Resilience: The leadership antidote for our current crisis
On Friday March 20, the DJIA closed at 19,174. That was down more than 35% from its peak in February. For a point of reference, this is about the same decline that we experienced in all of 2008, in just one month. The impact has been equally large and dramatic in just about every aspect of how we live and work. Never has it been more clear that we live in a VUCA world. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that acronym, it is a concept that originated with students at the U.S. Army War College to describe the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity of the world after the Cold War. At this point, the Cold War looks like child’s play compared to our current situation.
Why resilience matters
Resilience is the antidote to our VUCA world. Now, more than ever we need to rely on, and continue to develop, our resilience to help our companies and our teams navigate in this crisis. Resilience is what allows leaders and teams to be calm, steady, and resolute in times of challenge or crisis. It provides for greater agility and flexibility. It enables us to keep our eyes and energy on a better future. It gives us the opportunity to collaborate even more effectively with our colleagues.Resilience can be easy to see and understand when we think about people like Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, and Albert Einstein – who was told by a teacher that he “would never be able to do anything that would make sense in this life.” We’ve seen it in many business leaders like Steve Jobs, Akiro Morita and Henry Ford – who went broke 5 times before starting the Ford Motor Company. If you look closely enough, you see it all around – especially today with the tens of thousands of healthcare providers who are working overtime to keep us healthy.If you look even closer, you will see your own resilience. One of the interesting facts we learned in studying resilience in the workplace is that most of us have a great deal of grit, determination and strength.
How resilience can help in times of crisis
In 2012 I co-authored a book on the topic: “Lemonade, The Leader’s Guide to Resilience at Work.” We researched thousands of business leaders and developed a model of resilience that includes 15 leadership behaviors that can help leaders to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.
My favorite of these resilient behaviors is reframing.
Reframing is the ability to find a silver lining no matter how dire the situation. It is the ability to choose how you talk about the facts and create a context for yourself and for others to see them differently. For instance, if you live in Mauritius, you can call it “a small, insignificant island.” Or you can call it “the largest ocean state in the world.”In the context of our current crisis, you could be talking about how “physical distancing” is creating a feeling of isolation. Or you could talk about the opportunities it presents for us all to learn to use collaboration technologies to both get our work done and not feel so isolated. Both are actually “true” in some objective sense. But the ability to reframe a problem or challenge into the more positive perspective makes it more possible for people to take action. In this example, your team will be able to see and embrace the opportunity more readily in learning the new technologies and feel less fear as they sit in their new home offices with no context besides the news.Think of the benefits of applying this to thinking about how to pivot the business to weather the storm. What new business models, markets, partnerships might be out there waiting for you to uncover?
Reframing as a business imperative
The ability to reframe reminds me of an executive I advised a few years ago. Scott was (and still is) a very experienced and successful leader in his organization. He had a reputation for turning around projects and programs that were underperforming. He had a strategic mind, a keen attention to detail and very high standards for performance. Scott was seen as potentially one of the organization’s senior-most leaders in the future. But something was holding him back. His high standards and intense drive translated into zero tolerance for mistakes.When mistakes happened, as they always do, Scott adopted a rigid and unyielding attitude. He simply could not see the learning opportunity that mistakes can present. The people who worked most closely with Scott learned to follow his lead. Some of his people were actively hiding or ignoring mistakes out of fear of Scott’s reactions. This created a dynamic that suppressed any kind of productive problem solving and Scott was operating in the dark about problems cropping up.This all came to a head when the company lost one of its biggest customers. This customer moved its business to another supplier because in their own words, “you kept making the same mistakes and you haven’t kept up with changes in our business.” This was shocking to Scott, who hadn’t realized there were problems with this customer, and that his team didn’t have the capability to solve the problems. This proved to be a much-needed wake-up call for Scott. He was forced to learn to view mistakes differently, to reframe them as learning opportunities. In doing so, he created a different mindset in himself and his team. He went on to become an even more successful and accomplished leader. His mantra became a quote from one of his heroes, General Omar Bradley, who said, “I learned that good judgment comes from experience and that experience grows out of mistakes.”
How to reframe
There is a simple practice you can use to build your own ability to reframe. You can even invite colleagues or your team to join you in this exercise. Try this the next time you encounter a problem.
- Draw a line down the center of a page.
- On one side the headline is “challenges.”
- On the other is “opportunities.”
- Your task is to re-write the problems as possibilities.
Doing so will give you, and those you are tasked with leading, more energy to get through and even to accelerate through this unprecedented crisis.
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La maggior parte delle riunioni di vendita non fallisce.
Semplicemente non porta a una decisione.
Ed è lì che si perde valore.
I clienti di oggi sono più informati, più selettivi e hanno meno tempo.
Non hanno bisogno di altre presentazioni di prodotto.
Hanno bisogno di conversazioni che li aiutino a stabilire le priorità, decidere e andare avanti.
Eppure, il 58% delle riunioni di vendita non riesce a creare valore reale.
Non perché i venditori manchino di capacità, ma perché le conversazioni non sono progettate per far avanzare le decisioni.
“I clienti non agiscono su ogni esigenza che riconoscono.
Agiscono quando qualcosa diventa una priorità.”
In questo breve executive brief scoprirai:
- Perché la maggior parte delle conversazioni informa… ma non porta all’azione
- Cosa spinge davvero i clienti a stabilire priorità e muoversi
- Come creare urgenza senza compromettere la fiducia
- Il passaggio dal presentare soluzioni al facilitare decisioni
- Cosa distingue le conversazioni che si bloccano da quelle che accelerano il progresso
Se i tuoi team stanno affrontando trattative bloccate, decisioni ritardate o un pipeline lento, questo brief ti aiuterà a capire il perché e cosa fare in modo diverso.
Scarica l’executive brief e scopri come progettare conversazioni che portano davvero a decisioni.
A maioria das reuniões de vendas não fracassa.
Elas simplesmente não levam a uma decisão.
E é aí que o valor se perde.
Os clientes de hoje estão mais informados, mais seletivos e com menos tempo.
Eles não precisam de mais apresentações de produto.
Precisam de conversas que os ajudem a priorizar, decidir e avançar.
Ainda assim, 58% das reuniões de vendas não conseguem gerar valor real.
Não porque os vendedores não tenham capacidade, mas porque as conversas não são desenhadas para impulsionar decisões.
“Os clientes não agem sobre todas as necessidades que reconhecem.
Eles agem quando algo se torna prioridade.”
Neste breve material executivo, você vai descobrir:
- Por que a maioria das conversas informa… mas não gera ação
- O que realmente faz os clientes priorizarem e avançarem
- Como criar urgência sem prejudicar a confiança
- A mudança de apresentar soluções para viabilizar decisões
- O que diferencia conversas que estagnam daquelas que aceleram o progresso
Se suas equipes estão enfrentando negócios estagnados, decisões atrasadas ou um pipeline lento, este material vai ajudar você a entender o porquê — e o que fazer de diferente.
Baixe o material executivo e aprenda como desenhar conversas que realmente impulsionam decisões.
La mayoría de las reuniones de ventas no fracasan.
Simplemente no llevan a una decisión.
Y ahí es donde se pierde el valor.
Los clientes de hoy están más informados, son más selectivos y tienen menos tiempo.
No necesitan más presentaciones de producto.
Necesitan conversaciones que les ayuden a priorizar, decidir y avanzar.
Y, sin embargo, el 58% de las reuniones de ventas no logra generar un valor real.
No porque los vendedores carezcan de capacidad, sino porque las conversaciones no están diseñadas para impulsar decisiones.
“Los clientes no actúan sobre cada necesidad que reconocen.
Actúan cuando algo se convierte en una prioridad.”
En este breve informe ejecutivo descubrirás:
Por qué la mayoría de las conversaciones informan… pero no generan acción
- Qué es lo que realmente hace que los clientes prioricen y avancen
- Cómo crear urgencia sin dañar la confianza
- El cambio de presentar soluciones a facilitar decisiones
- Qué diferencia a las conversaciones que se estancan de las que aceleran el avance
Si tus equipos están experimentando acuerdos estancados, decisiones retrasadas o un pipeline lento, este informe te ayudará a entender por qué y qué hacer diferente.
Descarga el informe ejecutivo y aprende a diseñar conversaciones que realmente impulsen decisiones.