It all started when the government declared a lockdown.
On March 16, 2020, the Philippine government under President Rodrigo Duterte imposed an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon (including its associated islands). It was a total lockdown, restricting the population’s movement except for necessity, work, and health circumstances, in response to the growing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country.
I was supposed to roll out the BLRT program in all co-working spaces in Metro Manila. So I thought, why not online.
All I need is to look for a person who can help with digital marketing, and I found Ms. Cha of Artisano Studio who is a member of one my BNI Chapter in Makati Genesis. She immediately agreed without hesitation.
We jump and do the first run of our program, where I invited two of the people I admired. They are both successful coaches and speakers. I knew that I had learned a lot from these two gentlemen, Ardy Abello and Bernard Marquez. After the first run, I received great feedback from them. It was funny because one of the mistakes when we do the talk, is my zoom background. It was very unprofessional. I was trying to look professional by wearing a tie but ruined by an amateur video background.
I look forward to inviting Coach Ardy and Coach Bernard once again.
Here are the three things I learn at the start of the lockdown:
1. Crisis does not make me a leader.
Crisis does not make me a leader. Instead, it exposes the kind of leader I was. The way I responded to problems a long time ago has helped me become a better leader today. Your response in today’s crisis has something to do with the choices you made in the past.
Here is an excerpt from Author and Leadership Guru, John Maxwell materials “Leading through a crisis – Mastermind”:
John’s third and fourth points from his Leading During a Crisis lesson, he talks about how crisis reveals the character of a leader: It shows what a leader is on the inside, and puts a leader’s ability to adapt to shifting circumstances on display. As John said, “You’re not made in a crisis—you’re revealed.”
Often people think that a crisis forges character, but that’s not true: Our choices shape our character, and a crisis simply reveals the results of those choices. Leaders who lapse into complaining mode, or who begin blaming others when things get tough, are leaders whose bad choices are being brought to light. The good news is that the adversity that unmasks a leader today can build character in that leader tomorrow—if the leader is willing to learn from the mistake.
This brings John to his next teaching point—leaders can learn to shift for the better, even amid crisis. Just like successful football coaches can make adjustments at halftime, great leaders can adapt to the uncertainty of the moment and find a proactive solution that creates forward momentum.
Adaptable leaders can, as John says, turn adversity into advantage.
2. Taking action overcomes “analysis paralysis”.
My favorite quote that I usually use during a workshop that I conducted is “knowledge will change your mind, but action will change your life”.
I believed that motivation is a myth. We have to do it. When we experience something new, especially when it’s a crisis, we have the tendency to be paralyzed, unable to make a decision, or we panic and respond in fear.
Since the day we started the BLRT Forum, never a day that I felt fearful and anxious. It’s maybe because I have kept myself busy, and my focus is on helping others and, at the same time, making BLRT Program works.
3. Pivoting your business requires risk.
Many business owners are trying to survive even to this day as I am writing this article. They are taking the risk of either going into a different market or creating another product or service that is relevant and implementable, considering the only resources that they have.
I have learned to create a new offer and adjusted the delivery of my coaching business. I used to do my online coaching by phone or by video, only 10% of the time. Now, I have to convert everything online and assure my clients that online experience does not devalue my offer’s benefits.
One of the things I also focus on is on building my business support system. Since I was part of a business community called BNI, I increased my level of engagement with the community members. I continually build relationships. Public Speaker and Entrepreneur Porter Gale said,
“Your network is Your Net worth.”
Building my network keeps my sales pipeline open to receiving future business.
Taking risks would require time and or money. You can’t escape the “law of trade-off,” a statement coined by John C. Maxwell. He said. “You have to give up to grow up.”
Taking risks requires us to give up something, like our time, effort, or even our money in exchange for a better future.
During this pandemic, what have you been learning? I want to invite you to join our community, and let’s study, and let’s keep learning together.