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December
2001
SHIFTING
UP IN A DOWNTURN
September
11, 2001 may be the most intensely memorable event in recent business
history, yet the market downturn began in 2000 with the collapse of the
dot.coms. These events are a call to re-examine the nature of work and
business. If you’ve been trying to please the market analysts instead
of staying focused on your organization’s purpose and mission and
your customers, it is time to rekindle your courage to balance people,
environment, technology and profit.
It’s also time to re-examine what it means to grow your business.
The emphasis on growth over profitability has tripped up many companies
and burned people out.
In some organizations, people's anxiety about their personal, organizational
and global future has escalated to behaving reactively to the market.
In my post-911 "Embracing Change" talks to industry professionals,
audience attendees have said to me, "The events of 9/11 made me wonder
what I'm doing with my life, why I'm in the business and what I should
be doing." My response is, "In the best of times, you should
know what your life purpose is and why you're in the business you're in,
because if don't, you may be steering in the wrong direction."
Thoughtful reflection, vision and planning are crucial when business is
good. Accelerating these activities is like the shift stick in your racecar
when the market moves down. Here are 3 key actions to take as you close
out the Millennium Year and move into 2002:
1. Check Your Compass and Point Your Sights to the Next Mountain
Gather your executive team together, reaffirm personal and organizational
values, and assess high performance low impact issues. Don't succumb to
the temptation to complain about the situation. Instead, look for the
opportunities in going "cross country" to the next mountain
instead of taking the usual paths you have always used to reach this state
in your business. Evaluate your resources--human, environmental, technical
and economic for new possibilities to reduce resource use, increase value
to society and the environment and improve your bottom line.
2. Exercise Your Strategy Muscles
Going over uncharted terrain requires different muscles. Get in shape
by exercising your creative and strategic thinking cells. If your organization
lost out in the Internet game or any other recent trend, assess the learning
and refocus your energies on answering these questions:
What makes us unique?
What's the value we bring to our customers?
How do we deliver that value?
How are we walking our talk?
How are we making a difference in the world for the better?
During the market slowdown, run a strategic vision, strategy and planning
session with the executive team and get input from your employees. Make
sure it incorporates the human, environmental, technical and economic
capital quadrants working together in your business.
3. Be Response-Able, Not Reactionary
When leaders panic or react, organizations go through upheaval or collapse.
Assess the external changes carefully to determine whether they are cyclical
or structural to your industry. In the race to make it big with the Internet,
many startup businesses collapsed and some large established companies
lost the gamble trying to turn their brick and mortars into e-commerce.
Your ability to assess the situation, check internal and external resources,
align with your executive team and respond thoughtfully in alignment with
your personal and organizational values and vision, will help you shift
up in the downturn. Be sure all functional areas, including IT, are working
collaboratively and synergistically.
When we're backpacking or hiking, we're continuously going up and down
peaks and valleys. Every spot along the journey provides inspiration,
resources and chances for reflecting on how to reach the next station
on the trek. Don't be in such a hurry to reach the next big money peak
that you ignore why you're on this journey.
To become response-able, develop the 3 Spheres of Responsible Inspired
Leadership:
Know yourself and develop authentic, emotionally intelligent personal
leadership
Understand and make the best impact on yourself and your organization
Guide your organization to make the best impact on your community and
the world.
* * *
SUMMARY OF THE MILLENIUM YEAR WITH BARBARA CHAN
CONSULTING
Everyone we worked with this year is committed to learning, growing and
making significant contributions to their communities and the world while
staying profitable. Here are some engagements we had the pleasure of working
on:
While working with executives in a large corporation through intense market
upheaval, we coached them on emotional resilience and strategic action
as they reorganized their human capital to meet the changing marketplace.
Several non-profits developed their leadership capacity, restructured
their organizations and refocused their direction with our coaching and
consulting services. We helped them develop entrepreneurial muscles to
leverage knowledge and expertise to help others, seed offspring organizations
and generate new forms of revenue.
We're working in higher education to improve human performance in alignment
with institutional missions, develop teams, increase cross-functional
collaboration and productivity, and improve processes. We are piloting
coaching programs that help senior executives become top-flight leaders
who coach and mentor their people.
We've helped non-profit boards develop strategic vision, planning and
action with our strategic graphic facilitation methods. As a result they
are operating as a high performing team and guiding their organizations
with clarity and purpose.
We are working with city government, businesses, education and religious
institutions to develop effective ways of incorporating environmental
stewardship into their business processes, supply chain management, product
and service delivery and education. All of this is with an eye to improving
the bottom line over the short and long run.
Several entrepreneurial startups are benefiting from our coaching and
management consulting to launch and grow new businesses, recruit and develop
staff and build productive fun teams.
We are working with family-owned businesses to leverage resources and
position them for new opportunities.
We are coaching partners in other consulting firms to strengthen their
partnership relationships, achieve better work/life balance and keep their
consulting firms focused and on track.
In our private coaching practice, we continue to work with other coaches,
consultants, financial advisers, free agents and professionals in transition.
Our coach who specializes in creativity has been firing up people's imagination
and resourcefulness which is much needed at this time.
This year Barbara was one of six DREAM TV coaches appearing on television
to demonstrate how she helps entrepreneurs launch their dreams in 90 days.
This year we incorporated the Virtual CEO Executive Assessment with our
Graphic Strategic Facilitation process to help organizations laser to
the heart of their business and move them faster to strategic game plans
that work. Our clients continue to reap performance benefits from our
individual assessments and executive coaching.
This Millennium Year has been one of Embracing Change, and helping people
and organizations understand the interdependent web of people, environment,
technology and economics. Organizations that play an integral and dynamic
role in the continuously changing complex systems will lead the way and
thrive.
OUR STRATEGIC VISION FOR 2002
Our vision is to help your people and organizations thrive and generate
positive results with our whole systems approach.
Whether you’re in a Fortune 500 or Future 500 corporation, startup,
mid-sized company, education, non-profit or public agency, are a free
agent or professional in transition, we are committed to bringing our
passion for people, planet, technology and profit to every engagement
with you.
* * *
INQUIRY
Our last inquiries for the Millennium Year:
What will inspire you to be a responsible inspired Trailblazer in 2002?
* * *
We feel grateful and honored to support and witness the forward movement
and growth of each leader and organization we are privileged to work with.
If you want to explore how we can be of service to you and your organization
in 2002, please click here or
call us at 510-233-0580 for a complimentary consultation.
* * *
May this be the start of an upswing in your life and business!
Warm Regards for a Healthy and Happy Holiday from all of us in the Barbara
Chan Consulting Group!
Barbara J. Chan
Trailblazer
If
you want to know how to bring more spirit and love into your life or organization,
click
here
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