The greatest superpower that we all poses is choice. You chose every single day what to eat, what to wear, how to workout, what to say, and how to say it.
You have strong business acumen. Congratulations. But what happens when it all changes? I’m seeing a big shift in corporate America. There are leaders who think everything will return back to normal. There are leaders who think there will be a new normal. And there are leaders who will CREATE the new normal. Which leader are you?
Leader: “Everything will go back to normal”
You are the comfortable leader. Maybe you have been with a company for a long time. You traditionally have not rocked the boat. You haven’t had to; the waters have not been too rough. You look the other way when things go wrong, knowing that you will still have a job after the tide swings back to normal. You may be great at communications and letting people know what going on. You are most likely a great team member and people will rely on your soft words as a safe place to land until the ripples turn to calm.
Your Superpower: The ability to weather the storm.
Leader: “There will be a new normal”
You are the leader that knows things will never be normal again. You have been watching the changes in your industry and trying to think about how you will come out of this surviving. You fill your employees with the hope that life will be different and we will make it. You track industry trends, look to reposition your products and services, and hope that change will bring new clients and existing clients back to your bottom line. You might have been the one who made the commercial with the moving piano music, letting everyone know that everything will be ok. You might even be ready to move into new virtual markets.
Your Superpower: The ability to pivot and make changes quickly.
Leader: “We will create the new normal”
You just fired yourself. You woke up this morning and realized that these changes that have happened and the changes that are coming will not allow you to do business as normal ever again. You have scrapped what has made you successful on a daily basis and will now rely on those skills which are not trainable to recreate yourself in an unstable business environment. You have 6 or more “what if” flit charts around your home office and ready to make difficult and tough choices to sustain the life of your products and services or create new ones that meet a whole new market demand.
Your Superpower: The ability to create a new reality within the limitations of talent.
The greatest superpower that we all possess is choice. You chose every single day what to eat, what to wear, how to workout, what to say, and how to say it. You choose where to spend your time, your talents, and resources. And you decide, ultimately, if the risk is worth the rewards. What type of leader will you be coming out of Covid-19? Put yourself out 18 months from now and decide today which type of leader you want and need to be.
