from a consulting chief executive
If it feels like you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel, you’re not alone. Business leaders in Aotearoa have reported having to restructure, make redundancies, reduce staff hours or cut other operating costs due to a slowdown in infrastructure work*.
Of all the stages in a business’s survival story, this one is the most brutal for a leader – the green shoots are finally in view, but maddeningly just out of reach.
Mark Orttung, Chief Executive of Projectworks, has weathered his fair share of storms – he was at Accenture when it was still called Andersen Consulting and hadn’t hit $500m in revenue yet, helped guide start-up BILL through the 2008 global financial crisis, then led software consulting firm Nexient out of the woods and into a five-year stretch of 40% growth.
Today he shares his six biggest lessons from guiding companies through the eye of the storm. If you're an engineering leader in New Zealand wondering whether you’ve got anything left – read on.
1. Don’t lose hope: The payoff is worth it
The very best teams and leaders are built in moments like this one. For Mark, this lesson came the hard way as he helped lead the team at BILL through the 2008 global financial crisis.
“By 2009, the worst of it was over and the lean, mean team of 25 people still with us were some of the toughest, most loyal people I’ve ever worked with. They didn’t just save the business through the tough times, they supercharged it once we got out the other side.
“And I became a different kind of leader – way less scared of the tough times, and way more confident in my ability to get through them. That kind of loyalty, that kind of leadership development, you can’t buy that stuff – you only earn it in moments like that one.”
Tough times are tough, but this is also when you build your best teams, and yourself as a leader.
2. Now’s the worst time to play it safe
It’s tempting to kick into scarcity mindset at a moment like this, focused on saving what little you have left. But right now, playing it safe might actually be the riskiest move.
“After multiple quarters of losing money at Nexient, I did something totally counterintuitive – I took the cash we had left and went out and hired some really expensive people who could help me sell and drive revenue. The GFC had taught me you can’t cut your way out of this problem – we needed to grow out of it, and the only way we could grow out of it was to hire people who would do just that.”
For Mark, the thing that separates the stupid risks from the smart ones is timing – do it too late and you’ll run out of money before the risk starts to pay off.
“We lost money for a few more quarters, somewhere in there I managed to convince the board not to fire me just yet, then finally we had a month that was bigger than the previous one, only by a few bucks but still – the great hires began to pay off, the pipeline began to fill, and I went from worrying about tomorrow, to worrying about 12 months from now.”
Lay-offs are tough, and they can make a leader hire-shy when the work tap starts to turn on again. But now is the best time to be thinking about your next hire – at terms that make the hire less risky for you if it doesn’t pay off, and more beneficial for them if it does.
“Your competitors have had to lay off a bunch of their best people, which means the talent market is rich – and hungry. I’d recommend finding a few unicorns who don’t just do the work, they sell the work as well. Hire them as contractors on performance-linked terms and give them the runway to do what they’re good at.”
Mark recommends focusing on hires that complement your skills rather than copying them, so they create new opportunities, not just more of the same.
“The most important thing at a moment like this is getting as many new lines in the water to try to catch a fish, rather than just using the same old lines in the same old places. Who knows, a new hire might help you discover a whole new muscle for a whole new avenue that you didn't even know worked, but it might continue to work even when things get better.”
3. Tune into facts, not feelings
When everyone’s heads – and the headlines– are screaming doom, the facts can keep an organisation steady. Mark reckons now’s the time to lead with numbers, not nerves.
Right now your team might be craving clarity. Figure out the metrics that matter – pitches sent, meetings booked, deals signed – and book in time every week to share them, honestly and factually. It'll give everyone something to believe in, even when belief is hard to come by.
“The more uncertainty there is swirling about, the more a team appreciates clear honest factual updates – what you’re doing, how it’s working, and what you’re planning to do next. It’ll feel like you’re repeating yourself, but just keep showing up week after week and sharing them.”
4. Embrace the pressure cooker
Constraint is a leader’s best pressure cooker. The fewer your resources, the braver your ideas can afford to be – and the more likely your team will embrace them.
“We were up against one of those walls you hit in a consulting firm as you grow – those early easy wins had dried up, we were starting to slide backwards, and the bench was filling up with very smart – and now very frustrated – consultants.”
Mark says you’ve got two options as a leader in those moments – bury your head in the sand and double down on the status quo, or start looking for new solutions.
“Even on those days when it doesn’t feel like it, I’ve discovered there's always one more thing you can do to drum up new business. Gather together those few spare hours you have a week, and the few spare dollars you have in the bank, and use them to try something new.”
Test alternative markets. Give unconventional incentives. The things you try now might not just keep you afloat – they might become your next growth engine.
5. Spend everything, use every hour – until you can’t
This is not the moment to quit pre-emptively. Not when you might be one deal, one introduction, one pivot away from the breakthrough.
“No matter how tempting it feels, never call it dead yourself. Wait till you literally are out of money or your board gets rid of you. As long as there's a dollar left in the bank account and some hours left, keep fighting.”
In survival mode, you’re not optimising – you’re buying time. Time for the right client to say yes. Time for your scrappy experiment to catch. Time for luck to strike.
“Maybe I’m just stubborn, but early on in the most challenging period at Nexient I just decided not to give up, to keep going until somebody told me I couldn’t. Let someone else make the call that it’s over, and keep going until there’s not a dollar left in the bank, until you don’t have one more hour to throw at it.”
6. Find your village – don’t do it alone
Leadership is lonely at the best of times, and leadership in a downturn is like doing a PhD in loneliness. Mark reckons now, more than ever, Kiwi engineering leaders need to find their village.
“There are a so many great communities out there, both official and unofficial. Find yourself a table of leaders who have the same kind of problems as you, and share them – it won’t take away the feeling, but it’ll make it feel a bit lighter.”
These support networks aren’t just emotional safety nets – they’re idea incubators. You’ll find out what others are doing to survive, adapt and grow. And some days, even just the reminder that you’re not the only one struggling can keep you going.
Final word: This is your leadership crucible
These aren’t normal times. But if you survive this current tough period, and you lead through it, what comes after isn’t just recovery – it's rebirth.
“The day we decided we needed to cut our headcount by 24 per cent was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But that moment, and the hundreds of other tough moments that have come after it, they’re the things that made me a leader – not the easy times.”
So hang in there. Be bold. Be transparent. Be scrappy. Be relentless. The end is just a little further down the road – and the view from the other side is worth every sleepless night.
Find your village with Projectworks
ACE New Zealand and Projectworks will be hosting a series of leaders’ roundtables across New Zealand in July 2025. If you’re leading an ACE New Zealand member firm and looking to connect with other leaders gearing up for this long-awaited rebound, email [email protected].
*ACE New Zealand How’s Business? report March 2025
This article was brought to you in paid partnership with Projectworks.