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SPECIAL REPORT: OCTOBER 2009
Part 3 of 3
RECESSION PROOF YOU!
Recession proofing you takes Resourcefulness to keep any cash flowing in the door, Exuberance to be a positive, upbeat presence and, finally, being a GO TO PERSON.
Nancy is the administrative assistant for the CEO of a consulting firm. She has been with the company since it started. If anyone needs to know anything about who, what and where, you go to Nancy. She knows where all files are stored, how to download crazy big files, who is the VP at what company and what their spouse’s name is. She knows how to get a meeting with anyone in the industry, who is speaking at what conferences about what, when to send RFPs and who to copy them to, and the list is endless. Do you think for a minute no matter how bad the economy gets she is worried about her job? Not unless the company just goes under.
Judith oversees all the webinar training for a pharmaceuticals company. She is the go to gal for anything that has to do with Interwise, Webex, Webmeeting, etc. She knows all the bugs of each software program, the workarounds, the capabilities, the contact information for all the companies and how to reach them anytime of the day, night, or weekends.
Tony is the Director of Customer Service for a power company in the northeast. He has about 400 people ultimately reporting into him. When there is a storm, he’s the man. He roams the halls making sure everyone is ok, has enough coffee, soup, donuts whatever is needed to sustain the CSRs during long hours. He knows how to mobilize trucks and technicians to respond the outage needs. He knows when people need back ups and who to call and how to convince people to come in during a blizzard to help out.
No one is indispensable!! We’ve all heard it, but some people are a little more indispensable than others. Nancy, Judith, and Tony have created a situation in which they are, at the very least, a nightmare to try to replace. Who would want to?
There is one reason they are the Go To Person, and that is they really do care. There is no substitute for genuinely caring about the work experience we create for others and ourselves.
- Care makes them willing to chip in and hang in when the going gets tough.
- Care makes them curious about how things work, don’t work and can work.
- Care makes them accessible to associates, vendors, management, staff and customers.
This is good news or bad news. What if you don’t care? The answer is everyone has to find that for themselves. We all have to look inside and ask ourselves some tough questions:
- Why don’t I care?
- Have I ever cared?
- What changed?
- What do I need to care?
- Am I even willing to care? Why? Why not?
- Would I care more somewhere else? Why? Why not?
Writing the answers to these questions will give you access to a perspective that you can’t get to by just thinking about the answers. So, take a pad and a pencil and let it rip.
At the end of the day, we’re in a struggling economy, more job loss is expected, bills need to be paid. If someone loses their job today, the cards are stacked against them to find a new job any time soon. It makes good sense to hold onto the jobs we have now for at least till things settle down and opportunities re-emerge. Now, is not a smart time to let oneself get frustrated and say, “Who cares?” Because someone cares, can it be you?
Sharon Hoyle Weber
Phone: 781-424-0442
Email: sharon@hotinthepot.com
Cohasset, Massachusetts USA
http://www.hotinthepot.com