Tough Leadership Day? Smile and Keep Marching

Let’s face it, bad days happen to all of us.

You wake up late, your kid misses the bus and then you get a traffic ticket trying to make up for lost time. Now you're really late and when you are momentarily distracted trying to answer the phone call from your boss, traffic grinds to a halt and you slam on the brakes, sloshing coffee all over yourself.

And the day is just starting.

A Bad Morning in the Life of a Leader:

My own worst day at work started a lot like the description above and continued with the following delightful moments:

• Upon arriving at the office, I received a call indicating that a competitor had taken a big deal away from us.
• My best salesperson was waiting for me with a resignation letter in hand.
• At 9:00 a.m., one hour before our board update call, the CFO indicated that we missed our targets for the quarter by one percent.
• At 9:45 a.m., my marketing manager handed me a copy of a competitor’s press release. They had just launched a great new product that we had no immediate answer for.
• The board of directors were especially cranky, asking vexing questions such as: “Who misses their numbers by one percent?” and “What’s your response to the announcement from the competitor?” When they piled on with, “How could you lose your top salesperson?” I think my deodorant failed.
• Right before lunch, my other marketing manager indicated that we had inadvertently sent a test e-mail with some questionable comments in it to our entire customer list. It had been intended for just one person in the office.

I recall being relieved when I could head down to grab a quick bite for lunch. Of course, the item I was after had just sold out by the time I arrived. Naturally.

Keep Marching!

The old saying, “When you are marching through hell….keep marching,” has more than a ring of truth to it. I vowed to myself to win this day whatever the obstacles. After an internal pep talk, I screwed a smile on my face and resumed marching.

• It turned out that my top sales representative was upset over the new quotas but did not really want to leave. After a good counseling session (with no reduction in quota), she tore up the resignation letter. (She went on to lead the team that year.)
• Our sources in the industry confirmed that the competitor’s offering was mostly bluster and bravado and that it would not ship for at least another quarter. (We came up with a very different and much better response and took market share from that year. The press release kicked us into gear.)
• The board…well, all I could do that group was not miss my numbers by one-percent next quarter. Maybe they would appreciate ten-percent. (OK, I thought that, but of course, we set out to beat the numbers handily and ultimately, we did.)
• The marketing e-mail glitch turned into an opportunity to reach out and talk with our customers one-on-one. A few chastised me, most of them laughed and two invited us to bid on new projects.

The Bottom-Line for Now:

Not every lousy start to a day ends up rosy like mine did. My guidance for when you are facing your own very bad day is simple: breathe, prioritize and execute, laugh a bit and finally, keep marching. Failure is not an option and capitulation to the chaos is unthinkable! And by the way, your team will appreciate and emulate your energy and optimism during the storm.

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This post originally appeared at the Management Excellence blog. See more posts in the Leadership Caffeine? series.

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Read More of Art's Motivational Writing on Leadership and Management at About.com!