Pulling the duvet firmly over your head and pretending the big bad world isn’t really there might work when you’re 7, but by the time you’re 47 it’s just not an effective strategy any more. The monsters just don’t go away; indeed, they get uglier. 

Blame

Excuses

Denial

The cosy cornerstone of this approach is that no matter how bad things are, it’s just not your fault; there is a fall guy, but for once, it isn’t you.  It can’t be because that nice Mr Peston from the BBC has told you time and again that it’s either the over-weight Americans in their vastly over-mortgaged houses or “Bankers” – and how satisfying to really call a spade a spade  - “Merchant Bankers”… 

So blame is great; you can wallow in it like a down filled duvet, you don’t have to do anything but occasionally lift your fingers out from under the covers and point.  If, however, that finger should uncomfortably begin to point in your direction there’s always a fall back – Excuses.  This is a fantastic opportunity for the creative to really bring their talents to bare; to fully employ all the creativity to best affect – you know the sort of thing; “The dog ate my homework”.

Occasionally, when even an approach as sophisticated as this falls flat, its time for Denial.  An assertive approach is the most convincing and assertiveness skills courses are available should you need help – but who are you really trying to convince…? 

The last resort is just to snuggle deeper, pull the duvet even more firmly over your head and just hope it’ll all go away... Last one out turn the lights off.

If BED is your strategy for dealing with the recession, that’s the path you’re on; a fast track to bedlam. A tougher but more productive strategy is to get out of bed and activate the R3 approach; to be

responsible,
resilient
and resourceful;  

Accept that times are tough, but first and foremost take responsibility for dealing with it; if you buy in to the basic principle that you can make a difference, you will always find ways to capitalise on opportunities and to seek them out when everyone else is taking cover.  

Many of our best known businessmen have previously failed but kept at it.  By the time he was thirty, Peter Jones from Dragons Den had made and lost a fortune, but he didn’t give up; he started again and redoubled his efforts learning from his previous mistakes and experience.  Resilience is one of the corner stones of success; there will be set backs to overcome, accept it, learn from them and improve.  The right mind set is a great asset.

Be resourceful – More than anything, this means fully utilising the strengths and resources of your organisation, and above all else that means the creativity and talent of yourself and your people. In an environment where many organisations could be facing the spectre of redundancy, what impact would a 10% improvement in the performance of your people have on the bottom line and your ability to ride the storm?  For some time now in seminars and presentations I’ve been asking people to rate their own personal effectiveness and the results are interesting; its totally unscientific but on average people rate their effectiveness around the 60 to 70% mark; plenty to go at there. 

Of course, personal performance and effectiveness is not just about how you do things (which is what people really think of when I ask that question), its also about what things you do – and that’s often where the greatest gains can be made and where being resourceful and creative can have such a massive impact. 

In essence, don’t just work harder, work smarter.  Suddenly 10% doesn’t seem very ambitious does it?

So how do you do that?  How do you take responsibility when everyone around you is taking the easy option?  How do you learn to become resilient when some of the set backs are really painful and how do you access all the talent in your company to best effect?

An on-going relationship with an independently trained and certified coach is THE best way to get the most out of yourself and the key people that work for you.  Coaching builds on strengths and leverages both the strengths of the individual and the organisation to achieve meaningful objectives.  It works by helping to increase awareness of the real issues at both an individual and organisational level.  This offers better, more informed choices and ultimately better decisions and results.  Good coaches also hold their clients accountable and really help them to drive their businesses forward; top athletes don’t use them for the fun of it and you only have to look at the Olympic success of the UK cycling team to see the effect that great coaching can have…

Most coaching clients say that the greatest benefit they get from working with a coach is a different perspective on what they do; being forced to step back from the day to day, lift their heads and address the real issues affecting themselves and their business using all the strengths and creativity at their disposal.  Can you honestly say that you’re doing that at the moment?  What would it be worth to you if you did?

And finally, some good news!  The government get it too; within the North West there’s an unprecedented amount of funding available for small businesses for both coaching and leadership development. 

So if you could be more responsible, resilient and resourceful, what would that mean for you and your business and how might you be able to turn the threat of recession into opportunity?  Surely it beats staying in BED?

Contact your nearest Ology Business Coach now.

Written by Andy Key, Ology Coach, Macclesfield, UK

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