Grace Under Fire, Leading with a Growth Mindset
When I sat down to write my letter this month, I started by reading back through each letter I’ve shared since the craziness ensued earlier this year. One month I’m talking about the importance of a press release and the next I’m telling readers not to panic…quite the contrast. Admittedly, it was tough rereading my own words because it made me relive some of the emotions I’ve felt throughout this unpredictable time in all of our lives—confusion, denial, frustration, and even anger. These are not fun feelings to wrestle with, to say the least. However, as I sorted through previous headlines, I was overcome with gratitude and pride.
From Finding Perspective in Times of Distress and Uncertainty in April to last month’s charge to shop, eat, and stay local (read about the #StrictlyStaycation contest), I realized how much this experience has challenged me as a leader in ways I never thought possible. It forced me to decide if I’m going to have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset—something Jeanette McMurtry addressed in a recent article in Publishing Executive (www.pubexec.com). According to McMurtry, we have two choices to pick from:
- Hunker down and hold tight to what we have so we can resume the life we once knew when the storm passes.
- Focus on improving what we have, look for opportunities, and prepare for growth so we can hit the ground running and operate even better down the road.
Many were probably tempted to choose the former, but as a business owner, I had to think about my clients, readers, staff, and the community we serve. With all this in mind, there was only really one choice.
I’m thankful for the growth that has resulted from undergoing a trial as rigorous as COVID, and I’m proud to say that not only am I not the same leader I was at the beginning of this year, but Strictly Business isn’t the same magazine it was either. We got creative and brainstormed new ways to promote different businesses and organizations, especially those in industries that have been hit the hardest. For the first year in our 27-year history, we ran a Women-Owned Businesses feature designed to inspire. In addition, we added a special Employing Omaha insert so that companies could highlight their career opportunities. When restaurants were closed, we hosted our Friends4Lunch and Friends4Drinks networking events on Zoom. When more people were working from home, we pushed our online digital flipbook so our clients remained just as seen as before. Right now, we are working hard to improve our website so that our audience can easily access all the amazing stories we share each month right from their phones.
If it weren’t for COVID, would we have ever done these things? Yes, I believe we would have eventually, but it’s amazing to see what we’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time because, well, we had to. I’m not only speaking for myself and Strictly Business—I’ve seen so many businesses in Omaha adopt and apply a growth mindset, and we must continue to do so if we want to come through this on top.
In her article, McMurtry referenced the March 2010 edition of the Harvard Business Review, Roaring Out of Recession, which reviewed winners and losers from three previous recessions (1980, 1990, and 2000) and found that businesses lead by a growth mindset rose above competitors substantially. In fact, their studies show that only 9% of businesses monitored survived and actually grew coming out of a downturn. What they did:
- Kept and even added staff instead of letting people go
- Remained committed to marketing programs
- Invested in assets for long-term growth
In his unpacking of McMurtry’s article on growth mindset, Freeport Press Author David Pilcher uses a phrase that I find to be very eloquently and accurately stated: Grace under fire. To me, this means remaining calm enough in a crisis to make smart decisions that will uphold the integrity of your business; and will ultimately do the most good for your people and your community.
As always, I wanted to encourage all of you reading this right now to stay local and shop local. Please keep that in mind while doing your holiday shopping and organizing events with family and friends. Happy Thanksgiving to all!