If you watched one of my recent videos, you may have noticed one thing senior leaders should NOT be doing right now; hunkering down and waiting for this to blow over. For those of us who have read the bestseller, ‘From Good to Great,’ by Jim Collins, you may be familiar with the tyranny of “OR” and the genius of “AND.” Yes, we are facing uncertainty, but it’s not a time to do this OR that. Many leaders are making choices between multiple business objectives and choosing one of them when they should be choosing multiple. May I add some empathy; I know it’s not easy right now.
Frank Sinatra’s last major interview was 1988 with Larry King. Frank was arguably one of the most famous entertainers in U.S. history at the peak of his career. In 1988, he had gone many years without a public interview. The first question Larry King asked him was, “Why Frank, why did you come on this show?” After all, he wanted to know the mystery behind the man who did it “his way.” Frank was not complicated about his answer, “Well Larry, because you asked me to.” Larry King’s wild secret…he asked.
How can Senior leaders apply wisdom from Jim Collins combined with the revelation from Frank Sinatra’s last major interview? Yes, now is the time to take many of the conservative, life-saving (figuratively and literally) measures you are taking. But what else can you be doing or asking for? Are you looking to grow your 3rd party management portfolio? Many leaders are making the assumption owners aren’t making any changes right now. Are you interested in consolidation? Perhaps buying another company, or selling yours? Many leaders are assuming that type of movement won’t happen over the next 30-90 days. Now is the time to initiate those conversations and find off-market opportunities, especially when your competitors are sitting back on their heels overwhelmed by the fluidity and uncertainty of this situation. Let’s face it, by the time your competitors get back on their toes, the deals will be more difficult. Are you on a hiring freeze? I can say with certainty some candidates will talk to you today who had a 0% (ZERO) chance of speaking with you 60 days ago. Not because of you. Because they were untouchable. The “purple-spotted dinosaurs,” the “mythical white unicorns” who float on clouds and walk on water. Guess what, they will talk to you today. Every leader you/I know touts that talent is #1 to their companies success. You can choose to hire OR place a hiring freeze, or you can choose to explore top talent AND…fill in the blank. Hire. Not hire. In the AND scenario you give yourself the choice instead of closing the door to the opportunities that could emerge.
As it says in Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” You don’t have to have any religious bend to find practical wisdom in that today. Often we fear knocking on doors because we are assumptive in what the answers will be. When we knock on a door, we often have a vision of what it looks like on the other side. The truth is, often, the door you thought you were opening can lead to an entirely unexpected set of other doors, like tributaries to a river. Knock, open doors, and you will position yourself to move forward while the rest of us stand in cement or do the moonwalk until things to “blow over.”