Playing the Long Game

I wanted to share an annotated version of a few thoughts I shared with the TC community recently, and in doing so I hope it is helpful.

Firstly, and most importantly of course, I hope you and your family are ok, well and coping through this time. 

This week we hit an incredibly sad milestone in the history of the pandemic in the UK, and our thoughts are with the people who have lost their lives, members of their families or friends. We may all know of someone who has been tragically impacted by Covid-19. 

The current situation affects us all in different ways, and from a business view, for many but not all, these are trying times indeed for many sectors including travel. If that includes you, then you have done an amazing job to get this far. With each passing day and week, we get closer to our shared world getting back to some degree of normality, which will happen of course. 

As we deal with the here and now, it is timely to remind ourselves that the work and sacrifices we are making to get through this are because we understand that being in business or having a career is ultimately a long game.

I came across a blog (https://www.wealest.com/articles/long-game) that quotes Naval Ravikant, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and start-up investor, who argues that playing the long game applies to both personal and business relationships. 

“Long-term games are good not just for compound interest, they’re also good for trust… When you have been doing business with somebody, you have been friends with somebody for ten years, twenty years, thirty years, it just gets better and better because you trust them so easily. The friction goes down, you can do bigger, and bigger things together…

Whether it is goodwill, or love, or relationships, or money.” 

We know that building trust takes time and involves many interactions, but the investment you have made over the years in playing the long game will mean that you will emerge and bounce back from this period better and stronger than anyone else.

Even in the toughest of times, when it is only human to question why you are doing this, you will get through it because you know deep down your business is your passion - it's what you love to do. And having that conviction is what makes you different. It is why you perhaps chose the career you did, or launched your own venture. 

Playing the long game, making sacrifices, and taking the knocks is worth it because, assuming we can still fulfil our basic needs, we can see the bigger picture and we know we will get our rewards down the line. 

And as we walk this road together it is important to have that network and community – be that customers, friends and family, work, and wider community - that will stand with you shoulder to shoulder as we continue to navigate the coming weeks and months. 

I was reminded of a quote from an old Beatles song:

“You and I have memories that stretch out longer than the road ahead…” 

For those who have spent years building their business and personal brand, the time and energy you have put into building a loyal customer base will see you through this. And if you do not have this yet, maybe because you are at the start of your journey or looking for your next adventure, you will surely build this over the coming years. 

The relationships you have worked tirelessly to maintain, both in the lead up to, and during this period will form how your customers remember you. For our part we will continue to strive to help customers navigate the globe when it's the right time for them to do so again, showing care, support and above all, keeping customer safety and wellbeing at the heart of everything we do.