Your Turn -A CEO's Guide to Leading a Business Turnaround

by Bas Bergmans

Overview

A groundbreaking exploration into the intricate art of business turnarounds and swift recovery – qualified by a career’s worth of insights – in Your Turn the message is startlingly clear: a turnaround is a one-chance-only experience. This is ‘do or die,’ and if you understand that in time and act accordingly by following a robust, comprehensive, data-driven approach to survival, your company stands a good chance of weathering the storm.

Your Turn is a practical guide for executives to lead their own business turnarounds. With meticulous detail and respected leadership insights, the author has built a step-by-step approach that has served him well in delivering successful business turnarounds.

Packed with real-world business examples and instructive models, Your Turn is an indispensable resource for CEOs, board members and senior leadership looking to drag their company out of a distressed situation and back into a thriving enterprise.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781040431603
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/13/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	178
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Bas Bergmans has more than 27 years of professional service and corporate leadership roles, and has not only saved his own multi-million-dollar business but worked extensively across the full business turnaround life cycle for a large variety of clients across the globe. Today, Bas is Delivery Partner at Battersea-park Consulting Group, offering business turnaround services to private equity clients.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. FOREWORD by Alan Tilly. INTRODUCTION. ABOUT THE AUTHOR. HOW TO READ THIS BOOK. Chapter 1: 90 Days to Save Your World. Chapter 2: What is a Turnaround?. Chapter 3: An Integrated Model for Turnarounds. Chapter 4: Signals of distress. Chapter 5: Leadership in time of crisis. Chapter 6: Questions for leadership. Chapter 7: Communication - Trust is the Only Currency You Have. Chapter 8: The CRO and Skeleton Team. Chapter 9: Programme Design and Governance. Chapter 10: The 90-Day Cash Flow Stress Test. Chapter 11: The Size of the Prize. Chapter 12: Building the Target Operating Model. Chapter 13: The Management Control and Reporting System. Chapter 14: The Turnaround Plan. Chapter 15: Implementation: The Final Frontier. Chapter 16: Digital Transformation as the Turnaround Catalyst. Chapter 17: The Future – AI driven Business Turnarounds. SOURCES. INDEX

Editorial Reviews

“In Your Turn – A CEO’s Guide to Leading a Business Turnaround, seasoned turnaround expert Bas Bergmans distils the process to its core essentials: a relentless focus on facts, disciplined financial management, clear stakeholder alignment, decisive leadership, and respect for all parties involved. This isn’t theory—it’s a battle-tested field manual for CEOs prepared to take the helm in a storm. A masterclass in turnaround leadership.”

Boudewijn Wellink , Head of Restructuring & Turnaround Management at Eight Advisory and Board member of the European Association of Certified Turnaround Professionals (EACTP)

“Business turnarounds are the ultimate test of leadership, and Bas Bergmans has crafted an essential guide that cuts through the noise. Your Turn isn’t just another business book—it’s a masterclass in decisive action, financial clarity, and the mindset required to revive a struggling company. A must-read for any CEO facing turbulence.”

Alan Miltz, Global Thought Leader on improving your Profit

“Turnarounds are a team sport. Getting your team fully on board, with clear alignment, is critical to making a turnaround successful. Working through the stages – from fighting fires to ultimately seeing sustained growth - takes time, focus, and leadership. Bas’ instructive work reveals the key ingredients leaders need to make a turnaround a reality.”

Leighton Carrol, CEO at Baylin Technologies (TSX: BYL) and thought leader on corporate turnarounds

“Bas Bergman's Your Turn is an extensive guide for those who want to achieve a successful business turnaround. The words ‘business turnaround’ are easily written, however, as the book shows in detail, exceptional care and dedication are needed to hit on an inspiring and feasible turnaround plan. The next step is to put this plan into action. Practitioners, such as consultants, should find the book especially useful as it contains precise and practical help on how to do this. Managers, owners, and top executives would also do well to commit to a comprehensive reading of the book, given their involvement in the complex process of defining and implementing a business turnaround”

Andrew Black, Author of In Search of Shareholder value: Managing the Drivers of Performance

"'Most turnarounds don't' is an old saying among turnaround experts and academics alike, with only an estimated 10% to 30% of companies surviving significant distress. Your Turn provides a thorough and structured approach that could save your company from demise. With the help of Bas’ book, it will not only be 'your turn' - it will enhance the chances 'you turn' a distressed business around."

Joost de Haas, Adjunct-Professor of Entrepreneurship at INSEAD

“The greatest value enhancement known to man is a corporate turnaround and Bas Bergmans’ Your Turn - A CEO's Guide to Leading a Business Turnaround deepens the elusive knowledge needed to execute one of these transformative programs. With real world experience and large dash of pluck Bas tells readers what they couldn’t learn in a dozen MBA’s; how to manage cash, drive profits, borrow from your customers, stretch your vendors, work your people harder and get everyone to thank you afterwards. Turnarounds are the least taught, most opaque and most noble business activity there is, and Bas puts you right in the driver’s seat with his exceptional new book.”

Jeff Sand, Author of Corporate Turnaround Artistry: Fix Any Business in 100 Days

“Undertaking a turnaround necessitates bravery, thick skin, and an executable assemblage of strategies and tactics to achieve the goal. In Your Turn, Bas has taken a nebulous concept into an added structure and cadence roadmap to follow for success. Please read it if you are the CEO of a business that is about to fail!”

Ray Hatch, President and CEO at Quest Resource Holding Corporation (NASDAQ:QRHC), Thought leader on corporate turnarounds

“Turnaround demands bold leadership, and Bas delivers a masterclass in CEO-driven transformation. With real-world insights and proven, practical strategies, this book is an indispensable guide for leaders navigating crisis, seizing opportunity, and driving lasting business revival.”

Anton de Leeuw, UK Turnaround Practitioner of the year 2022

From the Publisher