Turning Threats Into Opportunities
It is too simple for me to state that the association industry, along with many others, is deeply affected by the current Coronavirus crisis. It is easy to get caught up in fear, particularly fear of the unknown. We don’t have a road map for this crisis let alone know if this will be a short trip or a long journey.
As someone who studies leadership and helps women to clarify who they are as a leader, I have given much thought in the last week or so on how effective leaders could and should respond to this situation.
I keep coming back to the distinction between opportunities and threats. Many of us are familiar with and have taken part in a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Often at the beginning of a strategic planning process, organizational members identify items and issues under each category.
Strengths and Weaknesses are things typically internal to an organization; Opportunities and Threats are external concerns. More specifically, opportunities refer to favorable external factors that could give an organization a competitive advantage. Threats are factors that have the potential to harm an organization.
The Coronavirus is a threat to associations that are forced to cancel in-person meetings and conferences. For small associations, cancelling an annual conference is particulary problematic. The loss of revenue due to a cancelled conference could result in job layoffs or even put the existence of the association in jeopardy.
This harsh reality can effect dramatically the morale and productivity of association members, board and staff. What can association leaders do to positively re-focus energies and efforts? It is helpful to turn to another way to frame current challenges.
Proponents of Appreciative Inquiry recommend conducting a SOAR rather than a SWAT analysis. With SOAR, the focus is on the organization and enhancing what is currently done well, rather than concentrating on perceived threats and/or weaknesses. When conducting a SOAR analysis, the basic questions to be answered are:
What are our greatest strengths?
What are our best opportunities?
What is our preferred future?
What are the measurable results that will tell us we’ve achieved that vision of the future?
An association may use this time to ask:
How can we diversify our revenue streams?
How can we deliver our annual conference experience other than in-person?
What new programs and services can we develop for our members?
What brighter future do we envision for our association after the crisis passes?
Effective leaders acknowledge people’s concerns without enabling fear based decision-making. They listen with compassion and possibility. They channel energy into action-the antidote for fear. They communicate “this is a difficult time AND we will persist”.
This is a diffcult time AND we will persist.