46 strategies for businesspeople to deal with tough times

by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Celebration, Collaboration, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Networking, Opportunity, Resources, Time, Tools

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 21 seconds.

TODAY’S IDEA: 46 strategies for businesspeople to deal with tough times

— From The Little BIG Things: 163 Ways to Pursue EXCELLENCE by Tom Peters

Excellence guru Tom Peters started his blog in 2004. Shortly thereafter, he started publishing “success tips” and this book, The Little BIG Things, is a compilation of them. It’s an easy read, and it’s full of great advice. (Any advice from Tom Peters is golden!)

Peters is a famous author (In Search of Excellence and many more books) and a sought-after speaker. For a seminar in Finland in 2009, he developed these 46 “Secrets” and “Strategies” for Dealing with the Severe Downturn of 2007. However, after reading through them, I realized that they easily apply to both good and bad times. And as it relates to rough times, they may be of any kind, not just economic. Personally or professionally, whether you find yourself in the midst of real turmoil or just having a bad hair day (see #13), I’m sure you’ll find some words of wisdom and guidance that can help. Here are the 46 secrets and strategies verbatim:

1. You come to work earlier.
2. You leave work later.
3. You work harder.
4. You may well work for less; and, if so, you adapt to the untoward circumstances with a smile—even if it kills you inside.
5. You volunteer to do more.
6. You dig deep, deeper, deepest—and always bring a good attitude to work.
7. You fake it if your good attitude flags.
8. You literally practice your “stage face” in the mirror each morning, and in the loo mid-morning.
9. You give new meaning to the idea and intensive practice of “visible management.”
10. You take better than usual care of yourself and encourage others to do the same—physical well-being significantly impacts mental well-being and response to stress.
11. You shrug off sh*t that flows downhill in your direction—buy a shovel or a “preworn” raincoat on eBay.
12. You try to forget about the “good old days”—nostalgia is self-destructive. (And boring.)
13. You buck yourself up with the thought that “this too shall pass,” but then remind yourself that it might not pass anytime soon; and so you rededicate yourself to making the absolute best of what you have now—character is determined, virtually in full, by one’s reaction to adverse circumstances.
14. You work the phones and then work the phones some more—and stay in touch with, and on the mind of, positively everyone.
15. You frequently invent breaks from routine, including “weird” ones—”change-ups” prevent wallowing in despair and bring a fresh perspective.
16. You eschew all forms of personal excess.
17. You simplify.
18. You sweat the details as never before.
19. You sweat the details as never before.
20. You sweat the details as never before.
21. You raise to the sky and maintain—at all costs—the Standards of Excellence by which you unfailingly and unflinchingly evaluate your own performance.
22. You are maniacal when it comes to responding to even the slightest screw-up.
23. You find ways to be around young people and to keep young people around—they are less likely to be members of the “sky is falling” school. (Naïveté can be a blessing.)
24. You learn new tricks of your trade.
25. You pass old tricks of the trade on to others—mentoring matters now more than ever.
26. You invest heavily in your Internet-Web2.0-Twitter-Facebook-“cloud”-computing skills.
27. You remind yourself, daily, that this is not just something to be “gotten through”—it is the Final Exam of Competence, of Character, and, even if you’re not a boss, of Leadership. (People often make great leaps in a short period during difficult times.)
28. You network like a demon.
29. You network like a demon inside the company—get to know more of the folks who “do the real work,” and who can be your most dependable allies when it comes to getting things done seamlessly and fast.
30. You network like a demon outside the company—get to know more of the folks “down the line,” who “do the real work” in vendor-customer outfits. (They can become, and will become, your most avid allies and champions.)
31. You offer thanks to others by the truckload if good things happen—and take the heat if bad things happen.
32. You behave kindly, but you don’t sugarcoat or hide the truth—humans are startlingly resilient, and rumors are the real spirit-killers.
33. You treat small successes as if they were World Cup victories—and celebrate and commend people accordingly.
34. You shrug off the losses (ignoring what’s going on in your tummy), and get back on the horse and immediately try again.
35. You avoid negative people to the extent you can—pollution kills.
36. You read the riot act to the gloom-sprayers, once avoiding them becomes impossible. (Gloom is the ultimate “weapon of mass destruction” in tough times.)
37. You give new meaning to the word thoughtful.
38. You don’t put limits on the budget for flowers—”bright and colorful” works marvels.
39. You redouble and re-triple your efforts to “walk in your customer’s shoes.” (Especially if the shoes smell.)
40. You mind your manners—and accept others’ lack of manners in the face of their strains.
41. You are kind to all humankind.
42. You keep your shoes shined.
43. You leave the blame game at the office door.
44. You call out, in no uncertain terms, those who continue to play the “office politics” game.
45. You become a paragon of personal accountability.
46. And then you pray.

ACTION

TODAY: Keep this list handy: you can print it directly from Tom Peters blog.

FUTURE: Keep coming back to this list whenever you need quick and helpful advice. It works wonders as a pep talk too.

Know someone who is having a bad day? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!