Mentally Tough: Crisis Mode

There is no way that if you work this hard that you will not be rewarded, you have to believe this moment is preparing you for something amazing… - Mel Robbins.

This week I've found myself rehearsing this as I had a laundry list of things to complete. Its been crazy.  What is it all for? All the hard, all the good, all the tasks…. Its got to mean i'll have results right?

A while back I learned a fun fact. -The human brain cannot comprehend the negative. Simon Sinek spoke on this and gives us a fantastic example of this.

Ready? Here you go… Don't think of an Elephant.

You can't tell the human brain not to do things… what happens is we reinforce things when we put things in the negative.

It’s a common theme to reconvert negative things.  We are supposed to do this with kids.  Instead of saying No, don’t eat on the couch… you are supposed to say "eat at the table"

Pilots know this… it is well known don’t hit the obstacle, they hit the obstacle, skiers - if you say don’t hit the tree, all they see is trees… if you focus on the obstacles all you will see is the obstacles. Its your choice how you choose to see your own career.

Lets keep going on this.

Navigating through crisis modes like terminations, business losses, and leading through uncertainty can drain you worse then a 90 minute work out back to back. These moments often feel like personal failures due to their significant impact

on both the you as the leader or small business owner and your team. However, these challenges also present unique opportunities to build mental toughness and lay the groundwork for generational leadership. That's where I will encourage you today. In fact, Mental toughness is so important we have a 4 part series on this. Over the next 4 weeks you are going to learn to build your mental strength and things you’ve got to start doing on repeat to build a tolerance to the challenges that come your way.

1. Terminations

Feeling of Failure:

Start here -

The need to terminate an employee, especially after investing time and resources into their development, can feel like a personal failure to effectively lead or manage. It might reflect on the leader’s ability to make the right hiring decisions or to develop and motivate their team. The second you make that choice to term someone you have a guilt on their life, their circumstance, where will your business suffer, what will your customer say, how will your team respond in secret (because you know they will gossip about it)

Impact on the Team: Terminations can lead to lowered morale, increased anxiety about job security, and potentially disrupt team dynamics. It may also lead to an increased workload for remaining team members, further stressing the team environment.

Building Mental Toughness: View terminations as a necessary, albeit difficult, part of leading a healthy and productive team. Reflect on each termination as a learning experience for improving hiring practices, management techniques, and communication skills. Cultivating a mindset that seeks constructive outcomes from challenging situations can enhance resilience.

Generational Leadership: Establish a transparent and empathetic process for terminations that future leaders can model. Documenting the process and the lessons learned from each situation can help future generations understand the importance of clear communication, fair process, and the emotional intelligence required during such tough decisions.

2. Loss in Business

Feeling of Failure: A significant loss in business can feel like a direct critique of a leader’s strategy and decision-making. It can trigger self-doubt, questioning one’s capability to steer the organization towards success.

Impact on the Team: Financial instability can create an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty within the team. It might lead to cuts in resources, layoffs, or increased pressure to perform, which can all negatively impact team morale and productivity.

Building Mental Toughness: Embrace a forward-looking approach, focusing on what can be controlled and how to pivot or adapt strategies based on new learnings. Maintaining a positive outlook and demonstrating commitment to overcoming challenges can inspire confidence and resilience, both in yourself and your team.

Generational Leadership: Document the journey through financial adversity, including the strategic shifts made and why. Sharing these experiences can provide valuable case studies for future leaders, emphasizing the importance of adaptability, resilience, and the continuous pursuit of growth opportunities.

3. Leading Through Uncertainty

Feeling of Failure: Uncertainty can make any leader feel inadequate, as traditional strategies and plans seem insufficient. The inability to provide clear answers or a definitive direction can be misinterpreted as a lack of leadership.

Impact on the Team: Teams look to their leaders for security and guidance. Uncertainty can lead to a lack of focus, decreased productivity, and an anxious work environment, as team members struggle with the unknown.

Building Mental Toughness: Strengthen your ability to tolerate ambiguity by focusing on short-term goals and achievable tasks. Communicating openly about uncertainties and involving the team in solution-finding can foster a culture of trust and collective resilience.

Generational Leadership: Encourage a culture where questioning, innovation, and adaptability are valued. By modeling how to lead with integrity and transparency during uncertain times, you create a blueprint for future leaders. Documenting these experiences, including the challenges faced and how they were navigated, prepares the next generation to lead with confidence, even in the face of uncertainty.

In each of these areas, the key to overcoming the sense of failure and building a lasting legacy is through resilience, learning, and a commitment to developing not just oneself but also those who will follow. By viewing each crisis as an opportunity to grow and strengthen the team's foundation, leaders can transform challenges into valuable lessons for generations of leaders to come.

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One thing we don’t talk about enough is the combination of our mental health and those in similar positions' mental health.

Here is what I mean by that.

I'm teaching you all the ways to help yourself but don’t you wish someone would have been looking out for you all along.  What if I told you that you were the one created to do that for someone else.

This week I need you to start operating differently as a leader. I need you to recognize and stand up for never allowing people to diminish others in business. It kills me to witness someone leaving a bad review for someone else. It kills me that we even have review platforms.  The reality is, those platforms exist to cause drama.  They are only for the bad experiences and its ridiculous.  I am going to talk more about this in a future episode and I know I have a soap box just waiting for me there.

Until we get to that episode I want your commitment to yourself and other business that you wont put up with that.  You will fight for the other small business leaders out there that stand up for each other.  Not everyone likes everyone's business and you wont make every client happy but you can be an advocate that stands out. And every person that leaves a bad review is only telling their said. People aren't innately bad. People also don’t make it a point to make their

customers mad. That is never why someone started in business.  The person you are dealing with in fact likely has no ownership in the business they are paid an hourly rate and you have no idea what their story is.  Last week my husband told me a story about a local donut shop that someone absolute trashed their name in the local town I live in.  They went on and on about how their donuts were terrible they would never make it and would likely need to be bailed out by some corporate company eventually.  How disgusting that that person chose to do that.  The admin of where this was posted was my new favorite person.  They went on to say that this forum was about building up small businesses and America was built on them. We may not all like every businesses but the goal is to help them thrive. She carried on for several sentences and it was awesome. After that you saw the community rally around this business owner to share how much they loved their donuts. 

My point is this very thing.  You can want to know the "truth about a company" but are you really going to get that from someone who just had an opinion on their operations  and are you really going to get that from someone who doesn’t own the business

Sure there is a need to know what others experiences are, but to what extent and when do you draw the line? If you want to know the truth, give the small business a try, let them prove it to you. Call them, speak with the owner. …

As we talked about terminations, loss in business uncertainty in your world and building up the mental toughness to get through it, how many scenarios you are experiencing or have experienced in the last 12 months came to mind? Wouldn’t you have loved if along the way someone was watching out for you to guide you down those challenging paths?

If you were wishing for that, I'll be your new business bff and I'm here to encourage you. To give you a safe space to learn more, be more and thrive in your future.  Your TGM today brings me to something I say all the time to myself

And the more I replay this over and over in my head the better my mental clarity gets. If they don’t have what you want don't listen to what they say. There's no greater waste of time than justifying your actions to people who have a life. You don't want the more.

Get the right team around you that makes up the areas you lack in to make a whole better than the sum of the parts.

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Disclaimer:

To learn more about Sarah Beth Herman, the author of all free training content you can read her bio here. These materials are intended to provide helpful information to dentists and dental team members. They are in no way a substitute for actual professional advice based on your unique facts and circumstances. This content is not intended or offered, nor should it be taken, as legal or other professional advice. You should always consult with your own professional advisors (e.g. attorney, accountant, or insurance carrier). To the extent, Dentistry Support ®has included links to any third-party website (s), Dentistry Support ® intends no endorsement of their content and implies no affiliation with the organizations that provide their content. Further, Dentistry Support ® makes no representations or warranties about the information provided on those sites. You can view our privacy policy and terms and conditions by clicking those pages in the footer of our website.