EM 168 | How to Thrive in Uncertainty & Difficult Times

In this week’s Executive Minds, co-mentors Kevin Jennings and Jeff Henderson have a riveting conversation on how to thrive when the world is just trying to survive. The discussion touches on what it looks like to lead with care during a difficult season. What if there was a way to use this period of uncertainty to prepare you for greatness in the days to come? Well, Kevin and Jeff help us look inward and come to insightful revelations during this episode. Tune in!

Links + Resources (n/a)

Three Takeaways:

How to Use This Time to PivoA great politician never wastes a crisis. This saying doesn’t apply to politics alone, but also the business world. A crisis can be leveraged to make vital and necessary changes for the health of your business. This is a key time to pivot and refine who you are as a company. Ask what things do you need to start or stop doing? As you cut back on expenses, you should ask how necessary were those going forward. Also, smart companies are asking what do we want to be known for in this season and beyond? How can we be the best company for the world? Is it making different products or providing new services? Perhaps you need to reorient your workforce in a fresh way? Even if these changes are short-term, they might lead you to long-term innovation. In short, create a business that adds value to people and solves a problem for someone that makes their life (and the community) better!

How to Let Tough Seasons Shape Us

Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish”. Crafting a vision for your life will anchor you during this time. It requires time, introspection and effort. Set aside some time to write down what you want to be known for in 5 or 10 years from now. Then, take some more time and honestly think about what you are known for at this moment. Where are you and where do you want to be financially, relationally, and physically? And once you identify the gap between these two positions, you can start to think about ways to shrink the distance. Life’s storms can serve as blessing. It can be hard to see it while going through it. But whether it’s health scares, job crisis, economic downturns, etc., they can shape us into the successful men and women we want to be in the future if we are willing to put in the work.

How to Use This Time to Help Others

There’s a couple of important steps that can be taken during this time in order to have momentum in helping others. First, give yourself permission to grieve those things that have been lost. Many of us have lost revenue or jobs or worse during this time, it’s appropriate and necessary to lament. Use this time to count the cost. Write them down with specificity. Mourn. This is a healthy step. If you don’t grieve well, then it will impact you as well as those closest to you. It will also help you be a more emotionally sensitive leader. Secondly, provide a sense of calmness. Being a calm leader, husband, wife, or parent enables you to make the best decisions while providing confidence for your team. This doesn’t mean that you deny the crisis or stick your head in the sand. But to paraphrase Rudyard Kipling, keep your head when everyone else is losing theirs!