Motivation To Go On: Marketing Leadership During Covid19
“I’m not sure how to even go on, or where to start from” those were the words of client X to me earlier today, and the frustration in his voice keeps replaying in my head. I know for a fact that so many small business owners have cried silent tears, so many are faced with the overwhelming option of shutting down their business or restructuring at a high cost.
While I know some brave people that have not stressed over the pandemic and are able to stay afloat despite the tides, there are others that have no motivation and see the future as a big blur.
Transparency! That’s the word. Transparency has been my watchword from the inception of Image Boosters. Transparency is at the forefront of everything I do, both as a leader and a client service officer in the communications field. Through this pandemic, it should be your watchword too.
YOURSELF
I’ll admit that it’s gotten harder by the weeks. Some people have admitted to losing strength and motivation along the way. Personally, I have moved from creating a content calendar every day to now struggling to keep my window blinds open all morning.
However this week I realized something, we are all going through a pandemic and no one we know has ever experienced this before. We can proffer solutions but you really have to do what works for you and keep your mental health as a priority. For some, this means waking up every day to stretches on a yoga mat, for others, it is restructuring your business and contacting clients, and there are those who are dealing with the grief of having to shut down completely and mourn the loss of a business.
As A CEO, I’ve had to look inward and ask myself tough questions that have helped me relate better with my environment and business stakeholders.
What is important to me, what was I doing as a CEO that needed improvement? What are my core strengths and weaknesses? Will my business decisions have kept us afloat for another decade? The best time to look inward, to seat silent with yourself and your future is now.
YOUR EMPLOYEES
CEO’s are often pressured to outperform employees and other stakeholders. However, covid19 has presented us with a new opportunity to let the business and trusted employees dictate the most sustainable model.
One of the best ways to get motivated during this pandemic is to read about how other CEO’s and businesses in your industry are pushing through.
Personally, I’ve taken to learning about leadership from New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern. At IBK, our Monday morning strategy calls have sprung so organically into catch up calls. Employees need to feel supported and know that you care.
This is not the time for faux reports or creating unrealistic work schedules. In fact, when there is nothing to be done, let people have that personal space to recoup. They always almost come back with fresher ideas.
You see people often mistake motivation for some happy-go-lucky exchange of words, but sometimes motivation can be in telling employees what the future of the business is, it can be in relaxing some organization policies that will allow them to earn more and take up more roles.
This is also a great time to communicate more often and invest in those online tools that will improve productivity depending on your business model.
YOUR CLIENTS
You want to ensure that you are engaging and listening to your customers in this season. As a CEO, I really feel like I’ve done more of motivational coaching than communications advisory in this season. My primary role is to ensure that our clients stay alive. We’ve also had to be understanding to clients that have asked for discounts and a free consultation on strategy or a covid19 project.
This is the best time to be kind to your customers as they will not forget it once the pandemic is over. For some of our clients, we’ve had to create and send out online surveys so as to keep them informed of consumers changing behavior amidst the pandemic.
As an agency, our job is to ensure flexibility and adaptability to what seems to have become a new normal.
