The Recession: What I learned and where I am going

I have reflected back at the time deep within the economic downturn, when a salty southerner spoke to me at a trade show.  She said in her delightful southern drawl, “This is like a big wind storm, knocking the loose branches off the tree.”  I have carried these words with me since I heard them, weighing who was a loose branch and who remained a rooted tree.  I have also watched carefully to see if this wind was strong enough to topple those that seemed to be sturdy and stood strong. 

As time has passed, I have seen many branches fall, some get tangled in healthier limbs and a few that still dangle precariously high up as I continue to watch to see if they might fall.  In this evaluation, I also reflect upon what I have been through this storm.  I view myself  as the healthy and strong tree, but sometimes my view is only towards the roots spreading a foundation wider and further than before.  Other times, my focus has been towards the new growth, shooting out from limbs that may have been snapped off and are now directing themselves differently.  I think that it has been primarily my attitude that has served me best, because I have always believed that this was only a storm and I have been determined to be a tree and not something that could be shaken loose. 

With this being said, the recession has changed me:  my attitude, my perspective of my industry and my business, and  my expectations of myself as well as others.  I believe all these changes have been for the better.  Better, because I learned in the dreadful financial dive that my focus needed to be beyond the immediate towards the future.   This is not to say I neglected the ugly days, weeks and months of slow and dreary but to utilize time as a valuable resource, a resource that seemed to be readily available.  Some of this use of time was with criticism of those around me as “being cavalier.”  I maintain, this was not recklessness but rather strategic.   I truly believe a good manager and good management strategy is to know when to push and where to push.  The revenue stream during this time was sadly weak and pretty much was going to be what it was going to be, as there were so many variables out of my immediate control.  My income suffered just as much as everyone else, I just wanted to push out beyond it.  I rationalized that amortized over my 20 year career; the income dip was minimal as long as it did not spill beyond the anticipated recovery.

What I did with my time was three fold:  I evaluated my business from every perspective that I could think of:  financially, operationally, human resources, partners, etc.  You name it; I looked at it and then shook it all up and looked at it again.  Secondly, I tried to listened to everyone and read everything that was not opinion based:  I listened to my partners, my associates, and many others not related to my field.  I read about economic history and corporate strategy and culture.  I even read a hundred and fifty year old text book on popular delusions and mass hysteria of crowds.  And then, when I felt like the wheels were spinning and the monkey chatter in the middle of the night was too much, I partnered my self evaluation with all this outside information to scheme my recovery plan. 

My post recession strategy is rather understated and simple:  Create market share by combining traditional business methods of people skills, organizational skills and accountability with improved technology.  Additionally to benchmark evaluation processes and dedication to complete reasonable timelines.  This improved strategy does not change my course at all, because the core of by business is solid and enjoyable, but fine tunes what I believe in and demands more accountability of myself as well as others. 

What has ultimately changed within me is I had the time to figure out I don’t have time to waste or get off track.  In stating this, I also have renewed my commitment to not waste other people’s time nor let them waste mine.   I can only partner with those who want to partner with me and we will build business together.  So I have set a criteria of what will build business and keep time, energy and money flowing forward:

• I am going to only work with those who are credible:  People who are good to their word, dependable, and reliable.
• I am only willing to work with those who are positive, innovative, push hard, work hard, have fun and get the job done.   
• I am seeking to work with those who challenge me even if we disagree and trade off leadership with one another. 

And as everyday fills up with the endless list of “to-dos,” I keep circling back to the task at hand and evaluate:  Does this tie back to my plan and does this fall within my three point criteria?  If not, it gets completely knocked off the list. 

It is easy to see that I have become even more determined to succeed, and less likely to be bogged down by the minutia of mediocrity that plagued business prior to the recession.  If I am going to be a tree, then I am going to strive to be the biggest, healthiest and most sturdy tree in the forest, because I have rid myself of the dead limbs.