What happens when you choose not to participate in this recession?

Posted in Careers, Leadership, Mentor Minute

Double Black Diamond Coaching

What happens when you choose not to participate in this recession?

I have never written anything that has garnered such a staggering response as the article from a few weeks ago entitled “Recession? I choose not to participate!” Clearly it struck a nerve with everyone. Within moments of pressing “send” my in-box started to fill with responses. I wanted to tell you what has happened since I wrote that article because it speaks to the power of action and mindset despite these uncertain times.

A bit of background: I originally wrote the article for two reasons. First, because it is exactly how I feel about all the relentless negative media attention on the recession. And second…because I needed to do some marketing to build my business. For the past 18 months, I have used the articles I write for the Globe and Mail as a great passive form of marketing by forwarding them on to my network. Although I have a few articles with the Globe waiting to be published, I found myself waiting…and waiting…and waiting for the next article to come out. Well, thankfully I finally ran out of patience (aka procrastination), so I wrote my own article, and “published” it to my own network of contacts of about 175 people.

And here are the results of embracing a take-action, opportunity focused mindset as expressed in “Recession? I choose not to participate!”

First, within 24 hours, I immediately got a new contract. A past client, head of the Western Region of RBCDS, called me and said “I’ve been thinking about you off and on, but this article put me over the edge and made me pick up the phone”. In early February I did two speeches/workshops for him, one for about 100 of his Investment Advisors, and one for his team of about 35 managers. They met with rave reviews and more business has flowed.

(I have decided to leverage these two presentations. “Recession? I choose not to participate!” and “Leading in uncertain times” have been created to directly counter the predominant negative mindset that has swept the nation. If you are planning, or need to quickly plan, an event to educate your staff and leaders on the changing world and what it means to their business and how to shift their focus from one of doom and gloom to one of opportunity and positive action, contact me for more details.)

Second, coming out of these two presentations, several of the attendees have called to hire me as their coach, and I will be heading to Calgary in March to do a similar presentation to the Calgary office.

Third, again within 24 hours, my Globe editor called and said he wanted to run the article. So I made a few edits and it was officially published in the Globe on Wednesday February 4th, 2 weeks after I circulated the original.

Fourth, since the Globe article was published, my in-box again started to fill, and new opportunities presented themselves. Just last week I met with an executive recruiter who is looking for a coach to refer his clients to. He found me because of the article.

Fifth, I just got off the phone with a woman on Vancouver Island who received the original article through the amazing power of the internet, and she would like me to speak with both her Women’s Business Group and their local chamber of commerce.

And finally, I have heard through the grapevine, how much the article is making the rounds. I was at the gym the other day and ran into a friend who said it had circulated at her office too. Another strand of marketing to another 75 people.

Why am I telling you this? Because all of this happened because I took about one hour, to write one article, that I sent to an original group of about 175 people. All because I chose to do something proactive to stimulate my business rather than wallow in the misery of this recession.

All from just one action, people! I took action. I got immediate results.

In the first article, the key questions were: “Where is your next opportunity? “Who are your next clients?” This week, I ask you:

What is the action you are not taking that will get you results? What is stopping you from taking that action? How long are you willing to wait?

I have attached the full article that ran in the Globe and Mail newspaper on Wednesday February 4th in case you missed it – feel free to forward it to anyone you think needs a good swift kick in the pants.

Cheers, Katie

Dare to be Great.