Three ‘Aha’ Moments That Happened When I Followed My Own Advice
This March, the world took a COVID pause – and most of our best laid plans did, too. My in-process New Year’s resolutions came to halt. Client engagements, designed to be physical meetings, needed to be reimagined. And, on top of everything, as an extrovert who draws positive energy and enthusiasm from in-person interactions with others, I wondered how on earth I would cope with staying at home.
I want to share with you how I took the advice I give to clients and used it to help my clients and my business continue to grow. Throughout my career, I have helped companies find opportunities for growth – leveraging marketing, product, strategy, client experience and sales along with human capital. Even with these challenges and a lack of clarity right now, I believe there are always opportunities to uncover.
As we adapted to our new normal, I decided to approach myself and my clients the way I approach the companies I advise – immersing myself in the current context, pinpointing opportunities, and finding solutions. Ultimately, implementing my strategy increased business – for my clients and for my own advisory practice.
Discovery: Understanding our new reality
My first step in advising companies is a short period of “discovery.” By asking c-suite executives a series of open-ended questions, I get to know the company, which enables me to find those hidden opportunities.
A week after the COVID pause began, I turned to my network for “discovery” conversations. At first, our conversations were personal – about our health and the health of our loved ones, our newly changed daily lives, and our questions about the future. As we sought for ways to help one another in a socially-distanced world, we began to open up about our business challenges, too. As I do in my advisory work with clients, I identified three levers for growth and found new ways to help my colleagues, their companies, and myself.
1. Return to the business plan – and then reimagine it
Changes in today’s world make the business plans we had in place seem irrelevant. Instead of revisiting it all at once, I recommend approaching the plan piece by piece – and revamping it accordingly. As part of my 2020 New Year’s resolutions, I planned to launch my business’s new website and complete a neuroscience-based certificate in executive coaching. But in March, I put both plans on hold because the timing didn’t seem right.
I redirected my energy from being out in the world to focusing on what was in front of me – bringing data, digital, technology and coaching to the table. In challenging times, we have to reset our perspective, focusing on immediate needs instead of future needs, and embracing disciplined execution that delivers short-term impact.
Now, I am fully certified as an executive coach and I have launched my new website – both of which became possible once I reimagined how I could fulfill these goals during this disrupted time. I wasn’t sure I could successfully do so while in Florida and far from my home in New York, but I was able to create a mobile office and find a great website designer. The key was breaking down each goal into manageable steps.
2. Identify disruption-oriented opportunities
We’ve all experienced an untold disruption since the pause began. I took the advice that I gave many of my clients – to look for shifts, find those opportunities, and leverage them in positive ways.
One of my clients is a company that specializes in technology platforms that sell recreational licenses, including fishing licenses. During COVID, people have turned to the outdoors for relief. And as more people seek the outdoors, we’ve seen their business surge. To capitalize on the increased build, I’ve helped guide their investment in digital marketing and marketing automation platforms. As a result, we have been able to position their business for the future by enabling customers to renew their licenses during the years to come.
3. Develop a “growth mindset”
In my NeuroLeadership Institute coaching program, I learned about the value of a “growth mindset,” where you can see opportunities, versus a “fixed mindset,” where you don’t. I’m a generally positive person, and for me, adopting a “growth mindset” during this time has meant becoming clear about the opportunities that resonate most with me. As an extrovert and opportunity finder, I thrive and produce in environments where I am an active participant – whether that means as an advisor to small- to large-cap companies, private equity firms and their portfolio companies, and startups or as an executive coach or board director.
In a coaching session, I found that a long-time CEO facing professional challenges was experiencing a “fixed mindset.” We discussed previous weeks when things were going well, identified some of the elements that led to success, and then uncovered one: his passion for writing and publishing thought leadership articles. In our conversation, he shifted to a “growth mindset,” realizing that with blogging, he could do what he loved while expanding his thought leadership and building his business.
Four months after our world changed before our very eyes, we may have lost our footing at times, but many of us have also built resilience. By taking my own advice and implementing the same plan I use to advise companies, I helped both my clients and myself find growth opportunities. I completed my coaching degree and launched my business’s website, which I invite you to explore here.
Thank you and be well.