Today, Ron Shaich gave an honest look into the current crisis, reassuring us that this too will eventually pass, and sharing his sage advice on how to manage the present and plan for the long-term.

Here are the key takeaways from the webinar:

This crisis will eventually pass.

Life is full of unknowns. In order to get through this, we must have faith things will work out. We have to figure out how we’re going to get through this moment and devise a solid plan for how we will successfully get to the future. Ron reminded us that life is always uncertain and that disruptive events are not new to businesses. He stated, “The only thing consistent is the inconsistency of disruptive events.” 

Identify short term solutions: What are the opportunities in your business to recapture sales and improve relationships right now?

We want to protect our employees and protect our relationships and that means we need to think creatively. In this moment, we need to adjust our settings and put ourselves in an entrepreneurial creative mindset. The opportunity is to figure out what channels we can take on with a focus on: How do we get through this moment, talking regularly to stakeholders and vendors and letting them know what you’re thinking, and making the decision to plan ahead for future disruptions.

Conscious leaders plan for the future.

We are seeing how lack of planning can add additional chaos on top of an already chaotic situation. Conscious leaders plan ahead for disruptions, they help their stakeholders see clearly what’s ahead, and they hold the course for the good of everybody. Ron shares, “My greatest hope is that we learn some lessons here. I hope we can think long-term about the implications of what we do.” Here are a few of Ron’s tips on how best to do that

Be disciplined. Don’t act on a great idea; plan for it with 70% probability of success. This will take effort, but commit to it.

• Consider potential disease cycles that are going to play out. What’s the underlying model of where your sales are today, and looking ahead, how will you grow it?     
• Get really clear where you are going with government funding. There’s real programming out there, you should put yourself in a position to understand it and take advantage of it.
• Make a plan for how you will support your people. Management teams have taken cuts, some have taken furloughs, etc. What do you need to do to keep your business alive and your people safe?
• Put everything into a mixer and KEEP talking about it. Make a plan now, and know it will need to be adjusted again in the next 3 months.