A few weeks ago I attended a conference in Tampa and the Keynote speaker, a thirty-something, way too young and wonky executive from a large software company stood behind his podium. Behind him was his first PowerPoint slide. In large bold type the heading read: “Profiting in the New Normal”. He went on to expound on the new realities and how we should all adjust our marketing, sales techniques, new pricing models etc. to suit a New America. Excuse me sonny, but last time I checked this is still AMERICA: the most prosperous and productive economy in the World 14.1 Trillion Dollars! Our nearest competitor, Japan has 1/3 our GDP. China and Germany combined don’t total 1/2 our GDP? New Normal? I don’t agree.
In 30 years working at this company, I’ve witnessed and survived three previous recessions: one in the early 1980′s, one in the early 1990′s one in the early 2000′s and now this one. Spot a trend here? They all have one thing in common: they are ugly, fear-making, destructive to the careless and instructive to those who are listening. They also come to an end, people go back to work, industry rebounds (better than before), birds chirp, couples marry, kids are born and, after a time, we forget they ever occurred. When I was a young man just starting out in business I had never seen or experienced one of these. It was nasty and scary. I tried laying that “new normal” line on my father who at the time was my boss. He called me an idiot. He said “Son, this will pass. There is no time where people will not want things or want to better themselves. Everything is temporary”. He was right. He and his wisdom passed in 2006…everything is temporary.
There is an entire generation of young and talented people who joined the ranks of working folks during the most prosperous decade in our history. They only knew one direction on the Bell Curve: straight up. I would tell them the same thing my father told me: We enter these things hard, we adjust and cut and taper and reform our business so we can stay in the game. We become BETTER executives and merchants as a result! The exit is nuanced and at times, almost imperceptible, but the transition to normalcy, real normalcy does happen. Before you know it, this recession, Great or otherwise, is history. In the words of Winston Chruchill: “Never give up, never surrender”...[to the new normal]. We do not accept it. We will not capitulate. –EM
It’s been a long summer and we’re ready for Fall. The High Point collection is complete: over 500 framed works of art are on their way to our new showroom at the C&D building. Our new SM2 brand receives great reviews from our soft launch last week and plans are in works for our Tweet Up during the upcoming High Point Market. So what’s next? A let up? Not quite.
YOU ARE THE FUTURE.
After more than 40 years at the International Home Furnishings Center (IHFC) in High Point, we are moving to our new home at the Commerce and Design Building and open for business starting this October Market.
Walt Emerson said, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us”. If we desire a change in circumstance, let’s start within ourselves. We are the catalyst of the tomorrow we desire (bright or bleak). Think about this: I know you’ve met this person: my soups’ too hot or too cold, vacation is too short, pay is not enough, business never fun or good enough, my boss, wife or husband doesn’t understand me and on an on.
Being at the helm means picking a destination, plotting a course, understanding potential hazards and finally: launching. Strategies seldom run without mid-course corrections, either slight or major to avoid unforeseen dangers. So who of us could have expected our industry’s current danger? And as a leader, how far out can you see now? How long must you steer this course before seeing clear air? In the prosperous years that lead up to this recession, I found myself working “in” my business rather than working “on” my business, [doing is always easier than thinking]. However, my job [and yours] as CEO must be to take the long view from high up. It’s up to us to look far and in all directions while passing vital data down the line to those with boots and ears on the ground. So, what do you see just beyond the next cloud in front of you? Another cloud, taller and more ominous or a bright, luminous channel to traverse through safely?
We make scores of decisions every day: what shows to watch on T.V., whether to watch T.V. at all, or read a book, what to eat, what to wear, whom to have as friends. The choices are limitless, yet we sort them quite efficiently based on a value system we adopted long ago. Is there such a mechanism at our place of work?
