A Conversation With: Business Coach and Author Mike Goldman

The coronavirus continues to have dire effects on businesses across the country, and the franchise industry is no exception. Franchisors across segments are strategizing new ways to support their franchisees, keep customers satisfied, help local communities and come out stronger on the other side of this crisis.

To that end, 1851 Franchise publisher Nick Powills and Charles Internicola, founder and partner of the Internicola Law* Firm, are covering the coronavirus and its impact on the franchising industry through our A Conversation With webinar series.

In today’s morning webinar, Powills and Internicola spoke with Mike Goldman, a business coach, speaker and author of the forthcoming book “Breakthrough Leadership Team: Strengthening the Heart and Soul of Your Company,” which details some of the ways companies can navigate the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Here are some of the key insights from their discussion.

Self-Care is Imperative 

Companies will come out of this crisis much stronger or much weaker, and some may not come out at all. In order to come out stronger on the other side of this, leaders should do three things: practice self-care, lead their teams and focus outwardly on vendors and customers. 

Increase communication with your team. Make sure you have empathy. Think of ways to be helpful to your vendors. 

Leaders need to take care of themselves, and that involves exercise, eating right and starting the day with gratitude. The same way you lead others, you must lead yourself. If you are tired, frustrated and stressed, your words won’t matter. 

Culture Evaluation

It’s not too late for companies with a bad culture to turn things around, but it will be too late very soon. Make sure you have core values and a strong purpose. Now is the time to define who you are. Once you’ve built that culture, you’ll start to become a talent magnet for the superstars out there who are looking for something better. 

Vision and Vulnerability 

Vision: help your people understand and get involved in the company’s future. This will get them excited about what’s coming. 

Vulnerability: leaders need to be vulnerable themselves first and foremost. You are not superhuman. You need to show your vulnerability and let others, especially your leadership team, know when you are struggling. This will help you build a level of trust with your leadership team and within your organization and help you feel like you’re not alone. 

Preparing to Pivot

Make sure everyone is marching to the same tune with regards to where the business needs to be in the long term. Evaluate long-term plans every quarter. Plan and shift as you need to. 

Building Resilience

Brands should make sure they never forget this time and how they felt in case they end up in the same spot again or in a similar situation. 

No one can predict the next pandemic or natural disaster, but leaders can build resilient organizations with leadership teams that can handle crises. 

CEOs and leadership teams are not the only ones who get stressed during a crisis. Multiply those feelings by five and that is how people at lower levels of the organization are feeling. Be brutally honest about the reality, but at the same time, have a vision of a much better future. That will cascade through the leadership team and the rest of the organization and everyone will come out stronger.