Lost in the Jungle

"Honestly, I am in a "state of lostness" in today's economic crisis.  I am lost in what my company's business direction should be heading in order to pull through these tough times.  My team of people is equally lost, bewildered, scared and with morale at an all-time low. Since the middle of last year, my business profits have plunged more than 35%.  How do we prevent further business losses, and to stay above ground and of course preserve our sanity?"

 The Coach says:

Leading in times of turbulence and ambiguity is what modern leaders need to accept as the way of life for a long time to come.  This is not new because the world has been in this sort of instability since the turn of the 21^st century.  So the place to start now is to acknowledge and suppress it.  Do not be reactive but rather, take the lay of the land and see the circumstances for what they are rather than what you wish them to be.  In doing this, you need to distinguish what is clear and not clear about the situation.  Share with your people, the boundary of clarity and lack of clarity.  Then you can fill in those gaps (together with their help) with real information on what you want to do, and tell your people what is expected of them.

 The Bottomline:

Acknowledge ambiguity first and then decide what you do not know and what you know.

Powerful Questions:

• What is it that you are not clear about? Define them.
• What is clear to you? Define them.
• What will you say to your people? What information do you need?
• What do you expect from them?