Business Resources
WANTED: OPTI-REALISTS
By Pamela D.A. Reeve
Make it stop. It is so bad that the news that we’re still losing jobs, but at a slower rate is now reason for celebration. The newspapers (those which still exist), television and online media continue the drumbeat of “bad times—bad times—bad times”. Despite this, we as leaders are called upon to keep things going, to be inspirational, to keep it all together. As leaders of companies, divisions, groups and institutions, how do we accomplish this?
First, let’s get a little perspective. Things are very difficult for most organizations and their leaders right now; but for most of us these times are not life-threatening. So I looked at such a situation to see what we might learn from that extreme experience.
In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins describes the unimaginable (at least for me) 8 years of torture in the Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam war endured by Admiral Jim Stockdale and hundreds of others—with no prisoners’ rights and no deadline for return. Many died, he survived. When asked “Who died?” Stockdale said, “The optimists, the ones who were sure they were getting out by Christmas or Easter”. Admiral Stockdale’s advice based on his experience is this: “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end---which you can never afford to lose---with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they may be.”
In other words, optimistic in the long run, realistic in the current moment, what I would call being an opti-realist. (By the way, I thought I had cleverly coined a new term, but I found an early use of it in 2006 in Ground Maintenance, the trade journal for those in the golf course and playing fields trade—don’t’ ask).
So here are a few thoughts on how we as business leaders keep ourselves and our organizations in the game, even when it seems the rules are changing and someone took our cleats:
Check that Attitude: It’s tough right now, but we’ve had seventeen recessions and seventeen recoveries since the ‘great’ one. No reason to think we won’t have a recovery this time. Let’s use our energy toward recovery, and not create self-fulfilling actions in the downward direction. Remember, everyone is watching you.
Keep Moving: Keep making decisions, keep investing and innovating (even if less than you’d like), keep getting things done. Many companies freeze during times like these unable to make any progress; not a good idea.
Don’t Mistake Strategy as a Luxury: It’s not just about cost-cutting and survival tactics. Now is a great time to position your organization for success as things improve. It’s a time to re-think your approach, reenergize customer/client/member relations, reassess pricing and positioning.
Stay Connected: The tendency to hunker down in times like these is very powerful. Keep your professional and personal relationships vibrant—this is the time they are most valuable. In addition to keeping your own spirit up, you will undoubtedly gain insights and new contacts.
Stay Healthy: Eat right or not at all. Take your vitamins. Find a way to move at least a few times a week. What good are you laid up in bed or functioning at 40%?
None of these things will change the realities of the current environment; but they will keep us going and help to prepare us for the better times which can be certain are ahead. We’re the head opti-realists.
Pamela D.A. Reeve is the Chair of the TCI Board of Directors.
