Rough seas, tough times

Tough times do not last, but tough people do. MARCIA GRIFFIN

By Marcia Griffin

As the week has progressed we have been inundated by bad global economic news and the question is, how do we handle this?

Well we can’t change the big things – the greed that has gone mad and caused some crazy risk taking and illogical business decisions – but we can mind the matters close to us.

“Worry about the things we can change, not the things we can’t change” could be a good motto for the weeks and months ahead.

The analogy of the skipper taking his ship through rough waters also comes to mind.

This is the time when we need really great crew/staff/advisers around us, and we need to make sure that our sails/strategies are right, and that the whole crew is working in the same direction.

This is the time that really tests a business’s strategy/planning and implementation.

Like a rough ocean, a rough economic patch puts very part of the ship/business to the test – its solidity, its crew, its direction.

At this time also the role of the leader becomes even more critical; staying calm amid apparent chaos and keeping the team around you focused and confident.

There is no doubt that when the ocean is rough, the crew need to work harder – so too the business during less confident, more turbulent times.

The world is not coming to an end – what we are seeing is possibly a necessary correction that may lead to better business practices, particularly in the financial sector.

We may see an end to the outrageous salaries being paid to business leaders in this sector, who have not only not added value for shareholders but in many cases destroyed value, and created a false set of values that has and will cause huge pain for homeowners and consumers who have hocked their lives to pay for lifestyles they simply cannot afford.

The ready availability of credit has created this very rocky, stormy economic ocean and for the seas to calm down we will need to see powerful, sensible leadership.

So back to the boat – we need to trim our sails, make sure we are steering in the right direction and have the confidence to lead our team through to safer waters.

Those safe waters will be out there in the future but we are not sure exactly when this wind will drop, and therefore we need to keep calm and clear in our thinking until that happens.

Like the ship we need to be proactive in getting to the calmer times – this is no time to stop investing in the right things – marketing, sales – this is the time when a clear strategy will be critical and if you and your business survive this rough ocean, the calm waters waiting will be a very easy ride.

Tough times do not last, but tough people do.

To read more Marcia Griffin blogs, click here.

High Heeled Success is Marcia Griffin’s latest book, and is a frank account of building a business from a solitary sales person to a multi-million dollar business with 4700 sales consultants around Australia and New Zealand. It recounts successes and failures along the way and was written to inspire entrepreneurs-particularly women to triumph in business.

High Heeled Success (Kerr Publishing) is available directly from Marcia (marcia_Griffin@msn.com.au) or Domain Books www.domainbooks.biz.