Business Continuity Plan, Part 2: Taking The Lead
“It’s easy to be a leader when we’re surrounded by butterflies, rainbows, and pots of gold. Real leaders step up when the shit hits the fan.”
This morning, many people are walking to work, steps away from where they slept and from where their family is eating breakfast. They'll look out their windows at a view that hasn't changed and contemplate a world that will never be the same.
True: There is much outside of our control.
Also true: That has always been the case.
For better or for worse, we are no more in control now than we were before.
Or, to put it another way, we are in just as much control.
The difference, of course, is that now we know it—and can finally take right-sized, firm action on what is actually within our power.
I'm in full-scale command mode with The Lions Pride Cohort and with my team. Here's where we're focusing our energy with both our internal and external support efforts. Feel free to add them to your own action lists!
Communication. Daily comms are our #1 action—with our teams, our Cohort members, and our bigger community.
Community/Customer Support. Give, give, give with no expectation of return. Small businesses have built and sustained this great country, and small businesses will see us through—when we work together.
Clean Up and Catch Up. Time for spring cleaning! What can we clear out? What can we do better? What can we reinvent, repurpose, and revive?
Cash, Cash, Cash. Explore ways to expand reserves. We're bolstering and consolidating SBA loan information and other resources to help small businesses weather the storm. Let us know if you have anything to add to the pile!
Calm and Considerate. Move panic to the backseat (or the trunk!) so that empowered energy can take the wheel. Keep your eyes on the horizon, put on some good music, roll that window down, and drive.
Our reactions, our adjustments, our behaviors, our attitudes—these are what will define us in the days, weeks, and months to come.
Not COVID-19.
Your goal this week is to remember that.
Onward,
Bill
P.S. We had an AMAZING turnout at our Crisis Navigation Workshop. For those who missed it or want to review the content again, we'll be posting the videos shortly—in the meantime, head to The Situation Room for free resources, videos, templates, and more.
Take a break.
Give your mind time to recharge during the day. Enjoy an unplugged lunch, a tech-free walk, or a closed-door meeting with your mind. Block the time in your calendar.
Winston Churchill said, "Never let a crisis go to waste."
Are you making the most of the opportunities our current situation is giving you?
Enjoy more time with family. Having meaningful discussions brought to light by this global crisis. How are you using this time to better connect with and understand the people you love?
Focus on self. The key to surviving Coronavirus is a healthy immune system, which comes from sleep, nutrition, stress reduction, and exercise. How are you using this time to take care of your physical and emotional life?
Re-invent your business. Could this be the time your company ditches your legacy business model and pivots into a more profitable niche post-Coronavirus?
Take your company digital. COVID-19 will accelerate our digital lives. Here’s a chance to digitize, dematerialize, demonetize, and democratize every aspect of your business. How can you re-imagine how you deliver your business’ products and services?
Create a NEW business to help the world. As I teach my Abundance360 and Singularity University graduates, “The world’s biggest problems are the world’s biggest business opportunities.” How could you use emerging exponential technologies (AI, robotics, 3D printing, sensors, networks, AR & VR) to help prevent pandemics and tackle the resulting implications?
