Leaders In Motion
October 2008 Issue
A periodic “ah hah!” for Executive Leaders & HR Professionals, compliments of Visioning In Action

An inside peak: 
If your organization is impacted by the current financial whirlwind, chances are that your corporate culture may be experiencing a shift, ranging from panic over a major reshuffling to a subtle undercurrent of malaise.  Perhaps you are facing cutbacks in spending and staff accompanied by demands for increased productivity and revenue.  Perhaps you are losing employees and rejigging your teams due to re-structuring or lay-offs.  Perhaps customers are holding off on making buying decisions while your employees wander about looking anxious. 

If this is the case, this is the PERFECT opportunity for you to seek opportunity and THRIVE.  Read this article to discover why and how.

Next issue: "3 Sure-fire Tactics to Shape Positive Behaviour"


How to Conquer Uncertain Times with a Thrive Attitude

If your organization is impacted by the current financial whirlwind, chances are that your corporate culture may be experiencing a shift, ranging from a major reshuffling to a subtle undercurrent of malaise.  Perhaps you are facing cutbacks in spending and staff accompanied by demands for increased productivity and revenue.  Perhaps you are losing employees and rejigging your teams due to re-structuring or lay-offs.  Perhaps customers are holding off on making buying decisions while your employees wander about looking anxious. 

If this is the case, this is the PERFECT opportunity for you to seek opportunity and THRIVE. 


Why?

You will thrive because you have a distinct competitive edge.  Most other players in your industry are probably just trying to get by.  You, on the other hand have the ability to flip things around.  Instead of bemoaning cutbacks, lay-offs and other “negative” business activities, you can opt to change your perception of the situation.  You can take the lead and regard this as a favourable time to create a sleak, innovative and hungry organization ready to bound into the future.

Here are 5 QUICK TIPS to get you started.

1.  SET YOUR INTENTION

If you decide that your organization’s main objective is to survive, then your leadership attitude will be to hunker down and basically get through it.  All of your activities will reflect this attitude and your entire organization will be infused with “get by-ism”.  If, on the other hand you decide that your organization’s main objective is to thrive, then your leadership attitude will be to find a way to create lucrative opportunities and get everyone excited around you.  It all starts in your own mind – what YOU, the leader believe you can accomplish as an organization. 

2.  BOLSTER CONFIDENCE IN YOUR TEAMS & LEADERS

Many people like to know what’s going to happen next and are fundamentally uncomfortable living with uncertainty.  Much of this arises out of a feeling of being out of control.  The first thing you can do to offset this is to remind your leaders and team members that they are masters of themselves and have complete choice and control over how they respond to change and uncertainty.  Remind them that they have a host of strengths and skills that they can tap into at any time.

Try this simple activity at your next team meeting:  Ask your leaders and team members to make a list of their own core values.  This is a set of personal traits and characteristics they possess. Then, ask them how they can use these values to guide themselves and their colleagues through any upcoming changes.  Remember to do this for yourself as well.

3.  USE MIND MAPPING TO DISCOVER NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Get people excited about thinking up new and better ways of doing things or identifying new business ventures.  It is staggering how innovative people can be when needs must.  A weird case in point - my mother was in the air force in England during WWII and once told me how she used a tub of Vaseline to grease engines by day and to put a shine on her eyelashes and lips by night for the dance at the Officers’ Club!  If you were a Vaseline manufacturing company during this time, this would present you with a whole new market to explore.  Why not gather a mix of teams together and do some lateral thinking or mind mapping to find new business opportunities?  You can find new income streams and boost morale at the same time.  Remember:  in chaos lurks opportunity.
 
4.  ZERO IN ON YOUR BIGGEST GOAL

Don’t get sidetracked by busy stuff that isn’t going to get you where you want to go.  Focus on what is most important and DO THAT.  How do you get and stay on track when things get crazy?  You have heard it here before – prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.  Then, set goals, create an action plan and implement the plan.  Simple.  A small reminder here – you probably don’t want your leaders and team members to muddle about either.  Through my years of leadership coaching, I have learned that most people do not know how to establish priorities.  If may be worth your effort to teach your leaders and team members how to prioritize at your next one-on-one or team meeting.

5.  HAVE FUN 

Remember:  Life is to be lived fully and completely, and that includes your work life.  Infuse your moments with passionate fun and let opportunity spark. 

Thanks for your time and talk to you next month.

As always, warmest regards,

Michele Gervais

Professional Speaker, Facilitator & Coach
Visioning In Action
Professional Member of Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS)
Expert Author, EzineArticles.com

Email:  mgervais@visioninginaction.com
Tel:     204.899.4046
www.visioninginaction.com

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Our Mission Statement
"Founded in 1989, Visioning In Action vitalizes organizations by facilitating customized strategic planning, visioning and goal-setting sessions; coaching individual leaders; and speaking on topics related to visioning.  We align and mobilize organizations, teams and leaders “From Vision To Action” by helping them to assess where they are now, create a compelling vision of where they want to be and implement a plan to get there." 
In Chaos Lurks Opportunity