From time to time a crisis occurs, and work becomes very hard work for a leader. Cash flow issues, poor creditors, internal conflict, a cyclical economy and market retraction all add to what results in a rough time for your organisation.
You are the head of the company, their leader. All eyes are on you. What should your approach to ‘bad times’ be? Mike Ditka, the American Football coach says ‘Success isn’t permanent, and failure isn’t fatal’.
Remain self-confident
See challenges as a reminder that success is hard earned, and from the position you are in, there is less to lose and much more to be gained. Why do we sometimes face a period of failure? Simple – it makes success worth striving for.
Self-confidence is not over-confidence or a misplaced optimism. It recognised the reality of the situation, and responds accordingly, but with the reassurance of your abilities, and your previous record of achievement.
Be upbeat, but be honest with yourself and those around you about the situation you are facing. They will appreciate your openness, and it will encourage them to trust you. Take time to discuss the options that are available to you, along with potential outcomes, good and bad. Don’t hold everything in your own hands. Business is always a collective responsibility and teamwork matters!
Involving your team in the process of survival will help assess every option open to you. If they see you as a credible leader who will work tirelessly to ensure every possibility has been fully explored, they will be able to support you every step of the way. It is amazing what can be achieved when everyone is pulling in the same direction. People who desire success never work as hard as those who need it.
Avoiding making your team aware of the facts creates difficulty on two counts. It can result in badly judged group decisions, and it also creates unnecessary worry. If people feel they are not in possession of all the facts they imagine the worst case. Not knowing is harder than knowing. If you know about it you can manage it.
Allowing a person to know about a difficult situation will allow them to own it. Only then will they feel able to respond appropriately and do something to help.
Shared solutions
Many years ago at the start of my career, I worked with a small family firm, who became caught in cash flow difficulties. Once everyone knew about the situation they were able to play their part. The sum of all these individual efforts helped the company to pull through. People were willing to work additional hours to complete smaller projects where we knew we would be paid immediately in order to ease the cash flow concerns.
On another occasion we waited an additional week before being paid, after additional income had been chased and received, that allowed our salary obligations to be met. No one made a fuss, and we were willing to put up with the short-term discomfort to gain the benefit of survival. Suppliers and the bank were kept informed of the situation and respected our openness with support. None of it would have been possible if the knowledge of our situation had been kept private – if the owners had tried to ‘save face’ and not admit to any difficulties until it was too late to act. It was only through the team’s understanding and involvement that there was the resolve to overcome the difficulty.
The same occurred when one of the businesses I worked for won a substantial contract to supply goods and services to one of the largest mobile telecommunications organisations in Britain. It was the biggest single project we had ever been involved in, resulting in our turnover increasing tenfold in just two years, and being commended for our efforts in a business enterprise competition run by the Department of Trade. The start of the contract required a substantial outlay of cash, for which we had insufficient reserves.
The bank provided some of the additional funding, but it was only when we sat down and spoke with our clients that the situation was resolved. They provided us with an advance, and agreed favourable regular payment terms to enable us to commence work. The process of going to them and asking for money may have made us look unable to handle the task, and to a degree it felt embarrassing. They appreciated our honesty, our open book stance, and felt able to trust and help us in what turned out to be a very successful partnership venture for both parties.
Be strong
Be honest with your team about the company’s predicament, but avoid revealing any negative personal emotions. Clearly you will have fears, concerns, doubts and worries, but as their leader these cannot be for public display. Offer only facts. Aim to set the right tone, and display strong leadership. The image we project may make or break the situation. Whilst you are in charge, for them there is hope!
You set the standard through what you do and say, and how you react. It is the example everyone else will follow, particularly in a crisis. If you falter, the rest of your team will fail you.
Don’t blink
The President of America, George W. Bush was interviewed on the Discovery channel about the on-going war on international terrorism. He said ‘If we blink, or if we tire, the rest of the world goes to sleep’. The same is true of any leader. People will soon notice if you become less focused, or reduce your effort, or become more insular lose any of your perceived command and authority.
You cannot allow your emotions to affect your performance or professionalism. It is your responsibility to maintain the consistency that will impress your team and provide them with all the confidence they need. People take their cue from the top. The leader of any organisation sets the culture for their whole group, whether it is a business, a sports team or a voluntary organisation. It is an essential part of your job to provide the standard of leadership they will buy into.
In any situation where people are striving to succeed, defeat is inevitable at some stage. People respond to defeat with different degrees of disappointment. Psychiatrists report that those involved in buying and selling shares feel a loss twice as keenly as they enjoy an equivalent gain. A negative or defeatist approach to a problem may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Not only does it set the whole mood for those who are still in a position to help you make a real difference, it also sets the tone for all your future dealings and reactions.
At these times you must maintain a positive stance. Be realistic about the situation, but above all keep spirits up by making light of the position you find yourselves in. This helps break the tension. People will know in their own minds how difficult the situation is. By keeping morale high, you are providing everyone with the opportunity to breathe. Your positive approach will allow people to continue making every effort because it actually makes a genuine difference.
I am more convinced that an optimistic individual is far more likely to become an effective and respected leader of men. Optimism carries with it a dynamism that propels people forward, and demands both their loyalty and efforts.
Sometimes the outcome is in the hands of others – external activity you have no control over such as Government decisions, international markets, and trends the public may follow. The rest is definitely your call. How your business has been run in the past, and how much effort is being put in right here, right now, to pull things around will be critical. It is surprising how even the poorest of situations can be improved enough to stave off even what you thought was inevitable. There are no promises and no guarantee of a fairy tale ending, but with effort and hard work from everyone there is always a far greater chance of survival and growth.
Act now!
When faced with a problem, an outstanding leader is not passive, or paralysed, but more active than ever before. This is your time to lead. Immediately start to weigh up the alternatives and decide how to overcome adversity. In a position of authority you will have many more problems to deal with at any one time than any other person in your team. How you deal with them and effectively delegate them is one of the benchmarks of excellence in management. I have found this simple mental framework a help when dealing with problems. It is called the three ‘What’s’.
What is the problem?
What effect will it have on us?
What can we do to overcome it?
On many occasions the scale of a problem blinds you from looking at it objectively. Answering these three questions will more clearly define the problem, and hopefully help provide a relevant solution.
Sir Winston Churchill said ‘Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm’.
However dark the day, another dawn will follow. Best of luck, but don’t rely on it! Instead use to best effect the skills and abilities that got you to where you are!
