"Circumstances don't make the man, they reveal him"

Said the Roman philospher, Epictetus. In the throes of this global pandemic, we are seeing this come to light. There are stories of heroic efforts and selflessness by some, and utter stupidity and greed by others. In the main, I'm witnessing a lot more of the former, even by people significantly impacted.

I would encourage you to take some time to think what these circumstances will reveal about you? All of us have very different opportunities and obligations during this time, but all of us have an individual role to play. It's a time to think more deeply about what matters to us and to recognise how our previous circumstances have shaped us in relation to the way we think, act and consume. I'm pretty sure so-called reality TV shows don't seem so real anymore. Endless consumption of the latest throw away item or fast fashion has lost its allure. This is a chance to reset your paradigm and think about what really matters to you.

There are things that we can all do. As an individual you can take heed of the core message to stay at home and do all you can to limit the spread of covid-19. If you are furloughed or unable to work, what could you do to improve yourself or contribute positively both now and post-crisis? It's gratifying to see the overwhelming response with over 500,000 answering the call for volunteers in the UK. We can all do a bit.

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Have a think what skills you could offer or develop? Then make a plan to make this happen. It could be as simple as helping someone you know use technology to stay connected, or sharing how to bake a cake, or offering your skills for free to someone in need.

On my daily run, I struggled with the fact that whilst I've been able to get out (observing appropriate advice protocols) certain sections of society are currently overwhelmed with demand such as the NHS, the care sector, cleaning and PPE suppliers, food supply chains, internet providers, and many others. I'm grateful to these individuals and organisations and applaud their efforts but I feel like I wanted to help. What I realised is that this doesn't require a grand gesture but just doing something small and focussed.

As a business owner, I'm currently impacted as many are with a significant and dramatic drop in my usual work. Having taken stock and realised that my previous way of working isn't going to work at the moment I've set about to focus on what I can control and develop a new purpose and way of working so that whatever happens I emerge stronger in the long run. This enables me to help the economy post-recovery.

I've also looked at ways I can help beyond following the Government advice. I've offered free coaching support to the NHS, I've been working with clients to reshape their businesses, I'm sharing information (like this article) that just might help a few people and I'm running some free focused mastermind groups each connecting 6 business owners over the next 6 weeks.

I'm also learning new skills, reading new business books, listening to podcasts and updating clients as I learn. I’m making sure I look after myself so that I can add value and lessen my impact at this time on already stretched services. It didn’t seem like much at first but I know that if we all did a little something then collectively it will make a big difference now and post-crisis.

I'm making sure that I don't add to the confusion and uncertainty in what I post and consume on social media and checking in with many of my contacts and ensuring that they know they can reach out if needed. Sometimes just knowing that someone can reach you can be very powerful.

I hope that when you and I look back, we'll be proud of what the next few weeks or months revealed about us. Remember that circumstances will be changing rapidly. Keep updating a simple plan about what these changes might mean to you and respond accordingly. If there is one thing history has shown us is that humans are very resilient. However, those that thrived where the ones who had a why and a purpose. Set a new purpose for yourself and build a new routine to help shape it.

Stay connected to those that matter and reach out to your support networks or build new ones if needed. We’ll all need a pick me up at some point over the next few weeks. I hope this helps you; if it does feel free to share.  

Notes:

• Image by Gino Crescoli from Pixabay

• For reference, this article first appeared on Andrew Ramwell’s linked in page.

Context, Clarity & Change in Business Right Now

I managed to avoid mentioning coronavirus or Covid-19 in the title but it sets the context for this piece. This week has been unprecedented, and the current situation seems to be one of much uncertainty, confusion and a mass of information that if read out of context feeds more uncertainty.

As a coach and business consultant I thought it might be helpful to provide a simple 3Cs framework – Context, Clarity, Change - to help people think and react over the next few months. The brain likes logic, and a framework like this helps you to gather your thoughts and plan a response in what might be testing times. It works even better if you write it out on paper. Personally, I’d recommend starting a new journal or pad as you’ll be updating things as the situation evolves.

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Context

For now, in the UK follow the government advice https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus. This contains all relevant and updated information from across government such as health information, business stimulus information and any other advice relating to travel and self-isolation. Check in with a credible news source for relevant updates but limit your access. This is a fast-moving pandemic and the situation will change rapidly. It’s worth remembering that although we are all in this together, individually the context has a very different meaning for all of us and is shifting constantly.

Clarity

Stop and think through what you can do for you, your family, your job / business and your customers right now. Prepare immediate and staggered projected financial forecasts either personal and / or business related (work on this lasting 3-6 months so you are prepared). If needs be contact your bank, any lenders, landlord/s, supply chains and customers as appropriate; early and clear communication is key. As the context changes. work through your response and understanding of it as it relates to you and / or your business. You’ll need to set and reset at key stages. Even if you’re not immediately impacted do this anyway, as the business impact will continue long after the initial shock. Its better to have worked through a plan calmly and track it so that you can respond as and when needed.

Change

This is a time for reassessment and transition. You have an opportunity to learn develop and grow during this time. The ripple effect of this global pandemic will continue long after the current first shock wave. The way you do business might need to completely pivot and change. Depending on your circumstances the skills, business processes, supply chains and products or services you have may be useful, or pretty much redundant, right now and for the foreseeable future. Actively participating in your personal development will make a massive difference to you and your family and to your economic opportunities post crisis. You may need to support yourself, family members, friends and co-workers remembering that different people will respond differently to change.

Finally, take this situation seriously and respond accordingly. Now is not the time to binge watch TV but to assess and reassess your current role and / or business. This is the time to learn, develop, adapt and adjust to a new environment. It’s useful to be reminded of Charles Darwin’s full quote about survival:

‘According to Darwin’s Origin of Species, it is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.’ [1]

We are all in this together; some will feel the shock immediately, others later, but no one is going to be untouched. I’ll be posting a slightly longer view separately. In this, I’ll go into a bit more depth and cover how individuals respond to change and what we need to look out for to support each other.

Regards Andrew Ramwell

andrew@knowanddo.com

This article first appeared on Andrew’s LinkedIn page.

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[1] Megginson, ‘Lessons from Europe for American Business’, Southwestern Social Science Quarterly (1963) 44(1): 3-13.

A Leap of Faith... in Business!

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The phrase leap of faith came to mind recently on my walk along the canal path, a canal boat called leap of faith gently passed me by as I headed for my train to work. I’ve heard this phrase used frequently in business and often about start-ups, e.g. when someone takes that first step from whatever work they had before into founding a business; this is right, it is a leap of faith. However, I’m interested in this post to consider the future ‘leaps of faith’ we make as business leaders.

In our company we get to talk one-to-one with business leaders and these sessions often reveal fears, worries or concerns that leaders have. Our role is to work with that leader and leave them in a place where they have a plan to move beyond the concerns and can see the steps to success. One frequent fear for founders is that their company is getting too successful and as a consequence they worry about keeping pace with the business.

One young tech-entrepreneur shared this week that they realised after a few years that running a company they founded that had grown to nearly 200 people was boring. They did not want to develop it, they wanted to start another; so, they made a leap of faith and handed over to a CEO and developed a spin-off company from scratch once again. That was brave, leaving financial security yes but also recognising their limits and then pursuing their passion accordingly before they damaged their first business.

Another entrepreneur shared in the middle of a leadership course that she realised she must change to be the right type of leader her company now needed. She was nervous, uncertain and worried she could not do it in that moment but she saw that her business had changed and so she needed to stop being the ‘start-up’ leader and be a leader who had the skills to build a business and a management team around her.

Running a business is rarely a destination, it is a constantly evolving journey. Humans are a species that likes habit and routine; therefore, a leader can find it comfortable to rely on the skill-set that got them to where  they are now and no more. The thinking that a business needs to stay successful next year, is not necessarily what it needed last year. A courageous leader frequently re-assesses their strengths and weaknesses and how they set new goals to evolve. By definition the leader will have to initiate this change for themselves – no grown up is going to drop by and order it!

So, my takeaway question is:

When was the last time you took an objective look at your skills, knowledge, experience or influence on your business and set yourself the target to change once more?

If you want an idea on how to do this give me a call and I will share some tools we’d recommend. Supporting leaders to change is something my colleagues and I enjoy doing and sharing ways to achieve success if part of our reason for operating.

Have fun in your leap of faith and enjoy setting yourself a new challenge today!