A few weeks ago, in a particularly victim-y moment, I lamented to myself – “Why do I always feel like I’m in the middle!?” This was in response to a rapid-fire blaming session between two people I like, know and respect individually. But, when I put them together, the unfortunate pairing creates an uncontrolled nuclear reaction.
So much blame and fear were fired in two directions, that it was no doubt generally toxic to the environment. And then there’s me – breathing in the toxicity, understanding both sides, reaching out to find commonality, and seeking to take action that involves forward motion.
In short, hanging out in a place that understands two extreme views, yet does not represent one at the exclusion of the other, and can actually incorporate learning from both.
I call this place the Conscious 3rd.
Feeling in the middle has shown up in other areas too.
Take politics, for example.
Yes, I’m going there but perhaps not in the way you think.
In recent elections, Trump was supported by 47% of the electorate, and Biden 51%. Biden has been declared the “winner” by major news organizations and Trump the “loser.” Some Republicans and Trump himself maintain that he won.
A message of “everything is immediately going to change because we have our winner” is being communicated from the right and the left.
I find myself in the middle (again).
Let me break it down for you.
Everything is not going to change based on a winner and loser.
In a system that is relatively balanced in a 51%-47% sort of way, losers can retain quite a lot of influence and winners can find themselves thwarted in their quest for meaningful change.
It’s only when our understanding spans both the 51% AND the 47% that we truly find meaningful solutions.
So what are we to do?
Step into the Conscious 3rd.
First, seek to understand – haven’t seen much of this in the current election cycle. Really get deep about why the divergent sides feel the way they do.
What are their belief systems and how does that inform them about what is right or wrong? (again dichotomy here).
Still not understanding why “that side” feels “that way”? Go deeper still.
Their responses will support you to understand their diametrically opposed viewpoints. Integrating these views with what you already understand by being in the middle supports you to gain a complete, panoramic, “bird’s eye” view of the situation.
Second, find the fear in an effort to deepen understanding.
You might have already found it in step one, but if you haven’t it’s time to look now.
As human beings, we are fear-making machines. Our fears lead to stories, and opinions; and those opinions become ingrained with repetition.
Have you found the fear in the opposing viewpoints?
Now what’s your fear? You have it too, even though you’re in the middle. Time to bring these fears into the open. The fear is present, and it will likely continue to be around in some level of intensity for the rest of our lives.
Ok, now have you found the fear? Good.
Third, seek to alleviate the fear.
This is where the fun begins as a leader. Because when I find out what I can do, or who I can be to alleviate the fear I’ve just built a bridge from this belief rooted in duality to the integrated, Conscious 3rd. I’m in the middle with an encompassing approach right where I want to be.
Please note that sometimes, the answer to what would alleviate the fear is “nothing”. That unbending fear lives in our reptilian brain selves and cannot be influenced by a well-intentioned leader. When this occurs for me, I know that I’ve done everything I can as a human to meet, support and alleviate this fear. If nothing will alleviate the fear, as a leader, I get to move ahead anyway. And move ahead we will, usually over the objections of the irrational fear that remains.
To recap: First, seek to understand. Second, find the fear and deepen your understanding of this fear. Third, seek to alleviate the fear.
I get it this sounds improbable – alleviating fear. Amazingly, this is possible about 80% of the time when we listen, dig deep enough and create well-reasoned solutions. The other 20% of the time we move ahead anyway.
And, the next time you’re feeling in the middle, please congratulate yourself!
Just being aware you are there means that you’re noticing the duality, the opposite sides of the issue and you’re living consciously in between.
Perhaps that Conscious 3rd approach could support us on Jan 20th. It might show up then.
It’s guaranteed to show up when you use it as part of your conscious leadership.
Maya Angelou said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Interesting.
“The price of gold has just reached an all-time high.”
That’s a fact that just happened today.
Has the worldwide demand for gold products increased dramatically, impacting the price?
No.
Our feelings about gold as an investment have changed, and we are acting on those feelings.
“The price of gold has just reached an all-time high.”
It’s a signal to us and an interesting statement. It means two things:
The intrinsic value of gold, how we feel about it, is rising.
Our belief in the value of the dollar in relation to gold is falling.
Trillions of dollars of new debt over a few-week period has created fear about the strength of our currency. We are also perhaps feeling a lack of confidence in our current financial and governmental systems.
The search for value is accelerating.
Most of us are doing something to adjust and compensate for Covid-19.
Wear a mask.
Stock up on toilet paper.
Check in on our neighbors, but don’t get too close.
Bring our children home.
Safeguard our workplace.
Some of our actions come from survival and scarcity, others from value.
An article about survival and scarcity would be painful, more painful than the start of this one. So, for the rest of our time together today, we will focus on value.
I’m often asked, “What has Covid-19 taught us?”
The answer emerging right now is “Our value is being tested, and an amazing opportunity to shape our legacy has emerged.”
We get to create our legacy right now. “Get to” is an active, responsible choice versus the “have to” that I say when I’m not being responsible for my impact.
In my conversations with clients, friends, family and colleagues, what we value is being discussed on an hourly basis. And knowing that, what do we get to create? None other than our legacy.
I don’t know about you, but I pictured creating my legacy on some reflective retreat alongside a placid mountain lake instead of while masked and homebound.
Yet here we are, the stress of this moment helping accelerate the reflection.
How Aligned Are You? Intimately know your Vision and Values, those within your company and in the marketplace.
Who is on Your Crew? Know your Leadership Superpowers and who you need on your crew to create the rest.
What is Your Transformation Strategy?
Establish a non-negotiable time for Transformation by investing in coaching, training, consulting or masterminds to improve your performance.
What is Your Transition Plan?
Create a solid plan to lead effectively during this crisis.
This article is contributing to my legacy that:
“You know you can make a positive impact far beyond what is reasonably possible, and you see a path to act on it.”
Remember, “The price of gold has reached an all-time high.”
Those of us who see the opportunity to create our legacy are busy right now. Please share the legacy that you’re creating!
My life and business are full of experts. That’s good thing. Experts know things that I will not ever learn myself, nor have any interest in learning.
Please note that experts are much different than “those with opinions”, I see many more opinions expressed in the course of the day than expertly vetted information. In almost all cases, the old adage about opinions is true for these too – even if they’re free, they’re still not worth it.
Yesterday, my wife and I met with our friend and expert financial advisor – Bob Rubin. Bob manages the majority of our investable assets. He’s super knowledgeable, an experienced student of market fundamentals and quick to make recommendations backed with facts.
Our question was, “What do you think is driving the stock market?” Bob’s response, “other than irrational exuberance, I’m not sure”.
He admitted that it bothered him to say it.
Bob realizes we put our trust in his ability to read the market. He went on to add “the market isn’t behaving normally based on any traditional model.”
Conclusion? “I don’t know.”
My judgement of the market before our meeting was “I don’t know” also. However, my response tells me much less since my “I don’t know” is partially born of ignorance as I’m not a market expert.
Bob’s “I don’t know” was credible.
An interesting thing about “I don’t know” is that it indicates the need for more action rather than inaction. “I don’t know” does not mean “do nothing.”
How do we make a decision in an “I don’t know” situation? In this case, we looked at the possible outcomes, and possible actions based on these outcomes.
Outcome #1 – The Best-Case Scenario. The market will continue to rebound. Action: Buy stocks.
Outcome #2 – The Middle Road. The market will decline because investors will realize their irrational exuberance. Action: Sell stocks.
Outcome #3 – The Worst-Case Scenario. The market will decline because there is a loss of confidence in the dollar. Action: Sell stocks and other assets, buy gold and bitcoin and build our survivalist retreat on high ground in central Florida.
Debating these options, we selected the most “likely”, with the guidance of our expert Bob. While considering, we took into account our current circumstances, biases and checked our gut reactions.
A major factor supporting Outcome #1 was – “where else are people going to put their money?” In the end we just couldn’t consider that an investment strategy.
Outcome #3 seemed too extreme in the moment, we’ll know over the next few months if we made the right choice there.
So, Outcome #2 it is! Bob moved to take more of our assets out of the market.
Have you been hearing “I don’t know” from experts who have known the answer to your past questions?
How does all this apply to your business?
“When will the Covid pandemic be over?”
The expert consensus is “I don’t know.” That’s likely the most responsible answer we could hear, or give. In fact, my BS detector alarms when anyone has a certain answer to this question.
How does this inform you about your plan for your business?
What’s your worst-case scenario? Best? Middle road? The middle road sounds reasonable, but is it most likely? What are the business circumstances, personal biases (ego anyone?) or gut reactions you and your team have?
Our best answer, gleaned from experts and news sources, to “When will the Covid pandemic be over?” is “Sometime in 2021” – pretty darn close to “I don’t know.”
As a result, we’re planning to operate virtually for the next year, and have begun to set expectations with clients that reflect that. That’s not a terrible response for a company like mine that is organized virtually anyway. I realize it is not a possibility for many company owners though.
For most, the current choices range from undesirable to terrible. Though the choices are bad, please don’t let that deter you from selecting one. At a time when “I don’t know” is actually the responsible answer, we make the best choice we can and move ahead.
If you need the support of a business expert to select the best choice, you can find me here >> http://billionizeme.com
On a sweltering April day in 2004, near the intersection of West Commercial Blvd and 441 in Fort Lauderdale FL, I interviewed with the founders of ABB Optical Group. We sat in an empty, dimly lit, Thai restaurant while Angel Alvarez, CEO sketched the strategy and planned trajectory of the company on the back of a napkin, next to a circular iced tea stain.
Angel described the current status of this small contact lens distributor – $80M in sales and planning to grow exponentially! Then, in between bites of food, he started to share some of his secret sauce for growth.
“At ABB, we not only seek to take care of our direct customers – the Eyecare Practitioners, we support them to take care of their Patients too.” He said.
“When we provide the contact lens service and tools that our customers need, we help them to maintain and grow the number of patients they serve.” Angel added.
“So knowing your customer’s customer is an essential part of your growth and the Eyecare Practitioners’ growth.” I summarized.
“Roger that.” Was his reply as he wiped Pad Thai off of his white shirt.
Within a few weeks, I joined ABB. In 2007, we greatly expanded our ability to ship contact lens orders directly to patient homes or offices. Our Eyecare Practitioner (ECP) customers were getting pressure from on-line contact lens sellers. So, we created a direct shipping service so that ECPs could provide the same convenient delivery service to their patients, eliminating the need to order online. This is an example of taking care of the customers’ customer.
By 2009, I was promoted to Chief Operating Officer, growing the team and business infrastructure supporting ABB efforts. In the time period from 2004 to 2016, our sales rocketed forward by 14x and profits by over 30x. More importantly, ABB grew to serve over 25,000 Eye Care Practitioners in the US, and shipped directly to over three million patients per year on behalf of those doctors.
Today, knowing your customer’s customer has never been more important. I’ve heard many discussions during this Coronavirus time starting with “How are your customers doing?”.
While that’s a good question, it does not drive deep enough. A better question would be “How are your customers’ customers doing?” When you and I know how our customers’ customers are doing, we can anticipate growth or decline over a longer period. That longer view will support you and I to create better plans for our own businesses.
For instance, one of my clients is an online optical company. Like a lot of e-commerce companies, their sales have increased considerably in the last two months.
Will this growth continue, and create opportunities for my company to support their growth? I don’t know just looking at their recent results. I won’t know meaningful information until I look to the next customer, those consumers purchasing the products online. Diving deeper, I ask:
How is the product sales mix changing?
What’s driving this change in consumer purchasing, and will it continue?
How might this trend continue for my client once the lockdown eases a bit?
Does my client have business constraints such as availability of inventory to consider?
What investments are necessary now to ensure success a few months from now?
When these questions are answered, we begin to have information that supports us to shape a plan for the remainder of 2020 and into 2021. Amazing how a discussion over Thai food sixteen years ago resulted in a business concept that helps me today with a virus pandemic. Thanks for the insight, Mr. Alvarez.
How are your customers’ customers doing during this pandemic?
Please share with me what you’re finding. I look forward to your comments.
Recently, I met with an experienced CEO, Ray* who is a former client. He’s had a great record of business growth and value creation at his company, with a string of twenty consecutive years of profit increases. That string will likely end in 2020 with the Coronavirus pandemic.
While talking about the changes he expected to make at his company, I asked him “How ready do you think your organization is for this change?”
“Well, they need to be ready, because it’s going to happen one way or the other!” was his sharp response.
My body twitched a bit with anxiety that was familiar, and my stomach started churning. I’ve been a CEO, so I recognize this comment as something that I’ve also said. To put it bluntly, ego was talking when I said it, thinking that I could speak change into existence, due to my leadership position, instead of looking for evidence of my organization’s real ability to create change. Thankfully this time, after hearing this from Ray, I paused, took a deep breath, and then he and I got into a long discussion on best practices leading change.
According to Nina Segura, CEO of Metaspire Consulting and Change Expert, over 80% of business changes fail. That’s a dismal result, and a stat that many leaders fail to consider when creating plans for change. So how do the 20% who are successful do it? They leave their ego aside, put away the bluster, and take a measured, thoughtful approach to change.
They use three steps to lead change in their company:
Get a frank assessment of the company’s current ability to make a change
Create a plan for the change
Focus on what’s in it for me (WIIFM) for employees and customers
Each of these steps have a number of attributes to consider. I will highlight a few.
A frank assessment is created by talking by talking with employees across a wide area of responsibility. The important thing to remember here is that you must seek feedback beyond those who report directly to you. Enlist allies to get this feedback, especially those whose natural way of thinking is contrary to yours. It’s also a good idea to tap informal leaders in your company, those who have influence among their peers, but perhaps don’t have the title. This step takes time, consider leverage experts in this area to accelerate efforts.
The first element of a plan for change is a vision of the company after the change, illustrating the impact of the result. Other essential elements include a structured approach on how leaders will communicate and support the change, resources required and for how long, and whether outside expertise is needed. This plan is initially created with the best information we have at the moment, then iterated as new information becomes available. Our initial plan never survives contact with the market. Expect it to pivot and evolve.
The focus on WIIFM is important when things do go wrong, or the path is harder than imagined. Employees need to know why they’re change their routine, and are being asked to learn new things. Openness and directness are key when communicating in this phase. Employees have very well-developed BS detectors, and will often feel unexpressed doubts that you may have. Customers are a little less connected to you but also need to also understand why, and how long should they expect to see these changes?
In our current business climate, we are required to make changes. How are your changes progressing?
Happy to support you as you consider a new change for your team or organization. Please comment here, call, text or email.
While many companies are facing closure or significant downsizing, I can share that all my regular clients are GROWING during this terrible Coronavirus time.
“Why?” You might ask. “That’s just lucky”, you might also say. I can tell you it’s not dumb luck, and I’ll show you why in a minute.
In one of my prior blogs I talked about business models that are pandemic resistant. As you might expect, these growing companies each have pandemic resistant models as a main source of revenue. But there’s something that each of these companies does well in addition to choosing a terrific business model. They’ve created their luck with:
The Top 3 Things to Know When Pivoting Your Business:
State the problem to be solved
Get in motion now
Pivot now, before you’re tempted to perfect your response
I’m reminded of what a great pivot is by the famous Jack Welch quote.
When the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near. – Jack Welch
Though Mr. Welch passed on before the Coronavirus, he very well could have been thinking about our current Coronavirus situation when he said it.
Companies that will not survive are likely are having internal discussions sounding something like this:
Rate of change on the outside. “Hmm, rate of change on the outside, that must certainly mean the current pandemic. But when everything goes back to normal, will it really have changed that much?”
Rate of change on the inside. “Oh, I’m ready to change. As soon as I know the right path, I’m going to go for it. I promise you I will.” In another words, when I know the perfect pivot to make, I will commit to starting to act. If I don’t know the right pivot, I will not act.
The first issue here is that these business leaders have not stated a clear problem, so how do they know a good pivot when they see it? Without knowing the problem they’re solving, they won’t see any pivot as the right one. In fact, even after stating the problem, most successful leaders seldom make the perfect pivot. Getting into motion now, they make the best pivot they can with the best information they have at the moment.
Here’s an example from a client company:
Problem. “My employees don’t have the virus protection they need to perform their jobs.”
Get in Motion. “I must provide an ample supply of masks and gloves to my employees. They deserve to be protected.”
Using their procurement expertise, the company secured a supplier able to provide many more masks and gloves than their employees could ever reasonably use.
Pivot Now. “Ok, how do I serve the situation with the masks and gloves that I can purchase? The answer is, “Use my supply chain capabilities to provide these at a fair price to the public through our online partners, such as Amazon. ”
In addition to being a generally good place to work, by having an ample supply of masks and gloves the company has been able to attract workers at a time when many are afraid to leave their homes! And the very modest profits made from the sale of the masks and gloves pay for all of the employee protection! I’d say that the rate of change on the inside is exceeding the rate of the change on the outside at this company!
Last point, this client company has built a culture accepting and leading change, so the need for a pivot is expected, not treated as an exception within their culture.
The leader who earlier in this article said “But when everything goes back to normal, will it really have changed that much?” has not prepared their team for change, any change really. On the contrary, they taught their employees if they wait long enough, things will go back to normal.
My successful clients have seldom waited for an opportunity to come to them. They are active making changes in their businesses every day. Their employees expect change, and as a result, this pivot for the Coronavirus also feels easier to manage.
What problems have you clearly articulated in your business?
Are the pivots happening now?
Is the rate of change on the inside exceeding the rate of change on the outside?
Please be safe and healthy. Also, please share how you’re doing with the changes around us and comment on this article.
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