How To Pivot In Uncertain Times

Life is surreal right now. Part of me wants to simply write that sentence 100 times and call this piece complete. And it’s not just because I’m awaiting this rare quiet moment to be interrupted by an 8-year-old who says she’s bored. It’s because this is the only certainty for me. I know I’ve never done this before; I don’t know a "right way" to do it and neither does anyone else in the world. Surreal.

In this new reality (in between checking math assignments and brainstorming writing prompts), my work to support women leaders and business owners continues. This is what I’m hearing from clients across the board:

What do I do to continue to stay relevant in these times?
How can I possibly go forward right now with the business I have?

The answer for me and the experiment I’m currently running in my own business lies within my superpowers, my own unique magic.

If I stop looking at how others are responding and I focus some precious (especially now!) thinking time on what I do best, I will have the first clues as to how to move forward.

For me this is:

Saying the hard things others won’t.

Inspiring those seeking support with optimism.

Connecting people with people, and people with ideas.

Once I’m clear on these, I need to move past my discomfort with owning them. Yes, it’s hard to say you’re good at something—but for this exercise, you need to get over that. These are your gifts. Appreciate them. Investigate them. Use them for good.

The next step is exciting, creative and scary all at once.

Brainstorm on these two ideas:

What does the world need right now that connects with your gifts?

What can you offer outside of your current role, products or services that connects with BOTH your gifts and what the world needs?

Of course, it is easy for me to see the connections from what I do to what the world needs right now. Hello, SUPPORT! That makes me jump to a place of fear for my colleagues who are home organizers and photographers and realtors (and the list goes on). Yes, there are some fields that are more conducive to serving our world virtually than others. That said, I also need to remind myself that I can easily see these possibilities in my business because that’s where my expertise lies.

When I work with clients to think creatively about what they can offer right now, I push them to put a pin in the fear for at least an hour so we can throw everything on the table without judgment. We transform this time into an unfettered discovery of how they can use their magic to serve this uncertain world, detail by detail—until their kids barge in to ask for a snack. Then, we smile, we breathe, we reset again as if we needed a reminder that these are different times. We didn’t, but we will use it as a clue anyway.