How do you handle working and serving when you are facing serious situations

Whether you are an Entrepreneur, Ministry Leader, CEO, CFO, Speaker, Teacher and so on, we all have times when situations arise for oneself or a loved one, that demand our immediate attention (focus and time), energy, and resources. No one is immune from the happenings of life that can impact your schedule, and on a deeper level, your mental and emotional health, spiritual and physical strength, and your finances.

We don’t know when something may happen, and we certainly don’t want to live in fear, however, we can plan in advance to some degree so that we can give the time, focus, energy, and attention on the situation or condition that arises.

Let’s look at just a FEW areas and tips to prepare just in case.

Plan in advance for your mental health, emotional and spiritual care:

Who do you have to turn to for prayer, emotional support, or someone who will show up literally if you need them to? That is critical. God didn’t intend for us to go it alone. We have Him (prayer, His word and our Helper, the Holy Spirit) and he intended for us to also support each other.
Take care of YOU unapologetically. That’s the only way you’ll be able to also take care of others.
Examine your circle. The people you often think will or should be there for you may not be. Often people think extended family members, their pastor, and people they call friends, or people they lead on the job or in ministry will of course be there for you, but sadly is not always the case. Don’t presuppose someone will show up for you. Build relationships that you can count on to be there for you and you for them. Actually have those conversations: “Let’s talk about if a crisis small or large was happening in our lives, how would we show up for each other?”
If possible, have that rainy day fund (money) set aside for the potential emergency of co-pays, your bills to be paid, etc. while you are getting healthy or funds to assist you in caring for someone else.
Do you have a place of worship, a coach, counselor or therapist on your list of people who can support you in various ways? Please do that in advance.
Who is a real friend that you can discuss something personal with and know that it REALLY stops there? Get that friend in your life. The value of that friend is priceless!

Plan in advance as a leader for the places you serve/work in:

As a leader (business, ministry and otherwise), it’s smart and necessary to equip and train people on your team, in your group or in your departments that you can hand work off too in the event you can’t be present for days or weeks. If everything rests on your shoulders, then it will fall on your shoulders. The leader is not meant to carry it all and if you are then you are also not permitting the people under your leadership care to develop and use the gifts, talents, skill set and experience they bring to the table. More on that in a future post.
If there are deadlines in your responsibilities, someone else should be aware. If there are keys to draws or doors, passwords and codes or information that only you can access, then you must have someone you can trust to know where that is kept or someone who you can turn it over to in the event you are not going to be accessible. Know who that is in advance of a situation occurring.
If necessary, could you work from home on a laptop temporarily? Are you set up for that if needed?

Plan in advance for your business (on line or in person):

Many of us who are entrepreneurs may have a few employees. Others may be solo in the business and outsource work to other vendors. Sickness, major illness, injury, or something else can happen and if it’s just YOU, then your clients or customers may not have access to you for a few days or a few weeks. Below are questions to consider:

Who could shoot off an email to your clients or customers for you in the event you couldn’t?
Who could continue to serve your clients or customers temporarily in your absence with the same level of integrity, experience, professionalism and care that you provide? I know of a coach in my industry that had to ask three people to cover her business in her absence. I was honored to be asked by her to coach one of her leadership groups. Now, here’s the key, she only knew me from social media and how I carry myself, and from my website. She took a chance and I was honored she did and she received excellent feedback from those clients when she returned just over a month later. I was so glad but I was sorry that a situation came up for her that required her searching, last minute, for someone to serve her client base.
If it’s a brick and mortar business, who can handle your storefront for you? Who can you trust with your money draw and to serve your customers with excellence?
Do you have a system established for refunds of services your clients prepaid for or some way to offer them credit for when you return?

PREPARATION IS POWERFUL! You don’t look for anything to happen. None of us want anything to happen but life often does, so asking yourself some questions in advance to prepare for any potential, hopefully not probable, situations, is using wisdom. Stay tuned for part 2 where I share some tips for consideration in pre-planning for your loved ones in advance of situations.

Warm regards,
Lisa Shaw