Malaise to Momentum

Ever get asked to take over something that was failing? Like a kid's basketball team or a committee on a non-profit? I have. I was asked to coach a girls' basketball team that was in the midst of a 100-game losing streak. I was appointed the chairman for a non-profit's award program after that program had failed year after year. I even was "volunteered" to raise money to save a golf club that was within weeks of being sold.

It's tough to achieve in those situations because you're fighting failure, specifically in many cases, you're fighting malaise. The girls' basketball team was filled with great girls who had long ago given up. The non-profit program had people running away from it in droves. The golf club situation was years in the making and most people had no belief there was the slightest chance to save it, so why care?

It's a long journey from malaise to momentum and just as you're starting to feel there's no hope, you start to see signs of life, of hope. If you're the lucky person to be leading people in those situations, you need to realize that you may be the only person who sees a way out until it appears to everyone. But take heart, it is worth it.

Barry LaBov
LaBov Marketing Communications and Training
www.labov.com