Corporate restructuring reveals something interesting about organizations. Some teams buckle under pressure while others find their stride. The difference isn’t luck or talent alone. It comes down to how leaders prepare their people long before turbulence hits. John J. McNamara, Chief Growth Officer at Avtal, has spent three decades watching this play out across federal agencies and high growth companies, learning what separates teams that survive from teams that excel.
Understanding What Crisis Exposes in Teams
He lives by a simple philosophy of leadership. “Turbulence doesn’t build character. It reveals it,” he says. After decades of leading through mergers, acquisitions, and large-scale organizational change, McNamara has seen the same pattern again and again. When challenges arise, some people step up while others step back. But what many overlook is that personal courage isn’t the main differentiator. “What really gets revealed is how well leaders prepare their teams before that storm hits,” McNamara explains. The teams that navigate disruption successfully were already prepared long before the trouble arrived. After three decades in leadership, he’s reached a conclusion that shapes his entire approach. “Resilience and agility aren’t traits you find. They’re traits you build.”
Structure For Adaptability, Not Just Efficiency
Walk into most companies and look at the org chart. It’s built around control and efficiency. McNamara believes that mindset is backward if the goal is to create teams that can handle change. Rigid structures tend to crack under pressure. His approach takes a different shape. “I built modular, cross-functional teams that can pivot quickly and embed across the organization,” he explains. This isn’t a theoretical exercise in reorganizing boxes on a chart. It’s about creating systems that move when the market moves. When priorities shift overnight, these teams don’t wait for approval from three layers of management. They already know how to act. Knowledge flows freely instead of getting trapped in silos, and collaboration becomes a natural part of how the organization operates.
Normalize Change Before It’s Forced
Most companies wait until everything is on fire before they start talking about change. By then, it’s already too late. McNamara learned that lesson firsthand during his time at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he approached things differently. “At the CFPB, we ran scenario planning exercises—best case, worst case, and most likely case—and we ran them often,” he recalls. That last part matters. Not once a year at an offsite retreat, but regularly. Frequent practice builds something no manual can teach. “The mental muscle meant that when the toughest changes came, the team was already prepared to adapt and contribute at a high level,” McNamara explains. Teams that practice change don’t freeze when real disruption hits. They have already been there in their minds, and that preparation shows up when it matters most.
Invest In Talent That Thinks Beyond Their Role
Job descriptions have their place, but they can also box people in. McNamara’s third principle touches on something deeper about how great teams actually operate. The best performers don’t just complete tasks. “Hire people who don’t just execute, but ask ‘what if’ and ‘what’s next,’” he says. That mindset becomes essential when the future is uncertain. Early-stage companies tend to understand this better than most. “The best teams, such as those in startups, thrive because everyone contributes and big-picture thinking moves freely across all levels,” McNamara explains. You can’t fake that kind of culture with a mission statement on the wall. It takes intentional hiring and a shared belief that strategy belongs to everyone, not just the executive suite.
Everything McNamara teaches circles back to a single idea: build the foundation before you need it. Many leaders wait until a crisis hits to test their teams. By then, it’s too late. “Resilience isn’t about reacting to crisis,” he says. “It’s about building into your people and structure the capacity to anticipate, adapt, and lead through whatever comes next.”
It takes all three elements working together: flexible structures, regular practice in managing change, and strategic thinkers at every level. Leave one out, and the entire system weakens. His final point is straightforward. “Don’t wait for the storm. Build the team ready to lead through it.” The organizations that emerge stronger after disruption aren’t the ones scrambling to adjust. They are the ones that made adaptability part of who they are long before they needed it.
Connect with John McNamara on LinkedIn to explore how resilience-driven leadership transforms organizations.
