Be a Hero

I was working with a client recently and we were talking about the direction of their organization.  In the midst of relocating their headquarters this client is dealing with a significant downturn in revenue.  The leadership shared that a meeting was called with major donors and stakeholders within the next week to share with them the specifics of the downturn in financial condition of the organization — WITH NO ACTION PLAN.

In every action movie thriller the main character seems to get themselves in a jam while rescuing someone in distress.  Just when it looks hopeless and the rescued character is about to give up the hero says, “Its okay, I have a plan.”  Instantly the rescued character is calmed and the hero can focus on the task at hand.

My immediate advice to my client was to do whatever it took to pull together some sort of action plan to include in the presentation, something to assuage the fear and uncertainty I knew would appear within the donors and stakeholders.  Just like a movie: employees, donors and/or stakeholders NEED you to have a plan; something they can point to to calm their fears.  Someone in leadership needs to get a plan together and communicate it.

If you are in leadership: Be a Hero.  Use your position and influence to continue your mission and move your organization forward by communicating your plans to deal with crisis.