By Leroy Ferrao
One of the famous experts on personality development said that either we are going into a crisis, or are currently in a crisis or we have just come out of a crisis.Â
And how true he is. Another name for life is a crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest crisis all of us are in our life now. How do we prepare for any crisis before, during and after? Here I present 5 steps that can help you be better prepared for any crisis.Â
#1.Communicate with your family, friends, clients ,colleagues and team
The first line of defence is to communicate with your family members, friends, colleagues and team about identifying the crisis. You cannot make it alone while you are in crisis like the COVID-19. Naturally, your network will be concerned about the crisis, but it’s your job to keep them updated about the crisis. Take note of any issues they may raise, and prepare them for if things take a turn for the worse. We are in a crisis together and not alone and there is wisdom in consultation with friends, family and colleagues, clients and your team. Â
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#2. Brainstorm ideas and consider an action-based response to the crisis.
You are going to need all the help you can get when facing a crisis, so let your team members, family and friends help. They can identify ways a potential crisis may affect you and the strategies to use in resolving it. And these brainstorm ideas can come even from people you never considered valuable in your life.Â
Develop a crisis response plan of your own, then ask everyone else to contribute ideas of their own. Discuss the pros and cons of each idea, so you can select the strongest solution.Â
Don’t discard every other plan yet. If your chosen approach doesn’t work, you’ll need to consider an alternative course of action. I call it plan B.
#3. Never give up fighting a crisis until it’s over.
Dealing with a crisis can be incredibly tough. You may be tempted to throw your hands up in defeat and let whatever happens to happen — but you shouldn’t.Â
A crisis doesn’t have to spell the end of your life or career. If you make the right moves and keep moving forward, you will emerge on the other side. In a crisis, the main thing is to hold on and keep moving forward even at a snail pace with your crisis response plan. Those who quit never make it out of the crisis and those who overcome the crisis are those who go through it and never quit.
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#4.Focus on controllable
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No one saw the COVID-19 crisis coming, and we’ll likely be dealing with it until a vaccine is developed and even beyond as this pandemic is here to stay. There’s not a lot you can do to avoid or change most of the effects that the crisis has had on your life, work and the economy.Â
To survive the crisis, you need to strategize and focus on the controllable. For instance, become debt-free and build cash reserves, protect your job by upskilling and adding value, safeguard your health by following guidelines from authorities and health experts, create multiple streams of income, etc. If you are focused on controlling the controllable you will be ahead in times of crisis and be better in a position to come out of the crisis much earlier emerging much stronger to face the next crisis.
#5.Apply the lessons learned during the crisis
There are lessons learn when amid a crisis. It could need you to be equipped with technology or to invest in yourself. Or maybe it was structures or assets you wished you had in place.Â
Now that you’ve reached the end of the crisis, you need to go about making them a reality.Â
Incorporate those structures, activities, tools, assets and whatever else you learned during the crisis into your life processes, so you don’t have to deal with the same obstacles when crises arise in the future.Â
In conclusion,
Crises are unexpected and can leave you feeling confused and helpless, but they don’t necessarily signal the end of your life.Â
As long as you act quickly and implement strategies to cushion the effects, you will be back at the wheel soon enough.Â
To summarize, the key to effectively managing life during a crisis is to…Â
- Communicate with all essential stakeholders — family, friends, team, colleagues and clients.Â
- Devise a crisis response strategy. Decide who will be involved in the actions you take and what responsibilities will be.Â
- Investigate the root cause of the crisis, listen to external concerns, and stay the course to the end.Â
- Create crisis learnings sheet after the situation blows over to learn from your mistakes and give you the confidence to address future threats quickly.Â
Crises are a fact of life, and they will always play a role in shaping life outcomes. But if you take strategic action before, during, and after the crisis, then you can survive almost any storm and come out the other side even stronger.Â
Were you ready for the COVID-19 crisis? Looking back, what would you do differently? Write to me in the comments.Â
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