Pressure can be good during a recession

The world has seen some tough times recently. A global recession in 2008- 2009, and yet it seems we were making steady progress. Now comes news of the US debt crisis, it’s downgrade in credit rating, unemployment, London riots, an open blame/ victim mentality, Somalia crisis, price of food and services, governments being criticized by people and more. But guess what, there’s hope and there shall emerge winners!

Not giving into a despair mentality

If we all buy into the notion of doom and gloom, then consider what starts to happen. We live in fear, worry and concern; we communicate to others the same negative information and criticism; those around us start to shrink; people start to save the little money they have/ no one buys; we seek pity; we may resort to quick and numbing ‘fixes’ (drugs, alcohol, gambling etc); we become unnecessarily dependent; our health and mental well being suffers and the spiral continues. STOP!

The key is to assess and choose wisely. It does not hurt to know the facts (or agenda/ propaganda) of the news; what is more important is to habituate the mindset of hope, solution and courage.

The mindset of the masses

The trouble with our working world is that people are dependent on a job. Our ‘livinghood’ and livelihood all revolves around working for someone else, giving our time (8 to 10 hours a day), hoping for promotions, salary increases, public holidays, benefits/ perks, praise and affirmation from someone else. We have failed to believe in our ability to take charge of our lives. We have bought into our employer’s (and societal) system and paradigm – where productivity and profit matter most. This is at the root of our problems: our beliefs about work/ vocation/ passion and earning money.

If 66% of the workforce are in jobs that they are particularly not suited to; this is telling of ‘poor job fit’ – and possibly an opportunity to explore what makes us most suitable/ fit/ happy/ congruent with our strengths.

This dependence on a boss or company can both ’empower’ and ‘disempower’ the employer (and employee). ‘Empower’ because the employer now has strength with your agreed exchange (talents etc) and they can do with you as they like; ‘disempower’ because there is only so much they can do with you in a tough times, and an excessive workforce during a recession is a burden – that may result in job cuts.

So what is the solution?

Nothing happens until a sale is made

I was with a sales manager the other day who addressed some of his top sales people. He said many things, but something stood out for me and got me thinking. He said, “Pressure can be good. If you want to change the shape of things, like a ball for example, you must apply pressure”, as he gestured with his hand.

Indeed, nothing happens until a sale is made. You can moan, groan and gripe – but once you realise that the ability to sell is key to your success – you become empowered within. This implies, you have learned selling skills – find a need or gap, find a prospective customer, understand his or her need, present with confidence, resolve concerns and close.

A sale helps you, a sale helps your company, a sale helps your family – whether you do it or the sales team in your company.

This sounds capitalistic; and it may very well be Darwinian – ‘survival of the fittest’. Ideologies may abound; but implementation – the simple act of doing something makes a massive difference.

“Go make a sale!” (or let your sales team, manager and staff know this)