"This is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure."
--Winston Churchill
Have you ever felt the calm before the storm? Literally, you can feel it. Yet this is exactly the time you should not be complacent. It is a time to Think, to Plan and to Act.
Almost each day the headlines from our global news feeds tells the story. Countries, Corporations, Communities and Chief Executive Officers seemingly caught off guard. Surprised by the threat of the cyclone, the ransomware, the drought, or the economic volatility.
Over-The-Horizon (OTH) thinking requires a mindset, that anticipates change. It embraces the calm before the storm. Yet it is the uncertainty of an unpredictable world, that should motivate you. You have seen it before, as the environment you operate in reaches a place and feeling of calm.
Your focus should be on better understanding the indicators. What are the indicators in your particular environment, that signals the warning? How will you know when it is time to act and to be more proactive, in your situational awareness? When will you engage in purposeful thinking and planning to increase your readiness to act?
History has recorded incidents of economic downturn that have caught some investors and corporations off guard. There have been communities suddenly consumed by fire, tornadoes or cyclones. How many places of work and worship, are now the crime scenes of active shooters and/or terrorist bombers? When was the last time a key leader or linchpin at your company was diagnosed with cancer?
Operational Risk Management (ORM) is a discipline that never sleeps. It is your mechanism and systems for continuously thinking, planning and then executing in anticipation of change. When was the last time your team actually had a dialogue about the vital topic of your organizational "Business Continuity?"
You see, complacency is one of our greatest threats. It is the thought that it will never happen to us. It is the thought that you are invincible. Guess what? You are only seconds away from catastrophic change. To your country, corporation, community or your most vital personnel.
It is time to dare and endure. You have the power to begin right now.
Tap the icon for your calendar and look at the next 60 days. Certainly there are at least one week where you have 2 days you could devote to leading your team. Gathering them together, away from the distractions of your enterprise.
The strategy to challenge your leaders, to ask them to think, to engage in spirited dialogue and the outcomes you seek, will produce organizational endurance. What are you waiting for?
