It's almost become trite to say that a good CEO must be the "strategic thinker" for the company - but in difficult times, this may be the most difficult judgment call the CEO will make. Will she make decisions for the short term, or hold a steady course for the future? Will the downturn provide opportunities for creative thinking and even risk taking that the organization normally would not tolerate?

It goes without saying, that as revenues drop, expenses must follow. But sometimes the most obvious choices may not be the most strategic choices. In fact, interesting opportunities may exist which will not only enable the organization to weather the downturn, but actually leap out ahead of the competition. Some interesting possibilities

1.		Evaluate your people and invest in the A players - shed the C players
2.		Don't just take out layers/titles - evaluate whether your company is ready to restructure for better customer service and profitability
3.		Don't just focus on your competitors - focus on unmet customer needs and determine what else you could be selling them
4.		Evaluate how work is done - this may be the opportunity not only to restructure the organization but also rethink in a radical way how work can be done more efficiently
5.		Make certain you have a performance culture - work from a rolling top 5 priorities perspective - measure and reward against these priorities
6.		And most important of all - make your employees your allies by maintaining a high band of communication.