#Guest post
Leadership means breaking down parallelisms: defining responsibilities, shortening decision-making paths and designing processes so that they work even under volatility. A guest article by Tobias Drabiniok and Peter Falk (Green Club).
In the startup environment, leadership is often defined by vision: direction, pace, growth. As long as markets are stable and support assumptions, this understanding works well. Things become problematic the moment several factors change at the same time – and that is exactly the rule rather than the exception in the startup world.
At Green Club, several developments came together within about a year and a half, each of which would have been demanding in itself. A public media crisis at the start of 2024 that required operational and communication clarity. The merger of our company, Make Food GmbH, with Pottsalat GmbH, and the associated challenges surrounding the change process. A complete rebranding of two food brands that touched almost all operational levels – from the product to the locations to the internal organization. At the same time, there were expansion plans in a market that collapsed abruptly across locations at the end of the year, with costs rising at the same time.
Self-management as a restructuring tool in a crisis
At the end of 2024, this situation resulted in self-administration restructuring proceedings for us. At that point in time, this step was the only instrument to ensure future viability under a clear legal framework. The focus was deliberately not on new ideas or additional initiatives, but rather on resilient foundations: securing liquidity, saving costs, stabilizing processes, regaining control ability. Only this structural work made it possible to get the company operational again.
In our experience, additional vision does not help in such situations. If anything, it increases the pressure of expectations. What is needed is something else: structure. Structure as a prerequisite for ability to act.
Structure as a leadership task: What are we designed for?
Structure sounds technocratic, but it is a central management task. It begins with the honest question of what a company actually needs to be designed for in each phase. Not for speed at any price, but for stability. Not for a maximum number of options, but for clear decisions. Leadership then shifts from designing new images of the future to consistently organizing and adapting existing systems.
For us, this meant actively reducing complexity. Ranges were focused to make food costs and operational processes more manageable. Processes in the kitchens have been standardized and simplified, and responsibilities have been more clearly defined. Locations that did not offer sufficient long-term economic prospects were closed. At headquarters, the apparatus was significantly reduced in size, roles were redefined and decision-making processes were shortened.
Leadership and consolidation: quick, own decisions
Such moves are rarely popular. Consolidation is often read as failure in the startup world. In fact, it is often an expression of corporate responsibility. If you don’t adapt structures, you prolong uncertainty – for employees, partners and investors. In such phases, leadership means making decisions before they are forced by external constraints.
Today our company is more focused and more robustly organized. Processes mesh better, responsibilities are clearer and the cost structure is significantly optimized. Growth is being discussed again, but no longer reflexively, but with a view to sustainability. Munich shows us that these structures are supporting. We were able to open our first location here in May 2025, in the middle of the restructuring process and with the approval of the creditors’ meeting and the administrator, and a second location within four months, shortly after we were released from self-administration.
Leadership in a crisis: Systematically reduce open questions
What can be derived from this extends beyond a single company. Leadership in turbulent times means systematically reducing the number of open questions. Whoever leads must decide which topics will not be pursued further, which scope will be closed and where clarity will be consciously created. This applies to product decisions as well as organization, roles and priorities.
Uncertainty arises less from bad news than from a lack of structure. If responsibilities are unclear, decisions are postponed or several strategies are running in parallel, the pressure in the system increases – regardless of how good the vision is. In such phases, leadership means breaking down these parallelisms: defining responsibilities, shortening decision-making paths and designing processes so that they work even under volatility.
About the authors
Tobias Drabiniok and Peter Falk are managing directors of Green Club.
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