March 2010
Is the Recession Really Over for You and Your Business?
Hello friends of Win-Win Workplace Solutions,
Like many others, we lifted our champagne glasses on New Year’s Eve and celebrated the end, finally, of 2009 — as if just a flip of the calendar page could bring the economy back to a comfortable level for everyone.
It’s already the beginning of March, and it looks like that was just wishful thinking. While there were some signs the recession was over, and a slow recovery was beginning, did we ever think that it would be this sluggish? Where is all the money, and when will it start moving around again?
Many of the businesses I work with are beginning to experience “Recession Fatigue” and are finding it harder to manage their cash flow, with reduced credit lines and growing accounts receivable. It was in October 2008 when the group of Vistage CEOs I work with started bracing themselves for the recession. That was 17 months ago; none of us believed it would last this long.
In my experience as a psychologist working with individuals, when people experience an event that causes them to live with a new situation for more than six months, it becomes their new reality. There is no real returning to “the way things used to be.” The people are transformed by their experiences and view things through a new “set of lenses.” These new lenses are crafted by the nature of the event (e.g., positive, negative, life-threatening, life-enhancing), how the individuals handle the event (e.g., master, succumb to, become overwhelmed by), and the ultimate meaning that they give to the event.
I believe that people are experiencing Recession Fatigue because they are waiting for the recession — an event that has profoundly changed their lives — to be over, so that they can assess their new situation and give meaning to what they have gone through. They haven’t been able to create new lenses to help them see a clear path for the future.
It is challenging to remain optimistic and prepared to see and seize opportunities when you are emotionally fatigued. As an eternal optimist, I’ve learned to tether my optimism more strongly to reality. If I would hope to win the lottery, I would need to first buy a ticket!
In this month’s newsletter, I’m sharing with you some valuable tools to help you make some sense of your experience in this recession, so you can craft your own lenses to help you see your way forward, into what is being called the “New Normal.” And you’ll find practical resources to help you better locate and recognize business opportunities that you can seize.
To your success, at redefining your own future,
Gail Schaper-Gordon