Good Morning Friends! Here are my 5 Things to Consider this week!
Friends, I break from my usual format this week to cover just two topics.
Culture – Radical Communication. Radical Transparency. It’s crazy how much can change is a week. Last week our messaging was “we’re not doing anything different.” This week things will have to change. Next week will be different too. We’re currently living through a future history lesson and, in my opinion, the uncertainty is worse than the scare of the actual virus. Our teams need two basic things from us; a ton of honest communication and for us as a leadership team to be as transparent with them as possible about the state of things. During situations like this, people tend to react in three specific ways; 1. Gripped with fear, they become overreactive and do irrational things. 2. They ignore the threat completely and pretend that it’s no big deal. 3. They acknowledge the danger, make plans that coincide with the risk, and take advantage of any opportunities that present themselves. We’re doing number 3. We have the option to simply “ride out the storm,” or we can increase our production in any ways possible and come out stronger on the other side. It’s hard to think that during this time of panic and crisis that there can be areas of opportunity, but we must remain in this mindset and not be tempted to shrink away to our shells because of fear. If we give into fear, we stop producing. This threat is real and each day will bring us a new challenge, but at the end of each day we’ll be one day closer to this passing. The good news is that all of world is in this together and we’ll get through it together. All of us. With radical communication and radical transparency, we’ll do our part to keep our teams calm, motivated and optimistic.
Leadership – Keep Calm and Carry On. You’ve probably seen the ubiquitous posters with its bold, white font and bright, red background. They were originally produced as a motivational poster by the British government in 1939 in preparation for World War 2. The poster was meant as a means to calm the public because of the air raids that happened towards the end of World War 1. In times of crisis, our teams will look to us for persistence in the face of challenge. They will look to us for steady guidance through the unknown. Some around us will panic. We know that panic creates more panic, therefore we will not give in to panic. Some of those around us will be fearful. To quote Yoda, “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Therefore, when we see someone who is scared, we will do our best to be confident, calm and remind them that, in the end, everything will work out just time. The thing the British government knew is that the morale of the public was the most precious thing they could protect. They knew that the public didn’t need to be told to “keep their chin’s up.” – they just wanted to be told what to do. Which is what our teams need from us. Remember, if we don’t give them the story, they’ll make one up for themselves. This has never been more true or more important. Steady and calm leadership through these rough seas is what’s being asked of you. Our message has a purpose: not as a call to order in the face of an invasion, but as a call to resilience and seeing things through. Like every crisis that our business or humanity has faced, we will get through. We will carry on.
5 Things to Consider Archive 