Living in Uncertain Times

When I wrote last month about the economy being uncertain, I was hoping to be wrong. While there are reasons to be optimistic, uncertainty still seems to rule the day.

Now, I am an optimist, and as such, I am not going to sit around feeling sorry for myself. Instead, we are going to determine how to make the very best out of a difficult year. And though the annual goals may change, one thing that won’t change is who we are; namely, our Core Values, Mission and Vision.

I do videos for our internal social media. I go around and talk to people. I speak at company functions. I write a lot. I don’t mean books or even white papers. It’s mainly stuff like … well, like this. Four to seven paragraphs on some issue of the day. Nothing too deep, just simple reminders of things that are important.

As leaders, we’ve been told many times that you have to remind people of what’s important over and over and over. You’ve heard it stated that leaders are CRO’s, Chief Reminding Officers.

In my case, it's reminding our people about our Core Values, Mission and Vision. Lucky for me, those things are short, inspiring and easy to remember. Still, I have to assume that people are going to forget them if I don’t remind them. Or worse, people will think we don’t mean it if I don’t remind them.

It’s a two-edged sword. When I talk about it a lot, I am reminding myself that those things are important. Most important, actually.

I can't control what the housing market does or what lumber (or egg) prices do, but I can control how we act and respond to it.

What are your Core Values, Mission and Vision? Are they helping guide what you do?

For us, it’s centering - a constant reminder of why we are here. That makes uncertain times worth living through.