Left of the Boom
"Being challenged in life is inevitable. Being defeated is optional." Unknown
On Saturday, the 19th of August, 2023 I crashed on my BMW motorcycle near the Cherohala Skyway in mountains of Eastern Tennessee. I don't remember the crash but, given the damage to my riding gear and motorcycle, I believe the bike came out from underneath me on a sharp corner and I fell backwards hitting my head on the pavement. I was flown to a hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee where I learned I suffered broken bones to my nose, right shoulder, several ribs on my back, and some vertebrate. The breaks were minor enough that I was able to walk out of the hospital late Monday afternoon without a cast, brace, or sling. My recovery will be slow and steady but I'll be fine. So too will the businesses I own and run.
The 'boom' or the crash or an event like it was to be expected. Indeed, I never planned or expected my motorcycle crash. My point is crisis will befall an organization in some form. It's not if. It's when. I've known this in every organization I've been a part of. The military is a crisis-rich profession. Crisis will come in the form of serious injury or loss of life brought about by combat or risky training. A business, on the other hand, will live in relative periods of peace, free from conflict and crisis, and this makes it difficult when the boom does occur. This is why businesses must get left of the boom preparing for inevitable crisis.
Our preparation - referring to my greater team and I, was centered on people and processes. I would always ask (and answer) a series of questions to my team and to myself:
Do we have the right people in place who subscribe to our values and who can operate with autonomy?
What if one of us does not return tomorrow?
Is this process built so that a new person could assume it in short order?
Can this business run without me?
We did ask and continue to ask and answer these questions and it paid off.
I was out all last week and will probably be out for several more days as I recover. Both businesses never lost a beat. Every team member stepped up and performed. Of course, I did field some questions and offer some direction but the team marched on guided by our vision, values, and my intent. It is because we did our work in the left of boom space. We were ready.
You've just been given a sneak peak at my third book, "Left and Right of the Boom. Leading and Managing in Crisis." In this book I share a story of combat, organizational crisis, and what my leaders and I did to overcome. I've got a few closing chapters to complete and some editing to do and I'll bring it to you as quickly as I can.
It's been an epic ride but my riding days are now behind me and I'm grateful for many things as I write this blog - grateful for my riding gear which undoubtedly saved my life, grateful for the first responders and nurses who performed superbly, grateful for the love and support of family and friends, grateful for my lovely wife Leslie who, as always, rushed to my side and never left, grateful for the teams who run our businesses, grateful to God.
Everyone did their work - some formal, others informal - in the left of boom space so that when the boom came, we were ready. Spend some time with yourself and your team left of the boom because the boom is coming.
Rob Campbell
Rob Campbell