What do you do when a government policy significantly alters your business model? Slap the floor!
One of our clients, Jeremy Loch, was searching for inspiration for his team when a
government policy decision as a result of Covid-19 provided headwind to one of his main product lines and the corresponding revenue. Here’s his response:
1. Demonstrated vulnerability. Jeremy shared that he was struggling with the decision and was looking for energy and inspiration himself. In a newsletter to his employees, he stated, “Personally and as a leader, I struggled. With so many people counting and looking to me for energy, enthusiasm, and leadership, what do you do when you don’t have any of those things, or explanations, or answers?”
2. Shared the actions he was taking and a story that had meaning to him.
He listed all of the actions that he had taken thus far. He also shared the story of inspiration he had drawn from the Duke basketball practice of slapping the floor.
Explained in an article written by Matt Johnson, “in a hard-fought game, a simple plank smack galvanized the team and shot energy throughout the building like a firework. Over the years, floor slapping has been a signal to everyone it’s time to protect the house. It’s time to bring the emotion and heart that Mike Krzyzewski brought to this school in 1980. It’s time for a defensive stand on Coach K Court.
Jeremy shared how he used the practice. “I got up this (morning) and both mentally and physically slapped the floor. This prompt, this small action, somehow was exactly what I needed to lead, inspire, and fight again. And it isn’t a one and done thing. This will now be a fixture in my morning ritual. For all of us, use it as a tool, an addition to our vocabulary, and a prompt for additional energy when you need a mental jolt these next days and months.”
3. The next day he sponsored a leadership meeting where leaders documented their negative thoughts and beliefs about the recent turn of events on a notecard and shared with each other via Zoom Then using a soup can and I lighter, each individual burned the notecard. From then on, it was about determing the best path forward. .
4. Later, he led an old-fashioned high-school pep rally because his business unit markets to the school systems and it was back-to-school time. The event set out to share the small wins achieved since the earlier event and to let everyone know the team would solve this together. The pep rally was complete with marching band, cheerleaders, and a lion mascot.
You don’t have to lead a pep rally or share a sports analogy. Jeremy is an effective leader with a big personality and his approach may not resonate. What are you doing to motivate and inspire your team? How does your approach illustrate your leadership style?