Executing Business on the Fly
Walking into the unknown doesn’t have to be scary if you find a way to prepare for the big meeting
In part one Stepping Out of my Comfort Zone I covered step 1 Get Past Your Fears and Think Thru Things Methodically which is crucial when thrust into a business challenge without knowing what to expect.
Step 2—The Scary Part.
Walking into the Unknown Isn’t so Scary When you Support Yourself with Knowledgeable Resources and Take the Time to Prepare Yourself
Now I knew I would need to get myself a bit more acquainted with the topics that our CEO would normally handle and although my title is Design Director, and my strength is everything relating to trends and styling, I have been at my company for about 15 years so I am fluent in much more than just design, but
I needed to make sure that I would be able to get this point across to the people in our meeting by making sure I could speak to stats and production details very comfortably. I needed to let them know that although our CEO couldn’t be with us, there was someone there who could be well versed in those topics. I wanted to make sure I would create a sense of confidence in them that they could trust us not only to understand fashion and product—but to trust that we could support them from a business standpoint. I needed to be able to speak to how we produce goods and make it profitable for them.
As my CEO was thoroughly out of commission, I worked with a couple of our company’s lead people to construct an agenda for myself to get through the meeting. I needed to be comfortable in speaking to annual company volume and output, speed to market—providing general information for a time and action calendar, and just having all of my ducks in a row inregards to our customer base, top companies we work with, etc. And I needed to practice and practice until it rolled off my tongue.
If I was going to have to do this, I was going to have to unload some of my typical product and design parts of the meeting to my designers so that we looked like a well functioning machine that could support all areas. They would now need to step into my shoes.
