These are turbulent and uncertain times. I want to share the story of a client who entered a new role, got knocked sideways almost immediately, and who learned some important lessons that I hope will be helpful to you.
Business turbulence stressing you out? This story might help
When Stella finally came back on the radar, she was exhausted, frustrated and discouraged.
She’s a senior exec with responsibility for a globally known, high-end brand. An operational superstar, she turns businesses around and drives strong growth.
We’d started working together a year before, as she transitioned into a current role. She’d read my article on new leaders’ 100-day plans and wanted someone to push her thinking as she onboarded into her new company.
But that never quite happened!
Very soon after joining she went incommunicado. I knew something was wrong: she’d paid good money out of her own pocket for us to work together, and we’d barely started — but she’d become impossible to contact.
So I waited, checking in with her regularly and seeing if I could be of service.
After two or three quarters, I got a response. Almost as soon as she joined the new firm, the ground had shifted under her feet. The corporate direction changed dramatically, the business was put up for sale, and now, after a few quarters of turmoil a surprising new owner had purchased the business.
She had been stressed and overwhelmed to the point that (oops!) she hadn’t even thought to call me for support! After all, her 100-day plan was in tatters the moment she walked through the door.
But I didn’t care about her plan. I cared about her. And we finally got onto a call, and I slowed her down. She was tired and anxious. Her hard-won product roadmap was in the air. The brand direction had suddenly become unclear. She felt unable to plan and organise herself in the face of so much uncertainty. Her long-term value-creation plan was at odds with the short-term focus of the current management, who just wanted to secure the payout that had been agreed as part of the transaction.
She was passionate about the brand, but should she just give up? Was it worth the stress? What would it mean if she failed? How could she regain her mojo?
Delivering results in a stable context is vastly different from navigating turmoil
We started talking. I pointed out that delivering strong operational results in a stable environment is very different from navigating a new direction in a complex and tumultuous setup.
What if she stopped seeing this situation as “stressful uncertainty that’s stopping me implementing my brand vision” and saw it instead as “a fun and interesting learning journey where there’s something new to create”?
An important truth clicked for her: anxiety and stress were things that she was generating herself, in her own head! There were just so many things outside of her control, that trying to control them all was simply a recipe for stress and frustration.
This was hard for her because reliably delivering on her plans was a part of her identity as a leader. But when an earthquake hits, and the ground is shaking, the old maps are no longer helpful…
In this environment, what did she control? Herself. So I probed: who did she want to be, as a leader, in this current phase?
The words that came to her mind were: visionary, curious, collaborative. These carried a sense of having no preconceived notions and being open to all possibilities. Being positive and engaged, and focused on exploring the options, adding as much value as possible, and enjoying the journey.
I encourage her to be committed to contributing as best she could, and being a champion for the long-term future of the brand, but to be unattached to the outcomes (which she couldn’t control). Bring her best, but hold it lightly.
I checked in with her a couple of weeks later. She said:
“It’s been amazing to learn to live in the moment and take pleasure from things, to be open to new ideas. It's brought more peace and fulfillment to each day.”
If you don’t enjoy the journey, who will?
Let me leave the last word to author Marshall Goldsmith. In our article “40 surprising executive effectiveness tips from world-class experts” Marshall said the following:
I recently asked three CEOs, “On an average day, how would you score on the answer to this question, ‘Did I do my best to be happy?’” All three replied, “It never dawned on me to try to be happy, I was just too busy.” As a leader, make sure that you enjoy what you are doing and communicate that enjoyment to others. If you don’t love leading your organisation, why would you expect them to love working there?
