Stay Liquid!

On one of my favorite action shows, SWAT, the team often finds itself in extremely dangerous situations. Because their circumstances are so volatile, they usually repeat this saying before they engage: “Stay liquid.” What that means is that you have to be ready for anything. It also means you have to be adaptable and expect that your conditions are going to be in flux and will continuously change around you. Your mindset has to be one of flexibility and fluidity as you negotiate every new twist and turn. So, what does this have to do with your business?

Considering I ran my business for 25 years without ever having one employee, I learned that I had to depend on business alliances and strategic partners to accomplish most of my larger projects. One of my key strategic partners was my seminar sponsor, Mick Owens of Mick's All-American Pub in Mount Joy, PA. Since I would frequently bring my seminar attendees to Mick’s All-American Pub for lunch, it was crucial to communicate how many people would be coming over. This was information I often only received about 30 minutes before we arrived.

However, for my final seminar, we anticipated that there would be a much higher number of attendees than usual going to lunch. Our initial plan was to have a table set up for 20 people. However, our count was seriously underestimated. We wound up with 38 people. Fortunately, Sam and Tony in the Mount Joy location, scrambled continuously to solve problems and accommodate all of the guests — many of whom never even knew that any of our plans had changed.

You only get this level of responsiveness by equipping your people in advance to anticipate the unexpected and to be flexible as each situation plays out. Thanks to their quick thinking, all 38 guests were accommodated and enjoyed a pleasant lunch and participated in a valuable focus group that day. This is the value of working with strategic alliances who value your business and who proactively plan for unexpected outcomes. I highly encourage you to begin this practice in your own business today, if you have not already done so. I guarantee that once you get into this habit, you’ll reduce the level of stress in your own life, and also please even more of your most demanding customers. 

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” 

– Colin Powell

Let me hear from you.

(This excerpt is taken from The Leadership Academy. I encourage you to click here to register for The Leadership Academy 5-part series which runs on five consecutive Tuesday mornings beginning on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, at Bellomo & Associates in York, PA from 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon Eastern Standard Time.  Classes 2 and 4 will be presented exclusively on Zoom.

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