evaporated. A new, adverse state or federal regulation irrepara- bly changes your industry’s landscape. Or, unthinkable just a few short months ago, what about some crazy virus pandemic threatening the entire globe? This last one is largely the reason I changed my planned topic for this article. Clearly, none of us expected to be confronting such an unprecedented and surreal challenge. While this pandemic is unique, most of the sugges- tions discussed here will apply to any economic business storm. Baptism by Fire In the 1970s, I worked for a Fortune 300, incredibly diversified public conglomerate with more than 200 operating companies. One (of many) that I had an opportunity to do some internal consulting for was a western regional specialty retail chain. Little did I know that in the 1980s, I would suddenly find myself hired as president of a southern regional specialty retail chain. Suffice it to say that when I got a chance to actually look under the hood, all financial statements were absolutely worthless, bodies were buried in unmarked graves everywhere, and virtu- ally everything was completely broken. What comes to mind is, “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, what did you think of the play?” What was even worse is that — for a host of reasons — the extent of this tragedy had only recently and very suddenly come to the attention of the absentee owners and investors. Although retail was never my strong suit —not by a long shot — I was glad to have had at least some prior retail chain experience. To make a very long, painful, Freddy-Krueger-level nightmare story short, aſter 28 days — despite quickly administering lots of appropriate corporate CPR — it became my first (but certainly not my last) corporate Chapter 11 bankruptcy experience. Why is this war story relevant? Frankly, this unbelievably stressful situation was, in retrospect, one of the best learning experiences of my bizarre career. I thought it might be helpful (and timely) to share some thoughts and suggestions in this article. Yes, I did have hair back then, and now you know why it abandoned my head and took up squatter residence in my nose and ears! Listen to and Heed the Weather Forecast Let’s face it: Some disasters come without much warning, and those are the most difficult to prepare for or deal with. But, I can tell you from experience that economic storms usually could have been predicted, if only the owner had listened to and accepted the weather forecast and mandatory evacuation notice. Yes, of course, it’s a metaphor for letting your ego bury your head in your butt! In previous articles, we’ve discussed the importance of maintaining meaningful tracking and measuring mechanisms, WWW.ALOA.ORG reading and understanding your financial statements and having a budget. In a sense, these (and other tools) represent your weather forecast radar. Thus, these business barometers are the signs and signals of how sea-worthy your business vessel is, whether and when a storm is coming and how severe that storm might be. DABDA – The Stages of Dealing With Death You may not be familiar with the acronym DABDA, but you’ve probably heard of the five stages of dealing with death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Although the intended context is to describe the typical human reaction to impending death, this concept can help us grasp how humans handle other tragedies, such as business economic storms. No- tice that denial is the first stage in this process! Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda If only the business owner had recognized the threat sooner. If only he/she had not been in denial for so long. If only they would have been willing and able to act expeditiously and deci- sively. Lots of could have, would have stuff. Over-inflated egos tend to play a primary obstructionist role here! It’s really sad to witness such largely self-inflicted paralysis leading to com- plete failure of the business, when it might have been saved. To be clear, this is not to suggest that the storm could necessarily have been prevented, but rather that the business could have possibly been saved had the owner faced reality and taken ap- propriate remedial action early in the game. Declaring Marshal Law at Your Business In most instances, when the fire alarm rings and it’s not a drill or test, the priorities are unmistakably clear: 1) Call 911 and 2) Get yourself and anyone else to safety ASAP. Everything else becomes less important under such circumstances. Similarly, when you or your lookout see the economic iceberg up ahead, it’s time for immediate action rather than dialogue. The absolute need for a sense of urgency cannot be overstated! The enemy is at our gates, so let’s get strapped and take battle stations… now! Man Your Battle Stations There are several things you can do to deal with a severe eco- nomic storm: 1. Be as prepared as possible. 2. Recognize the threat early. 3. Avoid denial. 4. Avoid denial (yes, it’s intentionally repeated). 5. Act quickly and decisively — make the tough decisions sooner rather than later. JUNE 2020 KEYNOTES 17
