Does This Sound Like You?

Currently, I am coaching senior executives in companies around the world and I’ve seen two big issues that many of them are struggling with. 

It Is Not Your Fault 

You did not cause the coronavirus, you did not cause the economic downturn, nor could you have foreseen them coming. I have several clients that were running fantastic businesses with amazing cultures that were highly profitable and then lost 90% of their business in one week. They were doing everything right, taking great care of their employees and customers, delivering high-quality products and services, supporting their community, and it all came to a screeching halt. Here is my counsel, don’t beat yourself up, this isn’t your fault.  Stop thinking about what you could have done or should have done and focus only on what you need to do going forward. Things are bad, and they are likely to stay difficult for quite some time, so you need to let go of the past and use all your time, energy, and effort to forge the way ahead for your business. 

Be Decisive 

When the pandemic first hit every business went into crisis mode with leaders making big decisions very quickly. There simply wasn’t time to sit around and talk things through at length, you were in survival mode and had to make things happen right away. However, as the weeks and months have passed, I see many executives beginning to flounder in their decision-making which I think is being driven by several different factors. 

The first is that there is no definite end in sight. If we knew that things would be back to normal in January 2021 it would be easier to create a strategy and make swift decisions. However, we have no idea when this will end, so how do you develop a strategy when you have no concept of the strategic timeframe? Also, how do you maintain motivation, clear thinking, and energy when it seems like every day is a back-to-back marathon? This sort of stress and anxiety significantly magnifies the challenges in making quality decisions. 

Next, we are living in one of the most volatile business environments in history. We are currently facing a global pandemic, depression-era economic troubles, a massive movement for racial equality, and a deeply divided political system, all at the same time! How do you plan for a future that is so unstable? It used to be that we would make 10-year strategic plans, then it dropped to five, then to three, and now many of my clients can only look out about 90 days with any level of certainty. So, understand that you don’t understand what to do, none of us do, this is completely new territory for everyone. 

And finally, we were forced, in an incredibly tight timeframe, to dramatically change the way our organizations run. I have a client who said to me, “One week I had 186 employees, the next week I had 186 field offices.” Suddenly, we had to learn how to run virtual companies, a skill set that few of us counted among our strongest competencies. Face-to-face meetings have given way to virtual meetings that are not as conducive to in-depth discussion and collaborative decision-making.  

My Advice 

Welcome to what it means to be a leader. Your people are looking to you, now more than ever, for a clear vision of a positive future and a sound strategy to get there. They need some sense of stability and direction in a highly unstable environment. They can’t focus on doing great work if they are constantly worried about their future and the future of the organization. The antidote to this uncertainty is courage. The courage to make tough decisions, to take big bold bets, to exhibit calm confidence as you lead your company through this period of crisis. The hard part is that no one can make these decisions for you. You should get input from your team, advice from those you trust and respect, look at your competition, and the marketplace, but in the end, you must decide. Just as crucial, when you make a decision you must be firm and stand by it unless the market absolutely demands that you change it. Flip-flopping on your decisions is worse than not making one at all, it confuses and frustrates your people and causes them to lose confidence in you as a leader. I suggest that when you are hesitant, look at the vision, mission, and values of your organization and use those as a NorthStar in setting the course forward. 

However, and this is very important, you don’t need to make all the decisions, delegate away anything you can to your talented people so that you have time to focus on only the things where you add the most value. You don’t have to be in every Zoom meeting, you don’t have to personally oversee every project, you need to give yourself time to recharge and keep centered. It’s an old cliché but I'm going to say it anyway; if you don’t take care of yourself you won’t be able to take care of anyone else. 

Being a leader is never easy and right now it is more challenging than ever which is why it is critical that you let go of the past, focus on the future, and make solid decisions that will allow your people to work together towards a common goal of getting through all of this and setting your organization on a path for long-term success. 

If you feel that you would benefit from some outside counsel, I currently have three slots left for additional executive coaching clients. If you’re interested, send me a note and we can talk about whether I might be a good fit for you and your organization.