Have you seen the video of Madonna sitting in a bath with rose petals, talking about how the Coronavirus is the “great equalizer”?
Broadcasting from that luxurious, pampered scene, the Coronavirus seems to be many things, but the great equalizer isn’t one of them.
Madonna may mean we all have the same chance of dying from the virus, rich or poor, healthy or unhealthy, tattooed Rockstar or middle-aged married guy living in coastal Florida. Although I reject that thinking for reasons that I won’t get into here, I do agree the Coronavirus is the great equalizer; however, for quite a different reason than Madonna is likely thinking.
The great equalizer comment does apply to your business right now because much of what we know about business will likely be significantly challenged post-Coronavirus.
Successful business people like me and you know how to strategize, plan and execute, both in times of prosperity and economic downturn. We compare each new opportunity to one that we’ve seen or experienced before. Successful business leaders will also, in fact, be hampered by confirmation bias.
Confirmation bias is the unintentional tendency to process information that is consistent with one’s existing beliefs, especially when the issue is highly important or emotionally charged. So even though there is no precedent for the Coronavirus impact, the temptation is great to equate it to something similar in your past experience. And, when you and I make it similar to another event, we may miss something big in the solution we create. Inexperienced business leaders aren’t usually encumbered by this bias since they don’t have the depth of experience to draw from.
Summing it up, leaders with significant amounts of business experience and leaders with little business experience know approximately the same about what a Post-Coronavirus world will look like. This is the great equalizer that I see in business right now.
We can use the great equalizer to our advantage. Experienced business professionals, we could for at least a few moments, put aside what we know about business in order to determine the best path for our business. It is time to approach the problem with a beginner’s mind, listen to inexperienced business leadership voices on Zoom and use this input constructively.
I’m interested in your thoughts about this great equalizer topic! What do you see when you think about our Post-Coronavirus world with a beginner’s mind?
In our consulting business practice, we work with many successful, entrepreneurial business owners and also long-term employees who acquire equity in the business and seek to grow into a senior leadership role.
A foundational element of our coaching is that one essential mind shift is necessary to move from employee to owner. As luck would have it, this is also an essential skill to exercise in your business to ensure that it survives the COVID-19 crisis, and best illustrated in a story.
Much earlier in my career, I was a mid-level manager at a fine china manufacturing company, a company that took pride in the fact that it provided china service for the White House for over a hundred years. The company had a sound distribution model with excellent relationships in the retail space. The corporate owner of this fine china company, full of artisans including painters, silversmiths and porcelain designers, demanded that profitability improve year over year. What could the management team do, none of whom were owners, to increasing profitability? Well, they did what many employees do in their roles. They made the best decision they could and “hoped” there weren’t any problems. In this case, the decision was to expand from two outlet stores to over one hundred, thereby increasing sales tremendously! A brilliant plan, right? Brilliant except for one thing, no one on the team that came up with this idea thought like an owner.
What do I mean “think like an owner?” Through my experience working with successful owners of many companies, plus, owning and leading a company myself, an owner asks: “What could go wrong?” and intentionally and persistently looks for problems inside their own business. While employees are “hoping” something works so they don’t get into trouble, owners are looking for trouble, heck they’re inviting trouble into their day by looking for problems. And after these problems are uncovered, then and only then can they be resolved.
Back to the fine china company. The outlet plan was a huge success for a few years. Until…problems began – the demand at the outlets outpaced production at the factory. Inferior goods were brought in to cover the supply shortfall, customers started returning more of their purchases because they didn’t match the 1st quality china they had at home. The brand reputation was tarnished. Ten years of this cycle put the company in a very bad place and the corporate parent sold this once proud fine china company at a loss.
I’ve thought about this decline many times over the years. Had there been even one leader in a position of influence who thought like an owner, could this fine china company still be impressing us with its American handcrafted products?
So how does this apply to the business environment now around COVID-19?
I hear some people in companies talking like employees, saying things like…”When things come back” or “When we are back to normal.” These are two statements firmly anchored in hope, but not anchored in an owner approach of looking for problems. Owners looking for problems are asking questions including:
“What may never be the same about my business?”
“What if key employees that I’ve furloughed don’t come back?”
“What if key customers don’t come back?”
“What if my line of credit from the bank is withdrawn?”
“What are all of the expenses that I can cut now?”
“What could go wrong after social distancing ends?”
How have you talked about your business today? Did your remarks come from an owner or employee perspective?
Thanks for reading this article and please share your thoughts with me in the comments.
In 2005, a powerful and surprising hurricane stuck us in South Florida. Power was out, roads were blocked, and employees were displaced. Responsible for the operations of a contact lens distribution company, I thought we had an adequate business continuity plan, but after an unthinkable ten days without power, that plan was tossed aside. We had built our plan around “reasonable” risks. This hurricane was anything but “reasonable”.
Today, you and I have stepped into the next unthinkable disaster. Business continuity plans built on “reasonable” assumptions have once again been tossed aside as irrelevant. If business continuity plans aren’t working, how can you plan for the next unthinkable disaster?
Maybe it’s not about the perfect business continuity plan, maybe it’s about consciously building your company to be disaster resistant.
So what are disaster resistant models? I don’t pretend to have all the answers to this important question, but I can share three business models that companies who successfully weathered Hurricane Wilma in 2005 and are now successfully surviving and even growing during this pandemic have in common.
After reading these, I would urge you to consider how these might apply to your business. Why? Because these models will support you, your business and your employees to remain whole during the next unthinkable disaster. Also, they will contribute to the overall value of your company even in times of calm and prosperity. In short, a true win-win in business.
Ok, here are three business models many companies growing in this pandemic have in common:
They have an E-commerce Business Not Fulfilled by Amazon
Their Management and Support Employees Already Regularly Work Virtually
They Operate in a Regulated Industry
As you might have guessed, E-commerce businesses, those without retail locations, are faring pretty well during this pandemic.
What you might not know is that thousands of E-commerce businesses have been forced out of the market when the ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’ (FBA) program shifted its focus to essential products only. FBA customers, those who let Amazon be their sole fulfillment partner, are scrambling to recover. While businesses that invested in their own warehousing and fulfillment capabilities are still able to meet all of their customer demands. In fact, businesses with fulfillment capabilities are now adding those customers that FBA can’t or won’t service. You having an E-commerce Business Not Fulfilled by Amazon is a critical differentiator for your company in this market.
In the past few weeks, we’ve all been in meetings with Zoom virgins. It’s clearly their first time on video. And when they’ve incorrectly muted themselves, you can hear them mutter they can’t wait until they get back into the office.
It may be hard to believe, but there are management teams out there not missing a beat in their communication. They know how to use chat, the breakout rooms, how to raise their hand… all of the Zoom features that enhance productivity.
They have this level of expertise because they’re practiced in remote video communication. Instead of joining from their kitchen table with a thirty-year-old green refrigerator in the background, they have a place already set up in their home to communicate.
In addition, these virtual management teams have a real time app active during business hours so they can instantaneously communicate with each other. Please consider how your management and support teams will maintain their virtual work skills after the pandemic.
Highly regulated businesses such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and alcohol tend to grow and decline in a way that doesn’t match the overall economy. The drivers in these businesses are hard timelines or “essential” life purchases. For instance, pharmaceutical drug discovery is done with an urgency not often seen from outside the business. While a drug is being commercialized, a day delay directly transfers to a day of missed sales in the market. As a result, companies providing services to companies engaged in pharmaceutical discovery and commercialization will seldom see a break in the urgency for any disaster or economic downturn.
This is one example of Operating in a Regulated Industry business model. How could this work for your company?
How is your company disaster resistant? I’m interested in your thoughts and experiences. Would love to hear from you, please comment or share. Wishing you safety and health.
This COVID-19 pandemic is super frightening, and also can be especially distracting as you and I seek to find new information about it throughout the day, productive time replaced by worry and obsession.
Recently, this obsession was highlighted for me, and I made some changes to positively refocus and refresh that I wanted to share with you. I’ll detail these for you shortly, but first a quick, relevant story…
A few weeks ago, during a time after COVID-19 had taken over the headlines but before local quarantine, I was cruising south on I95 between my home in Boca Raton and a client in North Miami.
I was distracted thinking about the awful news from China and South Korea concerning the spread of this virus by people who weren’t even showing symptoms. Truthfully, I was feeling fearful and anxious, and learning and processing new information about COVID-19 was something closer to an obsession for me in those moments at 75mph in the left-hand lane.
It started three lanes to my right, almost imperceptibly. A white Mercedes GLE moved erratically, suddenly shifting right a few feet. Reflexively my driving skills, courtesy of my Dad who was my High School Driver’s Ed teacher, engaged. I began to break even before I could verbalize that a problem was beginning. My mind was still firmly in a COVID-19 place of sourcing N95 masks, gloves and Purell, but catching up rapidly.
Then things got a little more dangerous. The white GLE veered across four lanes of traffic heading for a spot just in front of me. The car and driver, seemingly in a struggle between trying to regain and losing control, lurched and turned erratically. Chaos won, and the car began spinning in a 360 in front of me as I braked aggressively and shifted over a lane praying I had room to do so. Narrowly missing the spinning car by a few feet, my senses were heightened and driving skills were working at maximum capacity.
Within a few more seconds, we were stopped along with all southbound traffic on that stretch of I95, the White GLE on the left shoulder facing the wrong way, and me stopped one lane over about 20 feet away. No one was hurt and amazingly, no car was even damaged. After a few deep breaths, we were all heading in the right direction towards our appointments.
Even though I was completely distracted, my great driving skills (thanks Dad) came through for me. The skills that I had practiced many times were unconsciously triggered and literally saved my life. And, could I have avoided intense discomfort and aggressive braking by being more present in my moments on the road? Absolutely.
Two lessons to share from this near miss:
Dealing with a huge problem like COVID-19 can be super distracting, bordering on obsessive for me. I now set aside a specific block of time to monitor the news feeds and worry instead of checking throughout the day. For me that’s 30 minutes from 8am-8:30am, and when that 30 minutes is over I do my best to be present.
You and I have skills that have been honed and practiced over the years, and they are there for us in times of crisis. In my case, driving skills saved me. My leadership, business, comforting my wife or parenting my children skills are just as practiced, and I’m confident they will show up when I need them.
A few questions for you:
When have you recently been jarred back to moments of clarity?
What skills do you know that you have and can rely on during this time?
What new skills are you learning during this crisis?
Interested in your thoughts and experiences. Would love to hear from you, please comment or share. Wishing you safety and health.
It’s normal to be fearful in a time like this. Many of the questions we are asking ourselves come from that fear. Yet, there’s one more question to ask now, The #1 Question to Ask NOW. I will share this question with you soon.
First, let me note that this question may seem insensitive when so many are suffering. Yet it’s important for leaders like you and me to ask it. Great leaders ask uncomfortable questions seeking perhaps even more uncomfortable answers. They intimately understand the talents of their team, and find innovative ways to maximize results, especially in times of great stress.
Let me share an example with you.
My client, the Chief Operating Officer of a large electronics distributor, is very worried. His rapidly growing e-commerce business is dependent on the fast, accurate and inexpensive supply chain he built. Now the world seems to have shifted, and he’s reacting to forces outside of his control. Things have changed so rapidly, he struggles to find the “right” question to ask. He’s already launched the Supply Chain Business Continuity Plan he created a few years ago. Clearly his Crisis Leadership is being tested, and deep down he’s not sure he’s up for the task.
I jump on a Zoom Video call with him. “With so many unknowns relating to COVID-19,” he wasn’t sure exactly what to ask so he started with…
“Who are my people with existing health and financial risks?”
“When do I send my office staff home?”
“How will I manage this if my partner is sick?”
“How do I care for my family and business when I’m in a quarantine zone?”
“Could the company run out of cash?”
These are all great questions.
Ones that require answers he and I are working through together. And, these questions are largely focused on survival. Survival is a natural instinct. When we’re under great stress, our natural instincts exert control. Fight or flight, living on adrenaline, feeling we could literally die. These feelings are so intense, they can overpower and render useless the skills we’ve acquired being successful business leaders.
Before we go down this survival rabbit hole, we owe it to ourselves, our businesses and communities to ask one more question, The #1 Question to ask NOW.
I asked this question of my client. “When you look back on this COVID-19 pandemic, what will you say were your biggest successes?” “Oh,” he said “you’re asking me what’s important right now in addition to surviving?” “Yes” I replied.
He paused and thought for only a few seconds. The answers were obvious to him, yet he hadn’t verbalized them to anyone until this moment.
“Full employment for my team”
“Remain profitable”
“Support at least one new competitive talent or business advantage to emerge from this terrible situation.”
“That I’m present for my family, and they know I care.”
In that moment, I saw him shift from nervously reacting to forces outside of his control to strategically and courageously leading his company. His purpose is back, and it’s much greater than simply surviving.
Now, let me ask you this question. The #1 Question to ask NOW. When you look back on this COVID-19 pandemic, what will you say were your biggest successes?
Will you take such great care of your customers, they’ll work with you for life?
Will you go the extra mile for your employees’ families?
Will you take time for quiet moments with your daughter or son home from school?
Will you share how you feel with your partner or advisor, opening a new, deeper level of connection?
What positive thing will emerge from this terrible situation?
Interested in what comes up for you. Please comment or message me and let me know. I would love to hear from you.
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