The Turnaround Leader : Rebuilding Great Organizations in the Face of Adversity

From Ashes to Opportunity

I see that my purpose—my love—is fixing things. Families, after my dad left. Businesses, struggling to survive. Boats, deserving of glory instead of ashes.
—Wes Wheeler

Wes Wheeler has spent his life fixing things. From a young age, the New York native witnessed the decline of his family’s multi-generational boat business, watching it, quite literally, burn to the ground. While sorting through the ashes of the once successfully run company alongside his father, Wheeler’s future was decided for him. Instead of succumbing to the idea that businesses disintegrate and leave behind hordes of unemployed workers, their mission buried beneath burned bridges and abandoned dreams, Wheeler opted to arm himself with a work ethic built on faith, drive, and dogged determination.

In The Turnaround Leader, Wheeler recounts his decades of managing projects for rising and falling companies, reshaping organizations, and restructuring business models to stand the test of time. Wheeler’s lifetime of ambition was launched during his humble beginnings as a paper delivery boy, where he discovered the little shifts that make a big difference, from the way he angled the papers he threw, to how he engaged with customers and mapped out his routes. These tiny lessons compounded over time and bolstered him while he faced difficult economic headwinds and ill-suited business leaders that preceded him, his most rewarding challenge being his leadership role during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a world where business models are rapidly changing and employment is never promised, Wheeler’s ability to adapt is both inspiring and achievable.

From Ashes to Opportunity

Wes Wheeler has spent his life fixing things. From a young age, the New York native witnessed the decline of his family’s multi-generational boat business, watching it, quite literally, burn to the ground. While sorting through the ashes of the once successfully run company alongside his father, Wheeler’s future was decided for him. Instead of succumbing to the idea that businesses disintegrate and leave behind hordes of unemployed workers, their mission buried beneath burned bridges and abandoned dreams, Wheeler opted to arm himself with a work ethic built on trust, drive, and dogged determination.

In The Turnaround Leader, Wheeler recounts his decades of managing projects for rising and falling companies, reshaping organizational missions, and restructuring business models to better the working community. Wheeler’s lifetime of ambition was launched during his humble beginnings as a paper delivery boy, where he discovered the little shifts that make a big difference, from the way he angled the papers he threw, to how he engaged with customers and mapped out his routes.

He went on to work for years in a hardware store, earning money for college and refining his work ethic. These early lessons compounded over time and bolstered him while he faced off with economic headwinds and misguided business leaders who preceded him, his most rewarding challenge being his leadership role during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a world where business models are rapidly changing and employment is never promised, Wheeler’s ability to adapt is both inspiring and achievable.

Wheeler takes the reader on a journey through the decades he spent fixing and reshaping companies, primarily in the pharmaceutical industry. From navigating hostile company takeovers to carving out a $10 billion vertical business unit while combatting a global pandemic, Wheeler’s career has been marked by adversity and sustained by dogged determination. In a world replete with bad business dealings and muddled employee communication, Wheeler’s ability to stay the course while maintaining integrity has allowed him to transform the lives of many professionals and workplaces.

As Wheeler tugs you along through the historical moments that shaped him as a professional, he offers hard-earned advice and tools for problem-solving that are scattered throughout the prose in entertaining doses of reality. Never one to shy away from the truth, Wheeler peels back the layers of the sometimes-deceptive world of business, teaching you that you can never get too comfortable but also sheltering you under his umbrella of hope. With a main character who is both heroic and relatable, The Turnaround Leader is a must-read for anyone longing to lead in today’s unsteady world of business.