Overcoming adversity in business

At the time of writing this, most of the UK is covered under a blanket of snow with more of the white stuff expected to follow in the coming days.

Many employees will have struggled with the commute to the office, likewise, employers are pulling their hair out trying to maintain working levels, fulfil orders and deliver support to customers.

The annual UK snow disruption is just one of the many adversities business owners has to overcome and with uncertain economic times ahead, there are plenty more fresh challenges on the horizon.

With this in mind, now is a good a time as any to consider all your options moving forward. La Salle are strategically positioned to offer an award winning service and advice for the many exit options available to you. Give us a call on 0161 975 1521 and we'll be happy to talk you through the options and arrange a free private consultation.

In the meantime, we've compiled a handy list of tips, reminders and some quotes from entrepreneurs which should prove useful in helping businesses overcome adversities whether now or in the future.

Excerpt from  SmarterWorkingHub :

1: Teach employees how to overcome obstacles and challenges by serving as an example. Talk to them regularly about the company's recent professional struggles and successes. Opening up and allowing employees to witness your struggles and successes can help them understand that challenges and obstacles confront individuals at all levels of the organisation. Focus on how you overcame the difficulties to reach your goals to help motivate and encourage each employee.

2: Ask employees to challenge what they know. Encourage employees to analyse their work habits and constantly challenge themselves to find alternative work methods. Exploring new ideas and allowing employees to fail helps remove the stigma related to failure. This encourages persistence and perseverance in lieu of feelings related to defeat and failure.

3: Meet with employees to set goals related to job performance and future career objectives. Set achievable yet challenging goals as they pertain to both current job performance and future career aspirations. Goals that challenge employees along the path to fulfilling career objectives will provide them with an opportunity to tackle adversity in the short-term while working toward a long-term goal.

4: Break challenging tasks into manageable chunks. Completing tasks in this manner allows employees to tackle adversity head-on while making progress on the task at hand. This can help build confidence and propel employees to follow through on difficult or challenging tasks.

5: reate an environment of optimism. Encourage employees to embrace an optimistic outlook in all areas of their lives. An optimistic attitude motivates employees to keep working toward goals and pushes them to find ways to solve problems instead of complaining and losing hope.
Encourage employees to ask for help if they find themselves struggling and make help available in the form of additional training, coaching or mentoring.

6: Stay clear of stress-inducing situations, if possible. Help employees identify stressors related to the job and teach them how to manage stressful situations and work around stress-inducing behavior. When employees can approach adversity in a calm and focused manner, tasks become manageable and less problematic.


Excerpt from Smallbusiness.chron.com :

1: Maintain a positive attitude. No matter what has happened or is going to happen, it isn’t likely to be the end of the world. There is always light at the end of the tunnel. Choosing to not let negative thoughts rule your life will have a huge impact on your ability to move forward and view your future with optimism and hope.

2: Maintaining composure. It is important that even if you feel like panicking, that you don’t. Take a deep breath and remain calm. The night is always followed by a new day and with that new opportunity. Panicking and believing the world is over is going to help no one.

3: Remember the bigger picture. It is always important to remember the bigger picture of what you are trying to achieve as a business, or what you are trying to achieve doing a specific task. Not getting bogged down in the detail and taking a step back can be sometimes all it needs to re-focus and remember why you are doing what you are doing.

4: Don’t be ashamed to ask for help. A battle is never won alone. Remember there is no shame in asking for help or advice. Use the experience and skills of others who have gone through similar experiences. Also use the knowledge of experts in areas you may not understand. Reaching out to those who are skilled and highly supportive can be sometimes all that is needed when it comes to a win or lose situation.

5: Try again and then again. If you fall of the horse, you are supposed to jump straight back on. A simple message, yet so important. Don’t quit if times get tough, continue to do all you can, learn from your mistakes and bend and adapt at that pivot point and try something new to come back stronger than ever.

6: Always remain humble. Being humble is not only a great quality, it will make people warm to you and will make you a better business person. Unwarranted pride is a common reason for business challenges lasting far longer than necessary. Don’t be stubborn; remember that what is right for the business is what should always be at the forefront of your mind.


Overcoming adversity, quotes from entrepreneurs - excerpt from Huffington Post :

“My typical approach when faced with adversity is to look at every problem as having a solution... some solutions more palatable than others of course. These days there are resources everywhere to search for information and assistance. Having a good network is always a great idea as it is often through ones network that the solution presents itself. “ — Maureen Mulligan, Elan Learning Institute

“Often, the reason we don’t overcome a challenge is because we don’t know what to do and hence we don’t try anything. For me, I focus on trying something, anything and learning from that experience. Often the only way to overcome a challenge is to fail your way towards the right outcome. We need to keep changing our approach until we get what we want.” — Niro Thambipillay, Personal Website

“I try and reflect on past successes and remember that they weren’t flukes. Then I push myself to get out there and spend lots of time with existing and recent clients, spend more time and add more value on current work, to reinforce all the good work I’ve done rather than give into fear about the one thing that’s going wrong.” — Nancy Halpern, KNH Associates

“I see setbacks, even failures as part of the growth and development process. Because we set audacious goals which will only be fulfilled through bold actions, now we can accept an occasional setback as an unintended consequence, not a life, or death situation. The key difference is our mindset — it’s only a mistake if we don’t learn from it.” — Kevin Monroe, Cairnway

“My default philosophy in life and business is one of optimism, the glass half full approach. So when adversity strikes the first thing I always ask myself is ‘what’s the worst thing that could possibly happen in this situation?’ And then I run through the worst case scenarios, ‘we could lose the deal... my company’s brand could suffer... my business could go under.’

I then ask myself how likely it is one of these doomsday scenarios might realistically occur and what steps are available to me to mitigate the situation? This approach allows me to defuse the fears or doubt I’m experiencing and quickly get focused on the steps needed to address the issue. “ — Cian Mcloughlin, Trinity Perspectives

If you have any personal advice or stories about overcoming adversity within the workplace, be sure to let us know in the comments below!