Recession Proof Your Business by Leveraging the Power of Your People 2/3

This is my second article based on my recent 3-series LinkedIn LIVE: Recession-proof your business | How to leverage your team and create maximum impact without the need to hire new ones.

If you didn’t read or watched the first episode please check it out here: Recession-Proof Your Business by Leveraging the Power of Your People 1/3

* I consider the message way too important to let it there alone, so, I’ll spread the word around my platforms, including the blog. Please take notes and apply what I’ll share to your business. During the current times, these things can have a crucial impact.

You can see the LIVE video as well below:

Recession-proof your business | How to leverage your team and create maximum impact without the need to hire new ones.

All right. I promised you that today, we dig deeper into human nature, and I’ll give you the second danger you must conquer in your company besides FEAR.

I’ll start with a question: Where did we go wrong?

How is that possible that we are living the richest lifestyle in history but the unhappiest one?

The number of things we have today to make our lives better in each field is so inspiring just to think 50 years back, not to mention 100 or 500.

And yet, mental health issues and suicide are growing and growing and growing. There is an alarming worldwide decline in mental health.

Do you know the earliest age for suicide today? Maybe you’ll say 11, or even 9, and that’s awful by itself. That was the case some years ago when the Social Dilemma movie came out.

Today is five.

What can make a child want to die? 78.4% of them choose hanging or suffocation. It is absolutely heartbreaking to see the growing number of children and adults who just want to end their lives.

Now that we are talking about adults, your people, any kind of mental health issues and trauma can cause suicidal ideation.

Humans have flaws, and things to heal, and by accumulation, things can escalate very rapidly. Sometimes it needs a trigger to start the no-way back journey. An unaddressed situation, a boiling conflict, a misunderstanding, a personal struggle.

The vicious killer of the human spirit

But do you know, what’s the worst thing you can do to people? Yell at them? Be angry? Treat them badly?

It’s neglect. Neglect is the most vicious killer of the human spirit. Neglect accompanied by contempt is only a second away before an irreversible breakup. This includes your marriage or any relationships.

If you have this from your partner constantly, it’s over. If you see that mocking face between two people, that relationship is very broken. They would better yell at each other because that means investment in the relationship and that they care enough to get so emotional. But neglect and contempt. Oh, that’s another story.

No relationship survives to contempt, but neglect kills everything else.

Do you have neglect and contempt in your organization?

Do you have any person in your company who is or might feel neglected? Do you see contempt between any two people?

These are elements you just cannot tolerate. It’s like a bad apple in the basket. This will grow and spoil your entire basket.

Why would you risk that? Just because it’s business and they should know better, and you have other things on your plate? Well, it is good if you have, but if you tolerate such things, eventually you might not have so many things to do.

If they don’t see themselves in your vision, they will act like a misfit and they won’t push their best to overcome what they have and get better.
Your business is people, and it doesn’t mean you need to pamper them like little children and make all their wishes come true, but rather integrate them in a way that they cannot see their life without being part of your company. At least for the next two years.

And that means creating a climate where they can reach out to you in difficult situations. If they feel they can’t, that’s neglect, and they won’t be in any way invested with you. This brings us to our first A letter.

Approachability

This applies to all leaders regarding their employees. They need to feel that they can approach the top when needed.

I had a call with an employee on 31 December because I created the climate of approachability. That employee had to spend his New Year’s Eve alone because he just moved out of home, separated from his wife, and wondered what should he do with his life. The story could have unfolded in different ways from that point, right?

True leader traits

Now in this environment, you need to be an active player, a true leader in removing fear.

Hope is underestimated, but it’s the precursor of more. Without hope, you are done. Fear affects hope, and hope is a powerful word. Without hope, you cannot reach trust and beyond.

You need to understand that you must act as a leader and if you are a change maker you cannot isolate yourself and live the so-called work-life balanced life.

There’s no such thing. But it gets easier once you change your perspective and you see yourself as a servant, focused on the bigger mission, the good you can bring into this world. So use appreciation and gratefulness.

Gratitude & Appreciation

Appreciate the fact that you are in a power position where you can impact lives, and that people are willing to work for you, spend their years, lived next to you and help you create that future you always wanted.

You have so many things to be grateful for having such a privileged position.

Being grateful, and appreciating what you have by being approachable can be a great cure for hidden toxic issues that are constantly appearing in any living organism and a business is a living organism, the sum of the people inside.

And yes, you can have wonderful vacations, hobbies, and fun, but you can also feel the fulfillment of your calling and mission doing such emergency calls and actions.

No one thought the war was possible during our times, and yet, here we are. If you are a player in this war, you couldn’t say. “Hey, I’m on vacation. I’ll solve this when I’m back.”

The same applies to your company. But it won’t wear you out as much if your focus and heart are in the right place.

Build a climate where people feel good and safe

The climate of approachability between employees and management, up to the top is a top priority together with eradicating any kind of neglect and contempt from the business.

A climate of appreciation, gratefulness, and approachability solved the second two anyway and supported people will feel safe enough to start doing their best. Solving neglect will help with the sense of Belonging, and here is the B from the equation.

Conclusions

Now combine this with the previous lessons learned in my first episode where you took out fear and now neglect. It might sound simple enough, but just imagine your company, or any company without the emotions of fear and neglect, contempt lurking in it.

This will cause a chain of reaction where true potential can grow unaltered. Where mental health has a good ground to be balanced.

Now you have some super powerful ingredients. You cultivate hope, approachability, and belonging while spreading gratefulness and appreciation around. In this environment, fear with contempt will need to leave the house. They are no longer welcome.

5-minute assignment to recession-proof your business and (re)connect with your employees

Take a moment and identify the most neglected person in your company. If you’re not sure talk with your co-founder, another manager, someone from HR, or someone who should know.

Reach out to that person in yesterday’s fashion and say the following, write this down. Don’t forget to set up the context. Always.

“Hi J, do you have 5 minutes? I really wanted to check on you for a while because I know we didn’t talk for a long time, and I’m sorry for that. Is there everything OK with you? Are you missing anything? Do you need something from me and us to make you feel a strongly appreciated member of our tribe? I really want to know and listen to what you have to say.“

And then just listen, truly listen.

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I’ll end this series by showing a framework about how to integrate what I shared with the most important elements that your people need to thrive and give their best with joy and gratitude. If you’ll want more you’ll be able to schedule a strategy session with me to customize all this to your business.

Please feel free to share your findings with me. I would love to hear them.

And now, I’ll leave you with this quote:

“The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved. “

Mother Teresa

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Cristina Imre – The Founder Coach That Gets You & Takes Your Success to Heart!

*On a mission to be the Secret Weapon behind those business successes and founders that lead our world into the future.