"The best way to approach tough times is to try to see them as opportunities."

 

A thought by John C. Maxwell, from her book, Leading in Tough Times (p. 8). Center Street, Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

So true, so true.

John says, "One of the most challenging tasks any leader faces is being a change agent and leading people through tough times. But it can also be one of the most rewarding. Economist John Kenneth Galbraith asserted, 'All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time.'

He goes on, "In tough times the people we lead find out who we are, and we also find out what we’re made of. As author Jack Kinder says, 'You’re not made in a crisis—you’re revealed. When you squeeze an orange—you get orange juice. When you squeeze a lemon—you get lemon juice. When a human being gets squeezed—you get what is inside—positive or negative.'

"The best way to approach tough times is to try to see them as opportunities. Most people want their problems to be fixed without their having to face them, but that is an impossibility. As a leader, as a coach, as a catalyst for turnaround, you need to help people solve problems, take responsibility, and work to make things better. They need help, which you can give them in the form of advice, encouragement, and positive reinforcement, but everyone needs to do his or her part and work together."

He continues, "Management expert Peter Drucker said, 'A time of turbulence is a dangerous time, but its greatest danger is a temptation to deny reality.' So what is a leader to do? Define reality for people. That is a leader’s first responsibility."

John then says, "The Law of the Scoreboard in my book The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork says the team can make adjustments when it knows where it stands. As the leader of a team, you need to help people define the things that are holding them back. Then you need to define the things that will free them up. People cannot make good choices if they don’t know what these things are, and many have a hard time figuring them out on their own. You’re there to help them. And as Roots author Alex Haley observed, 'Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.'"

And that is a great opportunity for leaders to make a difference in people during tough times, isn't it? Yes, yes! #just continiethought