Crisis! We have all faced crisis at least once in our life. Whether personally or with our business, living through a pandemic has made us all go through a crisis. With that in mind, can your entrepreneurial business survive and maybe even thrive? Can you be confident in your business and have confident employees? Karen R. Jenkins will be sharing with us her story of how she got her business started and tips on turning our crisis into confidence!
How did Karen build her business? Why did she start KRJ consulting? She says that it was not by choice, but that she was laid off from a mortgage company in 2007. What did she do? After searching for comparable positions and not finding anything, she decided to create her own opportunity and opened her own mortgage company two months later with her nephew! Fast forward to 2012 and she started focusing on training development and coaching to do more in corporate. She was able to build this company during a state of crisis and that is where she is at now. She shares that it is all about commitment! You need to be able to be agile enough to move when the economy moves or when your job moves. Those who have success are the ones who are willing to be open minded and make adjustments rather quickly to do things in a different way.
How can a business survive if they are still in that crisis mode? Karen recommends focusing on the positive instead the negative. Try to have a game plan and figure out what you need to be doing. Keep your eye on the ball and what is important! She says that where your mind goes, energy flows. During a crisis, some get freaked out and wallow and lose focus of what is important. She suggests instead seeing that there are now new opportunities and new needs that have arrived. It is important to pivot and take the time to step away and see new opportunities. Doing so may help you see where needs are to be filled that maybe you could not see before. Try to focus on the good and see new opportunities!
Why is it important for your clients to be confident and how can you help your clients to become confident? If you are a leader, it is vital your employees can look to you for guidance even if it is just reassurance. Reach out to your employees to let them know you are there and reassure them that you will help them. Karen took her employees through stress management training and effective communication training. She tries to have effective communication herself and makes sure to meet with them once a week for updates. They discuss new strategies on how to be productive and how to care for clients. As leaders, people do not always need you to have an answer they just need to know that you have their backs! Communication is so essential and if you are a leader, the way you inspire confidence in employees is to listen and acknowledge them. It all starts with leadership and if you have good communication with your team then you will be able to have a really strong foundation and company culture!
What does team synergy mean and how can businesses achieve that? Synergy leadership is the ability to acknowledge and recognize the energy that you bring into a room. Step one is being self-aware. You cannot lead others if you cannot lead yourself. What energy do you bring into a room? Each of us are responsible for that. With your team, try to be in sync with each other. Inspiration starts with us. Try to set the example of what you want others to project. Support your team members and have their backs and their synergy will project that. They will be able to bring their best selves to the table when providing service to clients. Leverage the energy from yourself and those who work with and who are around you. The stronger the leader means the stronger your team which means the stronger your customer base. Dynamic teams draw dynamic customers, so put that good energy out!
What can leaders learn from their moments of loss? Through loss, you learn things about yourself and what really manifests is your true core, who you really are. How you show up in the face of crisis is what is major. If you did not show up to yourself like you thought you would, then try to find and identify those areas where you can become better in general. Identify gaps and tweak or make changes where necessary so that next time you can show up to yourself better. Self-reflecting and self-assessing is prime. Learning lessons and implementing strategies will help take you to a higher version of yourself. As leaders, you may need to make changes because of their audience. You may need to go back and learn how to communicate to a baby boomer versus a millennial. Always continue learning! Learning is growth and we want to constantly be growing as individuals.
Karen wrote “Nobody Told Me! The Path to Financial Empowerment” book to help people prepare and protect themselves financially. She wanted to help others to know what questions to ask to better help and understand them. Most people are never taught about financial literacy and she wanted to explain financial gain to help people not get taken advantage of. To check out her book, you can click here.
In summary, yes, it is possible to turn crisis into confidence! Being committed and agile enough to move with the economy and your company, will help you on your path to success. Try to keep focused on what is really important and make the positive your focal point. Even during a crisis, you can find new opportunities and needs in your business. Stay positive, learn lessons from self-reflection and keep growing!
I also have an event coming up this week that can not only help you learn to be confident and own your brain strengths! I would love if you could attend either in person or virtually. It is my Mind-Blowing Life-Transforming Event happening in SoCal on February 24 and 25th. This 2-day intensive event will provide you with the tools, strategies, and skills you need to communicate and live with confidence and clarity. Click here for all the details for this event.
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