One of the greatest challenges in business is to stay calm and in action when you're in the messy middle of considerable economic uncertainty. How can you stay positive and optimistic amongst harrowing news about the market and layoffs? There is pressure from above and below with a Board of Directors, investors, your team of individual contributors, and front-line managers looking to you to make it all better. Adding to this, customers may be coming to you with escalations as you work to continue building trust and maintaining their business.
I'd like to flip this, as one of our most challenging times globally, into one of the greatest opportunities to propel business and people forward. Here are some tips to maintain composure and keep your team moving forward despite any seemingly insurmountable challenges:
Keep the Higher Perspective
As a leader, it's imperative to first believe what you are asking others to do. A helpful self-inquiry is to ask yourself, for example, if you are encouraging your team to stay focused on the end goal while doubting if it will actually work. This could mean that you have lost sight of the "why" behind where the business is headed.
Re-committing and staying focused on the longer-term goals gives you something to continue working toward instead of getting mired in the weeds of today. This also becomes an opportunity to ask questions such as: Where do we want to go next? What can be improved? When you're poised for long-term growth, decision-making shifts from what's calling your immediate attention to what is actually sustainable in the long run.
Author Napoleon Hill explains in his book, "Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude," that happiness and success depend on a positive mindset. Staying positive also improves problem-solving skills and leads to better collaboration.
Stay in Action and Focus on What You Can Do
It can be tempting to slow down and get distracted while in the messy middle. Focusing instead on what can be done and staying in action will help to filter out the noise and news of economic predictions that can immediately take the wind out of everyone's sails. Research on team positivity found that solution-focused statements were more likely to guide a conversation in a positive direction than problem-focused statements.
Thoughts lead to actions and actions lead to outcomes. Taking action brings about new information and insights; information that can be critical to moving the business forward. What you do with the new information is just as important. New insights may require pivoting or heading in a new direction. This is a time to stay nimble and open to new possibilities.
Don't Make Rash Decisions
As humans, we have a strong negative bias. Vanessa Bohns, Ph.D., a professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University, explains that "...we tend to think that everyone's looking at us, noticing our bad hair days, noticing our bad outfits, noticing when we trip. But most of the time, people are much more interested in themselves than anything you are doing."
We are hardwired to look for what can go wrong; it's part of our survival. Hitting the panic button when alarming news is released doesn't always bode well for the future. When we're in a state of crisis, we are more likely to make survival-based decisions versus strategic decisions. In LinkedIn's 2019 Global Talent Trends report, 92% of companies surveyed report "soft skills matter as much or more than hard skills." Skills such as creativity, collaboration, and adaptability. These are skills that are essential in any work environment, but especially so during challenging situations.
Lean on Past Success
When the going gets really tough, reflecting on past success can be a great way to propel you and your team forward. Re-discover what has worked well in the past — there are often hidden gems of business decisions that were abandoned long ago during different economic times. For example, applying key learnings from the businesses that came out stronger after the Great Recession of 2007/2008 is another good place to start. These gems may be exactly what is needed to stay the course.
I have found that simple positive mindset shifts and staying in action lead to better outcomes and team collaboration. When you are doing the work as a leader to maintain your composure, stay focused, and make well-thought-out decisions; others will naturally follow your example.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
