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How often have you heard someone say "I can't wait until we go back to normal," even just this last week?

While I get the sentiment, the highly philosophic question I want to ask here is, when is it ever good to "go back" to anything?

We can't un-experience these last few weeks. We can't un-hear and un-see all that happened so to bring the new "us" back to the old reality seems like a big miss to me...

I've been talking a lot about this being the season of opportunity and this last Sunday I heard Steven Furtick talk about the "New Normal," which sparked a lot of discussion.

I didn't want you to miss out on this so I did a quick FB live on the subject and you can check it out here...

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Certainty, predictability, stability.... those are not generally words that fit into the vocabulary of an entrepreneur, however, I can't count the number of times people have said those very words as a response to my question, "what are you missing most right now?"

"BBQ, going out to eat in general, cocktails that I don't have to make myself and any party that's not on Zoom" are close seconds...

I've been talking a lot about the "Season of Opportunity" and as much as it may hurt your head and your heart to think about this, it is mission critical that we all consider how that could translate for us.

I work with a lot of very inspired creators, curiously, many of whom were having the best year ever until... the big STOP.

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How is it that so many people are experiencing terrible stress and suffering right now and I am still talking about the season of opportunity?

Because, no matter what the external circumstances, it is what we make it.

I get to talk to many people every week and part of why my mindset is strong and why I see opportunity everywhere is because I get to "be around" (socially distant, of course) some of the brightest and most determined people out there who are WIRED to only focus on what makes them stronger. And that is a choice.

Believe me, there are plenty of challenges in my own house. My wife got laid off. Friends are sick. People have died. Businesses close to me are shutting down. I am tired of my own cooking... My dogs are sick of us. The list goes on.

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I think for all of us reality is [slowly] setting in as we are starting to realize that this "new normal" is now the "not so new normal," and it's going to be that for quite a while...

I hear a lot of "we'll get through this," "this too shall pass," "we'll survive...."

What if this is not a thing to just "get through?"

What if everybody, no matter how tough it is to deal with the external circumstances, reframed this as the best opportunity ever?

I mean, if this is going to be a while, we might as well get REALLY focused.

Are you choosing lost and freaking out or constructive?

This may not make me popular, but I'm going to say it anyway: this is what we make it.

No I am not living under a rock. Several of my clients are in the live event, ticketing and brick and mortar industries and those are amongst the ones hit hardest.

I get it. It sucks.

But we can spend our time distracted, on social media or watching the ever repeating, hyped up news reel, or we can surrender to the fact that there is very little we can do about the external circumstances and focus on the other side of it:

The Season Of Opportunity...

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True story: I just reconnected to a client who I spoke with 6 months ago about helping them scale their startup that was getting a lot of momentum, but they hadn’t done much in terms of figuring out how to build an actual business around their product. They didn’t think to build a team and getting stuff done was going to be a problem, and they didn’t want to invest the time or money to get it right from the start.

“You can google everything and there is so much free information out there, why should I pay for that?," the CEO said to me…

Fast forward, 6 months later…

—They hired 8 people: 3 left after only weeks, 5 are still there but not performing...

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I thought I’d seen it all…

But then I talked to a newer client who was struggling and I wanted to find out what kept him from showing up…

His pain is real:

• His team was not performing: stuff didn't get done or got done late or badly

• His NPS had gone way down and customers were dropping off

• Sales weren't happening as they should and the sales team was becoming more and more entitled

• The culture felt toxic: backbiting, drama, lots of blaming others

Before he came to us, he’d already done a lot of work and research for how to solve this, but in the end, he kept being stuck on actually EXECUTING on all this stuff. When we started working together the same thing happened. He’d commit to things and then…ghost.

Let’s talk about greatness for a second, because I think you’re destined for it in a way that you can’t even comprehend right now.

Here’s the truth:

• You could be making millions of dollars that you are LOSING right now

• You could feel like your business is running like a well-oiled machine where you get to be the rockstar who makes it rain.

• You could feel like you are on solid ground with a team that gets you and got you…

Have you ever found yourself fantasizing about what you will do when you can finally sell this monster of a company you are building and you envision yourself on a beach in Mexico or Tahiti for a good portion of the year?

Often disgruntled leaders come to me and all they have in mind is this: how can I get out with the most dollars in my pocket?

While I should stay seriously and ask them some profound questions, this generally just makes me crack up because I KNOW, most of them would be bored stiff after week 2 (IF that long…) and they’d be all in planning their next venture…

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I just talked to a new client who is super frustrated because she’s been trying EVERYTHING to get her company to take off aaannnnddd… it’s been like pushing a boulder up the hill.

She’s tried a bunch of different ways to address the issues but nothing stuck.

It always feels like she is the only one who sees the problem and is doing something about it. Her team comes to her complaining but they look to her to solve all the issues.

She’s been reading books and watching youtube, but every time she decides to change something all hell breaks loose and she goes right back to the way it was—at least she knows what to expect with the “old problems”...

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Asking good questions will give you a leg up as a leader. The better the questions you ask, the better the outcome of the answers…
The really important questions tend to be one-worders.

--WHAT?

--HOW?

However, as it turns out, there is a first question to ask, and it’s the foundation of everything thereafter:

WHY?

Now you can ask that question simply or you can utilize its many different layers; each of which gets to yet another layer of answers and all of these answers are must-haves to grow your company sustainably.

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This is a sequel to a client story I told you a few weeks ago. The burned out co-founder and CTO. Remember?

This guy is super smart, talented, struggling for 10 years to make his company take off.

Except for, it’s not his company anymore and now the identity that got him through the first ten, tough years--bootstrapping and being scrappy--is the EXACT identity that may cause him to get unseated.

Totally unfair? You bet.

The right move for the health of the company?

It’s complicated, just like anything that balances people and profit.

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I talk to a lot of people every week who sign up for a session with me because they know that their company is not growing the way they want it to and they don’t know how to make it better-- they are stuck.

We really take the time to dig deep and find out what challenges are holding them back from their dream.

And as corny as that sounds if what you are doing is NOT your dream it feels sad for you because that sounds like a lot of time wasted...

So I talk to all these people every week and there is some CRAZY behavior that shows up.

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One of my startup CEO clients and I have an ongoing argument. What’s more important, product or people? Of course, he’s on the product side, I’m the people person. And here is the cool part: I’m winning!!!  

Actually, I was always winning because no matter what phase of business you are in, people are your most important asset. Who else is going to help you to GET your product to market and who’s going to stick with you through the startup rollercoaster??

Yes, you do need a solid product and however you can get there, get there.  

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Not sure what’s going on this week but there is a common theme: too many people are burning the candle at both ends for much too long and it’s having serious impact on their performance, their ability to inspire, their level of joy (what’s that??!), their health and quality of life.

If this sounds familiar, pay attention!

One of my VIP clients is the co-founder of a tech startup in NYC. He’s been working on this thing for SEVEN long years and until a few months ago, it wasn’t working at all. The numbers looked terrible. Tons of changes all the time: leadership, team, product, focus… not good.