If you live in the United States in the Northeastern part of the country you definitely experienced Sandy “The Hurricane” during the last week in October. As we all know, it turned out to be a devastating storm for some in that they lost everything. In fact, four weeks after the storm, there are still people without power in parts of New York.
While traveling on business during this storm and getting stuck out West, my perspective on being prepared and handling adversity reached a boiling point. With my family back home without any electric or heat in the house for 6 days, it was stressful and brought on a total sense of not being in control. With all the airports in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut closed and having flights back east cancelled over several days, it lead to several very unsettling evenings.
Surfing the internet looking for information that could help the family turned out to be a bad idea as the news broadcast shown out west painted and even darker picture of what was going on. Limiting cell phone conversations for fear of draining the battery of my “powerless” family was also a challenge. Simply wanting to be there to help was not enough. It was at this point the realization sunk in that the situation was beyond my control. Coping skills became a pressing concern.
All thoughts about what could potentially go wrong or happen seemed to be pervasive instead of thinking about what could be controlled. This is when the correlation between life and business started to kick in.
As in business, we are always hit with some level of adversity. This adversity can and will reveal itself in many different forms. It is how we react to and deal with it that separates the leaders from the pack.
Managing your business through an adverse situation is no easy task but the following tips can help get things going:
- Continue to be the Leader with the vision to right the course. Focus on what matters and only what you have control over. Develop a plan of attack and use visualization to direct and guide your business towards achieving your ultimate purpose.
- Be optimistic and keep morale and attitude at a very high positive level. You can use the experience as an opportunity to spearhead future personal and professional growth and make your business even stronger. With this optimistic mindset and appropriate action planning on your part, things will turn around for the better.
- Be resilient and “weather the storm” in spite of the pressure and overwhelming nature of the circumstances. Have the position that you and your business can survive any obstacles thrown your way.
Finally, do not forget there is always light at the end of the tunnel. How you perceive things is a choice. Choose to see them as growth or learning experiences and let the negative feeling(s) or pessimism associated with them go. These feelings are not serving you or your business.
Image courtesy of Maggie Smith / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of KROMKRATHOG / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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