Whether you believe a recession is coming or is already here, it’s clear the economy is heading down the path toward more uncharted territory. For CEOs, it’s one more challenge to round out several very hard years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average may have sunk into a bear market of prolonged price declines in September for the first time since March 2020, but most economists agree we have not quite reached recession territory yet. And experts such as Dr. Nouriel Roubini — the “Dr. Doom” economist known for predicting the 2008 recession — argue the U.S. Federal Reserve may not be able to curb inflation without doubling interest rates, and subsequently sending economic and job growth into a tailspin.
A recent survey by the National Association of Business Economics found that 72 percent of economists expect a recession by the middle of 2023. If we enter into a recession, it’ll take roughly 15 months to recover fully, though the speed of recovery will vary by sector.
If a 15-month recovery sounds daunting, consider this: history has repeatedly shown that companies aggressively investing in marketing bounce back far faster.
Growth-minded organizations turn lemons into lemonade by turning downturns into opportunities: grabbing market share, boosting employee morale and ultimately, coming out stronger. During the 2008 recession, RedRover grew by 495 percent not through grand, radical changes, but through consistent, decisive action. In his book “Great By Choice,” Jim Collins calls this philosophy the “20-Mile March”:
Another person who starts the walk at the same time as you may log 40 miles the first day when the weather is nice, none the day it starts raining, and so on. By the time they reach Maine, weak and exhausted, you will already be there. It’s the discipline to maintain a steady pace in both good and bad times that ensures your growth is sustainable and repeatable.
Now is the time to engineer your own victories by maintaining a staunch commitment to high performance. The journey of 3,000 miles to your company’s ideal growth starts with these five simple steps.