According to a Harvard Business Review article ‘Managing Uncertainty – The Importance of Resourcefulness’ by John Baldoni (13.1.20) – he says we need to ‘Turn Innovation Inward’.
He writes:
‘Resourcefulness is about optimising what you have to work with. Innovation is not just about creating something new; it also applies to making old things work better. We diagnose problems and figure out what tools and materials there are at hand to fix them. Call it resourceful innovation.’
This attitude of a mix of optimism and resourcefulness, is going to pull you and your team through. At Smarter Selling we talk a lot about this as ‘Mindset’. It’s a mindset game and right now, more than ever, mindset is what is going to get you and your team through.
For leaders it’s being aware of your projected feelings: if you are reacting, panicking and shouting orders – this comes from a place of anxiety and fear. Maybe you are calmly pivoting your strategies, speed planning, creating ideas and moving forward with your focus on directives for succeeding.
When under stress we look to the people in charge.
Right now your team are looking to YOU for direction. Direction on how they should feel, act and behave. Direction on what they should do. They are watching your every move, picking up on everything. Watching and listening closely to your demeanour, language, tone, how you are standing, how you are behaving and reacting. They will be deciding if you are stressed, panicking and worried. If the person in charge is calm then the team will also be calm.
So, although internally you may be screaming ‘get moving on the phones/video conference and get in every piece of business out there – hurry!’, what’s needed is that fine balance between inspiring the team, motiving them to move quickly plus bring in a level of calmness and ‘business as usual’ attitude.
Resourcefulness comes from reaching out to your clientele, having a short, concise powerful message that lands with clarity.
We are conducting coaching and leadership programs online on how to handle and unify a team through unexpected challenges.
- How to be calm, reasonable and rational
- How to get the team moving quicker
- How to make sure the team are armed with the right mindset and attitude
- How to ensure your team are having the right conversations
- How to make sure the team are able stay positive
Charmaine is the Director of Smarter Selling, a leading sales expert running sales training and coaching programs conducted by video conferencing, workshops and online.
Smarter Selling is sales and mindset coaching for high performing leaders and teams