Burying The Old Economy

You know those Five Stages of Grief? I have come to realize that I have been in mourning for our old economy (which I took totally for granted, by the way). The first stage is denial, then anger, then bargaining, followed by depression and finally, acceptance. Sound familiar? Grief isn't a clear cut process—I find myself still trying to strike a bargain—if I work 10 times harder, surely, that will fix things!

Here are some tips in getting through the process of grieving for the old economy and taking advantage of the new economy:

1.) Ask yourself which stage of this process you might be in. And what stage your employees or customers might be in. Are your employees depressed? U.S. job satisfaction is at its lowest level in 20 years! Are you doing anything to address that in yourself or your people? Maybe your company is doing great but your customers aren't. Is there an opportunity there? Are your employees angry? I feel like some of the customer service people I deal with are angry. You can't afford to have angry front line people.

2.) Move toward acceptance. Ask yourself: If it's not going to get any better anytime soon, what thinking and behaviors do I need to adjust? Do I need to look for other streams of income, perhaps radical ideas I've never considered before—partnerships, mergers? Who knows what opportunities might be out there? If this is the new normal, am I staffed correctly? I can't keep working my team to death if this is the way it's going to be. Don't assume your retirement funds are going to come back—what are you going to do about that?

3.) Here's an idea to jerk you into reality—assume it might get worse. Maybe you can use this as a way to actually re-energize your people (and yourself). When the going gets tough, the tough get going! Get the team (read family, or members, or employees) together and get input on what could be done if that happens. Use this as a team building event—hell, have a wake for the old economy if it helps! Create the idea that we are all in this together and we are ready for anything!

4.) Pace. You can't work your way though this if it's going to be around for a while—you'll get burned out and exhausted. The same is true for your people—part of that low job satisfaction is from feeling unappreciated and burned out. When leaders start thinking, "Hell, they should just be glad to have a job," they've quit leading.

5.) Re-examine your goals. Do you want to stay in and deal with the new reality? If not, you need to go. Sell the business, retire, find another job—whatever. If you stay in, rethink your goals given the new reality. What kind of return can be expected on investments? How many new accounts can sales people be expected to land? Has your mission changed?

6.) Realize funerals are really for the living. Our old economy died and we haven't even buried the body. We're still poking it with a sharp stick to see if it will move. It's time to leave the body and think about the employees you still have and how you can take care of them. Are they afraid of the future? Over worked? Are their spouses unemployed—how are things at home? How are you? Depressed? It's time to take care of the living.

This is no longer a sprint through the recession, it's gonna be a marathon. And there are some big hills yet to come.