Agility, resilience, resourcefulness. The three hall marks of every successful person – be it in business or life in general.
And never more useful than in times like these.
Agility in business means… To rapidly respond to what’s happening around them. Adapting to different circumstances. Quickly looking for new delivery models and even new markets.
Restaurants who can’t seat people have rapidly moved to take-a-way and home delivery. Museums who’ve put their collections online to keep attracting eyeballs. Concerts which are being livestreamed.
Live training providers who are now delivering online.
Though right now circumstances are extreme, it’s prudent that every business builds in a level of agility under “normal circumstances”.
Which starts with mindset. Not just the leaders but every person in the business. As leaders you should foster an attitude of thinking outside the box. Looking for better ways of doing things. Encouraging new ideas. Experimenting .
3M is a great example where employees are encouraged to experiment. Post-It notes are one example of what came out.
Resilience is the ability to quickly recover from adverse circumstances. Spring back. Move forward.
Circumstances so many of us are facing now.
Resilience implies a certain mental toughness and emotional strength. And yes, it can be learned.
As a leader your job is to foster healthy relationships in your organisation. Be empathetic and understanding. Remind your people that they’re not alone in the midst of this crisis.
People want to belong. Maintain a hopeful outlook. Map out a positive direction. This crisis shall pass. What could your future look like? Encourage your people to contribute and come with you on the journey.
Keep things in perspective. There are plenty of people worse off.
Accept change. Control what you can. Accept that not everything will go to plan.
Above all, be kind.
Resourcefulness is about finding clever ways to do more with what you have. Solving problems with limited means.
You may suffer major cash flow shortages. What can you do with what you’ve got? How could you reduce costs without compromising delivery quality?
If you have less staff, how could they become more efficient? How could you empower staff allowing them to make decisions without constantly coming to you? Better use technology?
Don’t reinvent the wheel.
Ask yourself and your team:
- Is there another way to get what I want?
- Is the desired result really the best result?
- Who else has information that might help me?
- What is something very similar to what I need that might also work?
- Who is the expert in this area?
- What is one more thing I can try?
- What would someone I admire do in this same situation?
Leverage your network. Someone within a couple of degrees of separation could well have an answer. Or point you in the right direction.
Realise that combining agility, resilience and resourcefulness has a multiplier effect on your success.
Wrapping up, I don’t know where you are at in your business journey. We know we can help people who are hurting – gifting some of our time.
What would it mean for you if you increased your agility, resilience and resourcefulness?
As such we’re offering 20 minute calls where we’ll find out what your issues are and if we can help. If needed we’ll then go deeper and give you another 60 minutes.
This is NOT a sales call. We believe we provide a lot of value (and our client attest to this).
Please make the most of this – it’s our way to give back.
Call me (Rashid) on 0414 913 334 or reply to this email and we’ll set up a time.
