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<v Speaker 1>Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of

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<v Speaker 1>performance through strong human relations, team building, and goalagiving. This

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<v Speaker 1>is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellovledo.

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<v Speaker 2>Hello everyone, and welcome to the Seven Minute Leadership Podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>It's episode three ninety eight. This episode is titled It's

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<v Speaker 2>not the Economy, It's Your Strategy. We're digging into one

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<v Speaker 2>of the biggest excuses leaders and business owners fall back

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<v Speaker 2>on when things start to go sideways, blaming the economy.

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<v Speaker 2>Let's be clear, Yes, the economy has real impacts. Inflation,

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<v Speaker 2>interest rates, supply chain issues. These are all real challenges.

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<v Speaker 2>But if your business starts tanking every time the outside

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<v Speaker 2>world shifts a little, it's not the economy, it's your strategy.

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<v Speaker 2>Part one. The easy excuse. Blaming the economy is easy.

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<v Speaker 2>It gives you something external to point to. Sales are down,

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<v Speaker 2>its inflation, Hiring is tough. No one wants to work anymore.

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<v Speaker 2>Your product isn't moving, people aren't spending like they used to.

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<v Speaker 2>But here's the truth. If you were running a strong, strategic,

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<v Speaker 2>adaptable operation, you'd be bending, not breaking under pressure. The

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<v Speaker 2>reality is when leaders don't have a strategy that's built

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<v Speaker 2>for turbulence. They blame the storm. That's not leadership, that's avoidance.

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<v Speaker 2>Part two the danger of external blame. When you place

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<v Speaker 2>blame outside two things happen. You lose control. If everything's

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<v Speaker 2>the economy's fault, there's nothing you can do. You surrender

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<v Speaker 2>your power to adjust, pivot or reinvent, or you build

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<v Speaker 2>a culture of helplessness. Your team hears those excuses, they

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<v Speaker 2>start believing them, and instead of hustling for solutions, they

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<v Speaker 2>start coasting on the belief that, well, it's just out

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<v Speaker 2>of our hands. But if you can own the internal

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<v Speaker 2>part your decisions, your systems, you're messaging your adaptability, then

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<v Speaker 2>you reclaim control and that's when real leadership starts. Part three.

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<v Speaker 2>What to look for in your strategy. If you're tempted

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<v Speaker 2>to blame the economy, start with this gut check. Do

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<v Speaker 2>you have a real sales strategy or are you just

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<v Speaker 2>hoping for walk in traffic and online clicks? And have

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<v Speaker 2>you adapted your messaging to fit what people care about today?

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<v Speaker 2>Or are you still pitching like it's twenty nineteen And

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<v Speaker 2>are your costs monitored daily or are you flying blind

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<v Speaker 2>and reacting late? And have you asked your customers what

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<v Speaker 2>they actually want right now? And do your people know

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<v Speaker 2>how to solve problems or are they waiting for orders

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<v Speaker 2>from above? These are internal strategy questions. They are fixable,

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<v Speaker 2>but they are also easy to ignore if you're too

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<v Speaker 2>busy pointing fingers outward.

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<v Speaker 1>Part four.

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<v Speaker 2>The companies that win anyway, You know who doesn't blame

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<v Speaker 2>the economy. The businesses that are still winning in the

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<v Speaker 2>same economy everyone else is struggling in Look at companies

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<v Speaker 2>that launched during recessions, Airbnb, Uber, Werby Parker. They all

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<v Speaker 2>started during economic uncertainty. They didn't wait for the perfect climate.

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<v Speaker 2>They executed a better strategy than the ones who folded.

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<v Speaker 2>And that's the lesson. It's not about what the economy

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<v Speaker 2>is doing, It's about what you're doing in response to it.

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<v Speaker 2>Adaptability beats stability, agility beats tradition, and decisive leadership beats

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<v Speaker 2>apprehension single time. So if your business is struggling, stop

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<v Speaker 2>blaming the economy and start asking better questions. Where did

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<v Speaker 2>we fail to prepare? What have we refused to change,

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<v Speaker 2>Where were we slow to act? And what truth have

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<v Speaker 2>we been ignoring? Leaders don't make excuses, they make adjustments.

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<v Speaker 2>So the next time someone says it's just a bad economy,

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<v Speaker 2>challenge that thinking, say no, it's a bad strategy, and

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<v Speaker 2>then do something about it. This has been the seven

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<v Speaker 2>minute Leadership Podcast and I thank you for listening.

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<v Speaker 1>For more Paul fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com.