Sunday, March 30, 2008

Learn from these Steppes

A few weeks ago a friend of mine and fellow blogger commented on the "benefits of a recession". http://www.salesdevelopmentspecialists.com/ .This week I came across a similar lesson as I heard and author discussing his latest book on the Mongols and their notorious leader - Ghengis Khan.
Interestingly there was a "recession" then too - years of drought had resulted in poor crops and the Steppes were no longer providing adequate supplies for these nomads and their livestock. Ghengis Khan was able to capitalize this concern amongst the people and accomplish a number of things.
First, he united all of these tribes into one force under him. Then, he mobilized this force and they left the steppes in search of greener pastures. Finally, he realized that his "new direction" would upset some and therefore he prepared a significant part of this group to become one of the strongest armies that civilization has ever seen. Out of difficult times - came strength and innovation.
As a leader in business perhaps you are concerned about the possible effects of a recession. My advice - follow the same steps as Mr. Khan. 1. Unite the thinking of your organization and sales force to not only survive but to succeed. 2. Move your business if necessary to "greener pastures" - new markets, unexplored applications and better ways of selling. 3. Expect resistance as you move into your "new" competitions back yard - make sure your sales force is ready and prepared to spearhead this work.
You may not be planning on conquering the world - but you should be planning. Many think they are planning by cutting costs, letting people go and eliminating some projects that they think they can put off. This would be like Ghengis Khan staying on the steppes and trying to survive by rationing supplies and changing their diet - yeh they might have survived but everyone from that point on would have said - Ghengis Who?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I like the point