Bottom Line Up Front: 

Not every day in your life as a leader is a party complete with cake and ice cream. When you encounter one of those days where everything seems to be working against you, it’s time to force a smile and keep marching. By the way, your team will appreciate and emulate your energy and optimism during the storm and you will have unexpectedly provided a great coaching lesson. 

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A Bad Day in the Life of a Leader:

Let’s face it: bad days happen to all of us.

You wake up late, your kid misses the bus, and then, on the way to work, you get a traffic ticket trying to make up for lost time. Now you’re really late, and when you are momentarily distracted trying to answer the phone call from your boss, traffic grinds to a halt, and you slam on the brakes, sloshing coffee all over yourself.

And the day is just starting.

One Memorable Bad Start to a Day

One particularly bad day at work started a lot like the description above and continued with the following delightful moments:

  • Upon arriving at the office, I received a call from my Regional Sales VP indicating that a competitor had taken a big deal from us.
  • While I was learning about the lost deal, I noticed my best sales representative hovering outside my office door. When I waved her in, she presented me with her resignation letter. 
  • At 9:00 a.m., one hour before our board update call, the CFO indicated that we missed our targets for the quarter by one percent.
  • At 9:45 a.m., my marketing manager handed me a copy of a competitor’s press release. They had just launched a great new product for which we had no immediate answer.
  • The board members were especially cranky, asking vexing questions, including: “Who misses their numbers by one percent?” (Yeah, I wanted the answer to that one too!) and “What’s your response to the announcement from the competitor?” When they piled on with, “How could you lose your top salesperson?” my deodorant failed.
  • Right before lunch, my other marketing manager indicated that we had inadvertently sent a test e-mail with some questionable comments to our entire customer list. It was intended for just one person in the office.

I recall being relieved when I found a few seconds to race down to the cafeteria to grab a bite of lunch. My favorite was the special today. 

Sold out, naturally! 

Keep Marching!

Winston Churchill purportedly offered, “If you’re marching through hell, keep marching.” I vowed to win this day, no matter the obstacles. After an internal pep talk, I forced a smile and resumed marching.

  • My top sales representative was upset over the new quotas but did not want to leave. After a good discussion (with no reduction in quota), she tore up the resignation letter. She went on to lead the team that year.
  • Our sources in the industry confirmed that the competitor’s offering was mostly bluster and bravado and that it would not ship for at least another quarter. (We came up with a very different and much better response and took market share from that year. The press release kicked us into gear.)
  • All I could do to tame the board momentarily was to commit to not missing my numbers by one percent next quarter. Maybe they would appreciate it more if I missed by ten percent. (OK, I thought that, but of course, we set out to beat the numbers handily, and ultimately, we did.)
  • The marketing e-mail glitch turned into an opportunity to reach out and talk with our customers one-on-one. A few chastised me, most of them laughed, and two invited us to bid on new projects.

I drove home (at or under the speed limit) with a smile on my face. 

Art's Signature