What Surviving a Pandemic and Scaling Your Business Have in Common
What word comes to mind when you think about your business and the impact of COVID-19? Uncertain, afraid, shocked, vulnerable, unclear, angry, and hopeful are all words I’ve heard repeatedly from business leaders over the past six months. At the end of March, I launched Blueprint Strategic Advisory Partners and set out with the initial goal of connecting with and learning more about a variety of businesses, their leaders, their successes, aspirations and of course their challenges. I did a whole lot of listening and while some of the stories were heartbreaking, many were hopeful and inspirational. I also noticed some trends emerge.
The business leaders I spoke to with the most positive outlook since the pandemic, all had the following three things in common:
Their leadership team was organized and disciplined in how they operate the business.
They understood who they had on their team and how they contributed to the business.
They had adaptable, agile, and efficient marketing and sales teams.
These three similarities stand in stark contrast to what I observed from leaders with a less positive outlook. Overall, it’s easy to see how these three attributes help provide business leaders with a more resilient and optimistic perspective when faced with a threat to their business.
I think we can all agree that the pandemic sucks and has created many challenges and obstacles for our businesses. But let’s face it, as business leaders, we encounter threats all the time. Our organization’s ability to address and respond to threats successfully are what help us to not just survive but thrive. The businesses and the leaders who are optimistic despite a pandemic are also those who will successfully grow and scale. Why? Because they have a blueprint for success. They have the foundation necessary to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of fulfilling their mission and vision.
