January, 2010

Welcome to our January newsletter. The year is beginning with renewed optimism. The housing market is starting to turn around, car sales are inching up, and job losses are slowing down. New jobs are still not being created fast enough. This is to the hope for a prosperous New Year.

In this issue:

Recession and Lessons Learned
New Look and New Website
Services

Recession and Lessons Learned

In 2008, Stacy Perman wrote an article Learning from the Great Depression that was published in Business Week. She researched nine companies that had survived the Great Depression and were still in business today. In her article she writes that some businesses diversified, some came up with a series of innovations while others retrenched. As I read through the nine companies profiled, a core theme of survival was present and a willingness to learn and pass that learning on from generation to generation.
The last two years have certainly not been easy on the American economy and businesses. Job losses, businesses filing for bankruptcy, home foreclosures and on and on. I do not need to spell out what most of us have etched in your minds. But what can we learn from the recession? What lessons can we take away from this time for our businesses, our professional and our personal lives? What can we learn about our customers? How can we engage our employees? How can we think differently?

1. Listen to your customers. Ask how the economy has impacted them. What are their priorities? What products or services are critical? How can you best meet their needs?

2. Engage your employees in finding solutions. With the loss of colleagues, stress of increased work and uncertainty, engaging your employees so they feel part of the whole is critical. Everyone wants to feel part of the solution. Involve your employees now.

3. Be creative. Think, yes, really think outside of the box. Take time to reflect and brainstorm creative and innovative approaches to the services and products that you offered. Staying the same will not keep you competitive.

4. Understand your reality and create action steps to fill the gap between reality and your vision. We create visions without understanding our true reality and how we can bridge the gap between what exists today and where we hope to be in the future. Creating strategies to fill the gap across the organization can lead to success.

5. Be willing to be flexible. The future seems brighter but not fixed. Organizations need to be willing to shift gears to meet their customers needs as everyone is trying to pull out of the recession. Be open to possibilities and stay alert.
We need to understand the lessons from the recession and take what we have learned into the future. We feel optimistic for 2010 and we wish you the best for a brighter year.

New Look and New Website

We have launched a new look and a new website. Although our website has served us well over the past several years, we have decided to give our logo a different look and make our website easier to navigate.

We look forward to hearing from you comments about our new look. We are committed to providing you with the best solutions to your organizational needs. We're excited about our look and hope you will enjoy it too.

Services

Potential Released can assist you with management and human resource services. We specialize in large change efforts, strategic planning, executive coaching and leadership development and recruiting.