Now is the time for consistent leadership….
It seems like yesterday, but November of 2008 was a very tough time for our company. Like many of you, this is when we saw a 40% drop in our business in one month.
The sky is falling mentality was easy to slip into. I fell into it for several weeks. I was not fun to be around (less than normal) Luckily; I had a fellow Express owner who was there to help pick me up. He took a hard stance with me and helped me see that life wasn’t going to come to an end and to “get my head out of my butt because all butts stink”.
Once I woke up and realized that my team needed me now more than ever – everything changed. I decided to draw a line in the sand. Our business HAD taken a dip, but I could either wallow in the despair or I could live in the abundance of what we did have and what we could do. I no longer was going to allow anyone on my team to say “bad economy, due to the recession etc.” We were moving forward.
I once had a boss that taught me to “control the controllables”. He taught me that I could not control what happened but I could control what I decided to do moving forward. I gathered my team, laid out a plan and we went to work. We trained on the new skills we needed. I shared with them the things we needed to do to cut costs, grow revenues and succeed as we moved into the next 6 months.
I was floored by how they responded. We had to position ourselves to not only succeed in the current market but also as things improved. They all rallied around my new found energy to win despite the obstacles. Guess what – we started winning. We started putting people to work in the local area.
I am proud to say, we have placed over 250 people into jobs in the past 6 months. Companies still need “A” players to run their businesses and we are in the “A” players business.
What I have learned though this time is that we all encounter things that test our faith and our resolve but when we look closer, the tough times offer us great opportunities. I feel proud to have helped local companies succeed during a very tough time. Today, we are seeing the signs of a rebounding economy and we have positioned ourselves to succeed. We now have the best trained staff, the most experienced team and have become even closer as a team family.
We are ready – are you? If you would like to discuss how we could help you create consistent leadership or help you find your next “A” player, give me or a member of our team a call. Are you ready for what is coming? We would be glad to help.
I have attached an article here called “Consistency Though the Mountains” that you might want to share with your team. I also attached a video that you can share with your team as well.
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