Head in the sand – Many jobseekers suffer from Ostrich Syndrome and bury their heads in the sand avoiding the honest reality that things are not working. Some of these jobseekers are stubborn and stick with traditional methods. It is important to be honest and accept the truth. A simple review of activity highlights results and results never lie. Are you getting the results you desire? If not then it is time for change. This change will involve moving out of your comfort zone, injecting creativity to your approach and inevitably taking risks. For those jobseekers intent on sticking to unsuccessful approaches I recommend Dublin Zoo. For those who lack the know-how to change or are stumped by fear then please read on.

Is there a risk? – I prefer to see risk as creativity as this disguise makes it seem less daunting. Jobseekers must realise that if they are not landing interviews or job offers then there is actually no risk as there is nothing to lose. Injecting creativity into job hunting can help jobseekers get noticed and stand out in the crowd. Pushing the limits to increase visibility exposes jobseekers to more opportunities. Depending on circumstances this creativity or risk can be subtle changes or major overhaul. For those jobseekers lacking inspiration seek out SME owners, work colleagues, friends or career professionals – I get my inspiration from like minded business owners!!

Ready, Fire, Aim – Fear is another hurdle and a paragraph certainly doesn’t do the topic justice. I stole “Ready, Fire, Aim” from Jack Canfield’s book “Success Principles”. He indicated that too many people spend their time getting ready and aiming but never actually pull the trigger. Perhaps we should get ready and just fire. Then review and adjust our aim to get closer to the target. Some of your efforts will crash and burn but you know what I crash and burn daily. Rather than stop me it actually helps me because what others call failure I call learning opportunities. I believe there are too many fantastic and highly skilled jobseekers holding themselves back when a bit of creativity and risk taking could transform results. As Andre Malraux says “Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one’s ideas, to take a calculated risk – and to act.”

I will leave you with two questions. Firstly “Do fools back horses when job hunting or in Biz?” and secondly “Are you placing enough interesting, freakish, long shot, weirdo bets?” (Tom Peters) Interested in you comments and views …..

P.S. For jobseekers interested I am providing a FREE presentation at 6.30pm on 25th March sponsored by the Dublin City Central Library. The topic – “Job Hunting – Creative ways to increase visibility & land more opportunities”. For more information and to book a place email businesslibrary@dublincity.ie. You can also access me at Measurability Careers & Jobs Club.

Yesterday evening I called around and checked on them and when I walked away I smiled as I thought of the warm welcome I received and how much they seemed to appreciate my efforts. This got me thinking…………..there are lots of similarities between keeping an eye out for the elderly and looking after the unemployed.  But do we take on the responsibility of checking on our unemployed friends as much as we should? Probably not….

We all have friends that are currently unemployed.  Very often when a friend goes through the trauma of unemployment they tend to distance themselves from us. The longer they are unemployed the less “visible” they become, they rarely go out of the house and socialise. They may not have the money to go out, but very often the main reason is they don’t feel like going out. The thought of hearing their friends frivolous work woes make their blood boil….our problems seem minuscule in their eyes.  Yes, very often our friends are depressed.

Here are 6 things we can look at to support our job seeking friends:

1. No pity please – There is nothing more counter productive than to have someone reminding you of how unfortunate or tough your situation is.  Throw another log onto the fire of misery why don’t you? A client of mine recently said that he was on the verge of exploding with rage at his mother who constantly asked him how he was feeling.
2. Call in regularly – Imagine how you would feel if you were not working, the chances are you would not feel like socialising too much.So if a job seeking friend has been absent from the local pub or club recently, maybe it is time you pay them a visit. Your friend may not be a barrel of laughs at present, but interact the same way you always have and visit often,
3. Call and email – Pick up that phone and give your friend a call and send on that funny email that is doing the rounds at work to give them a laugh.
4. Listen – You don’t have to solve their problems, just be there for them and listen to what they want to say. A quote I have always loved is “The greatest motivational act you can do for someone is to listen.” Many job seekers are on their own all day with no one to talk to and more importantly no one to listen to them.
5. Talk about everything and nothing – Talk about how poor Ireland‘s football team were against Brazil in the second half and Britney Spears’s new haircut and have a laugh.  Oh how wonderful to escape from reality from time to time and relax.
6. Offer support where possible – Keep an eye out for opportunities for your friend. Email a job you see advertised. Set up a meeting with a contact that may be able to help. Send them an article that you read that might aide the job search etc.

So who do you know that is currently unemployed? And what are you going to do to help them?

This is something I have been banging out about for a while, but what the feck! happened to Leadership in this country?

Let’s call a spade a spade here, we messed up and we messed up big time. We had money and we had opportunities to use that money wisely, yet we managed (manage, yeah right!) to blow the money and waste the opportunities. Wide scale systematic failure! Construction! Banks! FAS! The list is endless. Our house of cards was just waiting to crumble, and Oh! how it crumbled.

Wait! Calm it down Niall; it’s now time to move on, right! Failure is good, it offers a tremendous opportunity to learn, to grow, to cop yourself on. Of course it does, but it appears that we may now waste this opportunity as the many that have gone before.

How can this be? Well it’s simple really actually. If the same people that squandered everything else are now the same ones expected to spot and take advantage of more abstract, more complex, more intelligent opportunities. What hope can there be? Their abilities have already been proven to be nil and there track record is a scandal.

Just to clear, I am not talking about a change of political leadership here that horse has already bolted. I am talking about a change of leadership full stop, or perhaps a more apt description might be replacing pretenders with the real deal. There is a glut of leadership talent in this country, capable people who would be prepared to use their talent and energies to pick this place up by its boot strings. I see it every other day.

The reality however is that this talent is not presently sitting in the right places, or holding the right offices. True potential is being weighted down by an establishment, which is brim full of insecurity, virtually talentless, and populated by people merely masquerading and pretending to know how to lead.

To add insult to injury, these limited and sometimes corrupt people are then rewarded for their failings. What kind of madness is this? If we accept that our systems are broken, then we must accept that the leaders those same systems produced must also be broken.

There is a wonderful opportunity here, it is a back against the wall opportunity, but they are the very best kind. Plodding along as we do is not a fix, in fact plodding along may even be the worst thing, because it may only prevent us from facing up to our realities, and really fixing this.

One recent example of extremely poor decision making that has come to my attention is the withdrawal of support for Dublin City Enterprise Board’s LINK! network. “The Link network is for startup business to meet up and share experiences, business tips, and sometimes just to talk to someone who is going through the joys and pains of starting a business” Read Alastair McDermott’s open letter to the DCEB board members or find out more at the  Bring Back LINK! Facebook page. Supporting start up businesses is about the singles most important thing that the powers that be should be focused on right now, instead they are cutting off another life line. Where is the rational thought in this?

Let’s not kid ourselves, the Tiger was a big fat lie, but within the lie was ample chance to do very real things, we blew it! Right now is a cold truth coming home to roast, but again there is a massive potential to really make change, change that may bring about a genuine Celtic Tiger. To get there however, we may very well have to re-invent the wheel??

I have had a number of job seekers come to me recently who have recently fallen victim to the misleading job advert and in some cases the job scam. They all have the same thing in common (just like I did in the late 80s) – They are desperate for work, have very little money and mounting bills, they think finding their targeted job unlikely, if not impossible and while something inside says “Don’t do it” they ignore their instinct and hope and pray it will be the opportunity that will solve all their problems. Yes, I find myself getting very angry at these chancers that prey on the vulnerable job seeker!

Here are a few points to ponder when looking at an attractive job advert –

• Study the advert - Does the job state a salary? Is the role commission only? If unsure try to find out before applying.  Research the company and see what people are saying about them. Are they affiliated to another company or do they trade under another name?  Does the advert provide a telephone number or web address? Steer clear of hotmail or yahoo type emails and PO Box numbers.
• You won’t get rich instantly – Avoid adverts that claim to guarantee you wealth, financial success or that will help you get rich fast. You might help a company get rich, but at your expense!
• Hold on to the money you have – Never send money. Some adverts will require you to send money for a start up kit or for training. You would not throw your savings into a blazing fire and sending money will often yield the same result as just doing that. In fact the fire option will be quicker and less painful.
• Check References – Ask for references if you are not sure if a company or job is legitimate. Try and get a list of employees and some of their customers. Then follow up and see how they rate the company. If the company is unwilling to help ask yourself why? I would even suggest standing outside a company’s premises early am and talk to staff as they arrive. Ask them how they like working there, how long they have been in the company and what the average time period staff in there has worked for. This can prove very insightful.
• Don’t make a hasty decision and think twice – If it sound too good to be true, it probably is! Read any offer you get very carefully.  I recently read a story about a candidate who received a job offer and a detailed contract. She was very excited and hastily accepted. Sadly the job did not exist and in fact she had never even applied for it. She had been dazzled by the number of failed applications she had sent. The contract had requested bank details so the employer could pay her. And well you can the guess the rest.

So be very careful out there and remember if a job seems to offer amazing earning potential in a short period of time.  Ask yourself this question – If this was true wouldn’t everyone want to work there and wouldn’t I have heard of this great company before now?

Look, Listen, Learn: Talking to the management team was the primary source of information for all new leaders – listening to what people had to say and trying not to jump to any conclusions – iteration, synthesis and ‘triangulating the view’, i.e. continually presenting back and confirming what you’ve heard.

New leaders also ‘read themselves into a role’ reviewing plans, accounts, budgets, forecasts, in fact any available literature – also need to confirm the veracity of this information. Sometimes, the greatest learning comes from finding that certain reports are not available, or up to date.

Accelerate your learning: Identification of effective advisors was the primary mechanism by which new leaders gained understanding of their new environment ( new markets, products, technologies, systems, structures as well as culture and politics ).  Advisors were both internal and external.  Internally it was not only the management team but also by going down a level or two to find out ‘what is really going on?’ and finding people who were key influencers in their area – this normally equated to people who were trusted by others.  Externally, briefings and meetings with customers and suppliers to get their view of the world – also in some cases with direct competitors.

Create Early Wins: The importance of early wins also emerged.  Changes can be small, cultural in nature, or even simple commitments – so long as results are tangible and can be achieved relatively easily.  However, they should be part of a plan, not reckless in any way and not simply ‘change for change sake’.  It was also important to ensure that these early wins do not close down any paths or become ‘regret moves’ and generally are not necessarily suited for high priorities.

Quickly Build Relationships with ‘the boss’: Building this relationship was seen as critical and most individuals actively tried to build a rapport with their new boss and also tried to create ‘an alignment of expectations’ - it is just as important to enable others to develop a relationship with you.

Get the Right Team in Place: Many new leaders are faced with inherited management teams or unionised workplaces with little choice over personnel.  In these cases the importance of understanding what you have inherited is paramount – it is vital to review the work histories of key players and understand what the ‘sacred cows’ are within the organisation. Regardless of limiting factors, most respondents felt it was important to get their desired structure in place as soon as feasible, and often new structure and roles were used as a mechanism to circumvent difficulties in relation to personnel changes or ‘trying to leverage internal experience and at the same time strengthen with external expertise’.

Get Communication Right: Transitional leaders were also very quick to get effective communication structures in place – many saw themselves in a state of constant communication ( verbal and non verbal ) and used every opportunity ‘to sell their message’.

Develop your Vision: All respondents also had a very clear ‘vision’ of where they wanted to take the organisation and in many cases created mental images of what they desired the future shape to be and communicated this vision to others, so that they could understand what part they would play in it.

Sharpen your Saw: Not surprisingly, many respondents actively worked on their leadership styles through a variety of approaches including executive coaching, extensive reading, feedback both from staff and superiors, and by selectively mimicking the behaviour of people they believe to be effective. Or, as one respondent put it, ‘shamelessly plagiarise any good idea’.

Transitional Leadership – The Practitioners’ Approach

So what about your own idea’s and experiences? do you agree with the steps above or are there others that you think would be beneficial to share?

Note: While this post can be read standalone, it is the fourth part of a ‘Transitional Theme’ and Part III can be found here.

This blog post is particularly geared towards women, but I know that there are some men out there who may also feel the same about the suggestions below – do let me know your opinion! Are women more affected and concerned with having a healthy work/life balance? Or are men as equally affected?

Throughout our lives we are constantly trying to juggle everything in the air, desperately trying not to let anyone down. This is a huge task and something that all female business owners strive to achieve. It is possible to have a healthy balance but it takes time and dedication to master. We need to remember: we cannot be everything to everyone all the time – it’s impossible. This is why we need to learn to prioritise and especially learn how to say “NO!”.

We are our worst critic – constantly reminding ourselves of what we lack and what we haven’t achieved. This frame of mind needs to stop! Develop a more positive state of mind, practise a few practical tips and you’ll find that anything is possible and those around us will feel valued too! Below are my top 7 tips to developing and maintaining a healthy work/life balance.

Tip One – Plan & Organise

The key to keeping everything going at once is to be organised and plan, plan, plan.  If you are a home-keeper as well as business owner, you are expected to know everything going on at any one time and if this is written down in a diary or on a calendar it will free up valuable brain-space!  Colour-code a diary so you know what is required and when and what action you need to take – this can prevent last-minute panics.

There is no point in planning, unless you take appropriate action at the appropriate time.   Allocate an hour each evening to work out what is required the next day.    You will know who needs what from your Planning Diary.    Prepare a meal plan for the week – bearing in mind what time you will be home – and make meals which complement each other from day-to-day.

Tip Two– Prioritise

In times of stress, you need to focus on the important things in your life – and if work and home life are the priorities, everything else must take a back seat.   It is only temporary.  Learn how to say No and not feel guilty about it.    It is vital that you spend your time wisely and you don’t suffer from burn out.   The little time you do have available needs to be spent on achieving your goals and supporting those close to you.

Tip Three – Communicate

With all your time taken up with juggling the work and home-life, other areas of your life may have to temporarily go on hold.   Be sure to take time to explain your situation to your family and friends – nothing is worse than not knowing why a friend fails to call for a chat or pop-in for coffee.  Try and make time when you can, but make sure to explain your situation, they may even be able to offer their help.

Tip Four – Separate work from home life

Easier said than done – but it is crucial that these two aspects of your life work do not mix.   Trying to be a parent and working on a spreadsheet for work or taking an important phone call during bath time is not going to help anyone – least of all you.   Quality time with your children and partner is more important than quantity.   Be sure to make them your priority at some point in your day – they will feel special when you dedicate time just to them.

Tip Five – Be Practical

Use your time wisely.   Work out with household jobs take the most time and find ways to save time.    Plan your meals a week ahead.    Keep a list of about 20 meals which you can refer to – again why try and re-invent the wheel?  Use the internet for food shopping – they deliver in the evenings and you will save money too – and saving time goes without saying!   Fold clothes as soon as they are dry – it saves on ironing.

Tip Six – Positive Thoughts

Don’t beat yourself up at the end of each day by dwelling on what you haven’t achieved – actually take time out to congratulate yourself on what you have achieved….. No one else will!    Yes, be aware of what else needs to be done – but by planning ahead, you really shouldn’t miss much.     Believe in yourself and however demanding everything is at the moment, it will improve.

Tip Seven – Get a good night’s sleep

If you don’t take time to wind-down before bedtime, you will fail to sleep properly.   It is essential that in the hour before you go to sleep you actually put yourself first.    This time could be spent having a cup of tea, taking a relaxing bath, reading a book or magazine or simply watching some television or a combination of them all.  Relaxation time is essential for your own personal well-being –  and for your family.

Use these tips to pace yourself and create a healthy work/life balance.  Be clear where you are willing to compromise and where you are not, and try and communicate this to the relevant people that it will affect. Maintaining this balance will create a healthy and happy business, as well as that all important home-life!

Two and a bit years ago, I had an idea for a business based on a perceived market need from my own experience as a professional services manager. I did some market research and had that need quantified sufficiently that I felt it was worth investing the time (lots of it) and cash (not an insignificant amount) to turn that idea into a reality. I had a goal, a purpose and a vision of what I wanted to bring to the market.

All was going well, but early in January this year, I started to feel “lost at sea”. Direction and focus seemed to be absent. This was after being dynamic and up-beat before the festive season. So what happened?

Simple! I went out to ask people to test what we had done and got some real and honest feedback. No longer protected by the sweet sounds of friends and family telling me what we were doing was great – I had real business owners and my potential customers giving me their opinions.

I had been so closeted in my own little world of creating something new and useful, that I had lost sight of the fact that some people would not like what I was doing and would tell me that or that they would bombard me with useful suggestions on what the product should do. I hasten to add that all of this feedback was done with the best of intent and goodwill by those who participated and I am extremely grateful (some of them are reading this post – you know who you are!)

So how did I react? Total panic! The concept was a disaster, it was too different to our competitors, it didn’t do certain “things that would be useful”, no-one would use it… blah, blah. There was total re-writes of functionality planned. Emergency sessions were held with my business partner (God bless his patience!). The family was driven up the wall…. and then….

I sat in a meeting with our delivery partners who simply said “your product is designed to do X – this was the vision you brought to us and it still makes sense.  Why are you getting in a panic?”

And that was all it took. Someone on the outside looking in to give me some perspective on what I was doing before I ripped the heart out of the product and put us back from a commercial launch by at least six months. Sure, all of the feedback was taken on board and some of the recommendations are being put in place. Will it be enough to get all of our beta-testers to come on board – nope! But this is ok, we cannot be all things to all people. We have to start small and grow ourselves as the market dictates over the course of time.

Now my head is straight again. There is a definite roadmap to commercial launch again and the panic is over. The lighthouse is in view and the rocks have been avoided (at least for this bit of the journey!)

Have you ever felt like this with your business? What did you do? Or did someone steer you true again?

Life is tough, business is tough and in this marketplace job hunting is especially tough. Rejection, heartbreaking obstacles and the word NO have forced many individuals to veer from their path to success. The side of this road is littered with the rubble of broken dreams, great ideas and hope. The sad thing is that many of these individuals were within touching distance of their goals.

So how can I succeed where others have not? How am I going to achieve my goals when others tell me it is not possible? Here are some of my thoughts on persistence and rejecting rejection.

“Fall down seven times, get up eight times” – This Chinese proverb is one of my favourite quotes. There will be many falls along the way but it is important to pick yourself back up. When you have a set back or face an obstacle ask yourself the following questions. How can I get around this? What can I learn? What can I do differently? Or if all else fails – What would superman do? There are many great motivational  stories and examples of persistence that can help inspire you. Feeling beat then read these stories/examples to help get you back on the saddle.

“No is a word on the path to Yes” – You should expect to hear the word “No” but this should not deter you or stop you. Two great examples from my past inspire me. There was the impossible task or persuading my mother to let me go to teenage discos. There was also the impossible task of persuading my school principle to let to train/play for the U12 Gaelic team when I was 9. With both examples I received hundreds of “No’s” until guess what? I was throwing my moves at the teenage disco and starting out my competitive GAA career.

“Measure what you want, not what you don’t want” – Keeping records of positive success will help motive you to deliver more of the same. Record and review every positive success no matter how small. Celebrate every success not matter how small.

As with all challenges in life I have to see the sunny side. I have set myself a very difficult task and I will face the temptation to quit throughout the next 40 days and nights. Having said this I can give myself a boost with a chocolate/sugar fix, drown rejection with alcohol and run around town like Gordon Ramsey with things are not working out as planned….

Remember NEVER QUIT & NEVER GIVE UP …….

Comments and views welcome …..

Let me clarify. Coaching has many definitions. I liken coaching to being “a structured conversation”. However, it means something specific to each one of us, whether we realise it or not, or whether we have previously given it thought or not.

Whatever Coaching means to you, here is what it is not:

Coaching Terminology can be confusing

• Coaching is telling a person what to do (we have friends and colleagues for that)
• Coaching is advising (we have consultants for that)
• Coaching is Mentoring (we have advisors for that)
• Coaching is Counselling (we have psychotherapists for that)
• The coach is in control (the client or “coachee” controls the process)
• The coach sets the agenda (the client calls the agenda and creates the action plans)
• Coaching is too expensive (if you are considering coaching, then you or your organisation are struggling in some form or other, so can you really afford not to employ a coach?)
• Coaching takes up too much time (Coaching is specific and follows a process. It is successful (like antibiotics) when followed through to course, thereby ultimately saving time)
• Coaching is a myth! (Coaching has been around for 1000’s of years, but it’s our obsession with naming and categorising things that suddenly it’s found it’s place in modern language)
• Coaching is new! (In Cork, Ireland it can be seen as the equivalent to “cop on”, otherwise known as common sense. Somehow, we have traded our common sense for reality TV)
• Coaching is common sense! (Yes, but “Why do we call it common sense when hardly anyone ever uses it?”)
• Coaching is a joke! (Talk to someone who has availed of the coaching process and see if they are laughing)
• A Coach must be qualified or experienced in the area they are coaching (coaching is a process, so it works in any situation. A coach will find their specific niche or area of expertise)

Anyone can be a Coach (as anyone can be a consultant, auctioneer or advisor). Personally, I feel people who are natural or adept listeners and empathisers make great coaches (the rest of us have to study and work hard!). Thankfully, Ireland takes the coaching profession very seriously and is now regulated by the LBCAI. Any Coach worth their salt will belong to this or the European or International community.

It would take a white paper to really explore this further, but I hope that the small list above raises some questions in your mind, and entice you to explore further.

What can you add to the list here?

We have all been in the same mode for what feels like forever…survival.  Everyone (almost) has been forced to tighten belts, cut costs, introduce pay cuts, reduce spend on ‘non-essentials’ like training and let staff go.  But if the first few weeks of 2010 are any indication there is an air of positivity about and some upward movement in sales and business generation.  If we aren’t ready for the upturn our problems may just be beginning.

8 strategies to help you prepare:

1. Business re-modelling – like most businesses you probably have quite a bit of spare capacity at the moment.  Instead of focusing on this as a negative why not use the time and the capacity to take a long hard look at your business.  And I don’t necessarily mean in terms of cutting costs because if you didn’t before the recession you should have a lean business by now.  But think in terms of the upturn that is sure to come (hopefully sooner rather than later).  How good are your systems and processes? Are there improvements and streamlining that can be implemented without over-stretching your budget.  I am not suggesting you make huge investments but that you look for low cost ways of improving effectiveness.  Take a look at your overall business model.  It may have worked well during the last boom but is it the right ‘fit’ going forward?  Make sure that the pain of the last 1 or 2 years doesn’t get wasted – take all the lessons you have learned and use them wisely.

2. Understand and manage your supply base – There are two issues here.  Firstly you need to understand your suppliers and their businesses and be fully aware of their ability to supply you into the future.  Will they still be in business?  Will they have the capacity? Secondly, this is the time for doing deals.  It is a perfect opportunity for locking in prices for a prolonged period – all it takes is a little negotiation nous.

3. Opportunity knocks – one of the biggest problems of a recession is that it is difficult to see opportunity and even if we do see it we rarely have the courage to go after it lest we de-stabilize our already shaky business.    The thing is though if you don’t start looking for those opportunities and gearing up to take advantage of them, someone else will.  And where will that leave your business? – bottom of the competition pile! Remember “fortune favours the brave”.

4. Use that brain power – The very practice of tightening belts and sticking to our core can stifle creativity and innovation.  After all there is no spare cash for trying out new ideas so why bother generating them?  This is a perfect time for brainstorming, building on combined brain power and stirring those creative juices.  Why?

• You probably have the spare capacity already and this is a great way to extract value and if not, better people can be engaged at a lower cost
• No-one knows your business better than your people – so listen to them
• If you stop being innovative, you and your people will have forgotten how by the time the economy recovers
• Downturns always lead to innovation and “the next big thing”
• Recession always leads to a bigger and better upturn

5. Invest in your people – this is the best time to look at your teams, their skills and capabilities and mould them to what you need for tomorrow.  Are there opportunities for cross-training and job rotation?  Now is a great time to concentrate on succession plans and developing your future leaders.

6. Engage staff – there is no doubt that the upturn, when it comes, will create churn in your people resources.  As soon as the labour market starts to loosen up and good people begin to get offers your business will be in danger all over again.  Unless of course you have looked after them well.  A recent discussion paper by ACAS in the UK identifies four areas to promote and develop employee engagement:

• Leadership - employees need to understand not only the purpose of the business but also how their individual role contributes to that vision
• Engaging managers – engaging managers offer clarity for what is expected from the employees, treat their people as individuals with fairness and respect
• Employee voice – employees’ views should be sought out, listened to and employees made to feel that their opinions count
• Integrity - if an employee sees the values of the business ingrained in the management team, a sense of trust is more likely to be developed

There isn’t anything new in this but it is a timely reminder that it takes nothing other than a bit of effort to engage employees, build loyalty and protect against “fall-off” at the first sign of a sweet deal!

7. Build a sense of hope

While I am not suggesting that you mislead people about what the future might hold it is definitely time to build some sense of positivity.  This will be a challenging task, when there is so much bad news surrounding us and every day can seem grimmer than the last. But as a leader you can’t allow your people to dwell on the negatives – you need to find a way to instil confidence and hope.  Put a smile on their faces!!

8. Take a longer term view

To a large extent living through a downturn is about survival.  And as such, businesses tend to shorten their planning process, focus on shorter term goals and make themselves as adaptable to the ever changing landscape as they can be.  But in order to come out the other side of recession as a strong and successful business, there has to come a time when you once again start focusing on the longer term goals and objectives.  One of the things you may need to consider is “Is it time to hire again?” It is great people that make great things happen so having the right team with the right capabilities should be a priority.  Try to do determine where your business will be in another 12 to 18 months.  What capabilities will you need to be successful and can you get ahead of your competitors in securing that talent?  Look around you – what are your customers’ plans and what are your competitors doing?

Being ready for the upturn will make the difference between continuing to survive and being a successful, sustainable business.  So what’s it going to be?