Into the New Normal with Myron Sta. Ana.

Lessons from Business Leaders in the Trenches.

“It was a complete mess..”

That’s “Mentor” Myron Sta. Ana describing in a nutshell the impact of COVID-19 to his business.

Known as The Corporate EnterTrainer and Soft Skills Guru of the Philippines, Myron is the Chief EnterTRAINment Officer (CEO) of MSS Business Solutions, a top Organization and People Services and Solutions provider with over 200 companies served and more than 30,000 people entertrained.

The past three months, the Corporate Training and Public Seminars industry are among the many who experienced the savagery of the NCOV virus to their business model.

The whole world transitioned from indefinite growth curve into survival mode in a matter of days. Large number of businesses were forced to cease operations and for business-to-business (B2B) companies, that meant zero client and thus, zero revenue.

Big players in the industry were not immune. Many are now providing free webinars, also known as FREEmium model as they pivot into the New Normal.

And that’s what exactly led me to reach out to Myron.

Watching from a distance, I saw how devastating the havoc this pandemic brought to the training and development industry and the ingenuity of Myron in how he pivoted MSS Business Solutions to not just reinvent its operations but created new revenue streams (plural) along the way.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me first share a brief background.

In the early days of March, I was enjoying my breakfast and some Me-Time in my secret hideout as part of my day to day routine.

This carefully guarded, religiously observed, sacred moment is my method to mentally and spiritually prepare myself for the day.

Suddenly, my phone rang with an unknown number. For no apparent reason, I answered the phone, which I normally ignore by the way.

It was Myron. We spoke briefly and then I went to work.

The gist of our conversation is, MSS Business Solutions has once again reached another milestone of success, having their own small training center constructed and has invited me to facilitate a full-day learning session to a number HR Professionals.

I was honored.

The date was set on the latter days of March, the 27th, since I mentioned to Myron I will be out of the country the week before to celebrate our 5th Wedding Anniversary with my wife, Tidoy and our Bubu Yohan.

Then, 3rd week of March, the whole country went on lockdown.

So in summary, Myron has zero client with a newly constructed brick-and-mortar overhead with no clear path on what will happen next.

Hello MSS Business Solutions, welcome to the New Normal.

What’s in a Name?

During our video conversation, Myron shared the crucial moment when he decided to accept reality, which ironically, changed everything.

“I sat there and realized that even the biggest players are doing free webinars. I’ve already invested a lot in building this business, and we don’t want it to go bankrupt.”

He continued:

“So I told myself, ‘what can we do?’ and that’s when I remembered our company name: MSS Business Solutions. We provide solutions to problems of business. Why limit it to just training and development?”

Asking himself what problems businesses currently face, Myron discovered protection is the biggest concern, so he began sourcing personal protective equipments (PPE).

From Training Solutions to Protective Solutions (screen grab from Myron’s post)

I asked Myron how he was able to find customers since obviously, this is a new market and providing Protective Gears is not a core competency.

“I realised we have a data base of HR contacts. And often times HR and Admin are one department, and Admin does the purchasing. So with the relationship already in place, I sent them a proposal and offered our products,” He responded.

“People buy from people they already know.” I added.

That’s simply the beginning.

From Training Solutions to Protection Solutions to Transportation Solutions to whatever problem comes next.

So with the Protection Business in place, Myron became the delivery man by default. While driving, Myron saw another problem: employees who need to be at but cannot go to the office.

With employees missing a workday, productivity is affected. So with another problem spotted, Myron contacted his network and then was able to close a deal to be a Shuttle Service provider to different companies.

Another business problem. Another business opportunity.

But what about the physical venue? Surely it’s difficult to pivot a brick and mortar business.

It is, but not for Myron.

The former training venue was converted into a co-working space.

As we’re now discovering, Work-From-Home (WFH) is not for everyone. Slow internet, lack of privacy during video meetings, neighbor’s barking dogs and cocking chicken makes the setup even more frustrating than being stuck in the office with your annoying colleague.

Another problem looking for a solution.

So now, those within Rizal area can avail the sanitized workspace, unlimited coffee and Netflix Myron offers. You can also buy PPEs at a discounted price.

So, what’s in a name? Everything.

In summary, here are the lessons:

First, the elasticity of a business name (or business mindset) is an imperative. Don’t trap yourself in one revenue model simply because that’s the way you’ve always done it in the past.

Second, never dwell on the problems. Focus on the solutions.

Third, be observant. The next opportunities are literally just around somewhere.

Final thoughts.

Instead of seeing himself only as a Training provider, Myron truly became a Business Solutions provider

Instead of seeing a training venue as overhead, Myron turned it into Co-Working Space, becoming a Work-From-Home Solutions provider

Instead of seeing himself as a delivery man, Myron, seeing a lot of stranded employees, came up with the idea of Transportation Solutions provider.

Asked for his advice to other business leaders, Myron said:

“Those who only see the negatives in this #NewNormal shall fold quickly while those who find the opportunities shall adapt quickly.”

The opening sentence was incomplete, I’ll let Myron close this write-up by filling out the rest.

“It was a complete mess but with the optimistic mindset and the aggressive search for solutions, we were able to turn things around.”

Onward.
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Florentino Hernando is the Managing Director of FA Hernando Consulting, a managment consulting firm with the mission to build great companies.

Into the New Normal with Gian Scottie Javelona.

Lessons from Business Leaders in the Trenches.

“I just finished meditating and completing my gratitude journal.”

Hardly the first words I was expecting in a virtual interview with a 20-something CEO of a Tech Company.

As the whole world commence to embrace the New Normal workplace of remote teams and no-timecard-just-results environment, OrangeApps, led by founder and CEO Gian Scottie Javelona, has been practicing them for almost a decade already.

OrangeApps: Empowering Schools through Innovation.

The PUP Dropout.

Washington has Microsoft and Bill Gates, Silicon Valley has Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg, and Quezon City has OrangeApps and Gian Scottie Javelona.

At 19, while a student at Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) , Gian encountered the national problem our students face every enrollment – time-consuming process of crowded long lines paired with slow admission system birth a sweaty waiting experience.

In school, resources are scarce and Computer Engineering students had to share one computer. How can we expect the country to produce the next Google, Facebook or Amazon if the next generation have such educational setup?

In one humurous yet heartbreaking story Gian never forgets to share, when he entered the school, the security guard who checked his bag was also his professor.

So, with problems everywhere, Gian created a cloud-based app and hacked the school system to design a better student experience.

He was scolded by the President for sure, but better judgment prevailed and thus Gian was labeled a hero afterwards.

However, upon discovering his mission in life, Gian dropped out and started his own business.

Thus OrangeApps was born.

OrangeApps or OA is a technology company based in the heart of Quezon City. Its mission is to empower schools through innovation by solving problems in education. The vision is to be the standard school platform by 2025, but as you will read later on, it looks like it will happen sooner than we expect.

In 2017, before hitting his 25th birthday, Gian was listed as one of the 30 under 30 by Forbes.

You can read the full story of this wunderkind some other time but for now now, I wanted to talk to the CEO and pick his brains on how the pandemic affected his company.

The impact of COVID.

“It accelerated the adoption of our business.”

Long before the pandemic forced us to consider online classes, OrangeApps had already been a provider of such platform to their customers in the academe.

During our conversation, the proud feeling radiate from Gian as OrangeApps’ customers – schools – continue to operate despite the whole world shutting down.

With hundreds of companies and small enterprise either in very deep waters or literally closing and millions of jobs all over the globe in jeopardy, OrangeApps was a life raft to those it serves.

In my head I was celebrating with him, enjoying the feeling that you get knowing your business have helped businesses stay in business.

I asked Gian what lessons were he able to mine in this pandemic, he quickly offerred two. The first one is spritiual, the second was practical:

“Pray. Now more than ever, we need to pray.”

As a man of faith and Christ-follower, I try to downplay spiritual conversations as much as possible.

Not that I am ashamed of my faith, I’m not. Nor do I believe that business and spirituality are two separate entities and should not be mixed, I don’t.

It’s simply because I want my professional life – not words – to reflect biblical principles (imperfectly, no doubt) that would hopefully induce a conversation from others.

Moreover, it has been my experience that most marketplace leaders and corporate professionals want to keep things purely business as usual. If no one is asking, they probably don’t want to know nor care. Until then, its best to live out the faith one day, one meeting at a time.

But here we are, in a middle of crisis talking to an accomplished CEO, a self-made person who built companies (plural) before hitting thirty, with the responsibility of other people’s livelihood and businesses resting upon his shoulders, who’s changing the game of our country’s academic landscape (and soon, others), and basically saying “God was behind everything.”

And with that, I say amen.

His second lesson:

“Take care of your existing customers even if it means you have to turn down new ones. Your customers will never forget how your company took care of them in the darkest moments of their business.”

With the demand for their platform services due to the pandemic, tech companies have been growing like a rocket.

Zoom, Tiktok, and recently FaceApp is on a growth curve and OrangeApps is no exemption.

But the surge of new customers clammoring for OAs business might mean compromise in the quality of service for the existing clients in order to manage the expansion.

In OrangeApps’ playbook, growth at the expense of client experience is not a fair trade.

That’s textbook Gian.

Full disclaimer: OrangeApps is our partner in building Lay Bare’s App and our entire IT system.

We have a unique relationship with Gian and his company where we both challenge one another and grow together.

I have been invited to OrangeApps to do talks for the company as well as provide insights and advice to Gian on organizational matters.

We’ve also shared the stage during this year’s Leadership Summit and he has been a regular faculty of our Town Hall talks and Conferences.

Gian and I are working closely together the past few months building our Nexus, Lay Bare’s Human Resource Information System (HRIS) and as a customer on this end, I’m blown away by how he takes care of the client.

Obsession with the client experience – both with us and the ultimate end user – best sum up Gian’s philosophy.

He literally, resolutely, monomaniacally, wants to make everything insanely easy and simple for the user.

Case in point, as a customer, I’m happy – not satisfied, extremely happy – about the recent update of our Nexus project, I messaged him right of the bat and bragged about our new system to everyone in earshot.

To close our conversation, I asked Gian for advice to all affected by the crisis. His response:

“Have faith and pray, never forget your mission in the midst of this crisis, be honest with your people, work together as a team and you’ll survive.”

In crisis, its so easy to turn firefight mode on and lose sight of the reason of the company’s existence.

Ironically, it is the mission – the sole purpose why the enterprise was created and built in the first place – that ignites the passion and fuel each person’s fortitude to endure whatever the world throws at them.

Moreover, it is in the worst of times that people are offered an opportunity to link arms and bond together in a deeper way, opportunity that is hardly found when times are good and rosy.

Transparency of the situation forces people to take stock and pull within whatever they can to contribute for the survival of the business – or pull out and look for a better place.

Either way, its a win. You get stronger performance as a team or you get loyalty.

Final thoughts.

Whatever industry we are in, this case, Technology, the basics of business stays the same.

Take care of your existing customers and they will repay you multiple times via repeat business over the coming years.

Transparency breeds accountability, which breeds high-performance.

Mind your challenge but never forget to count your blessings and be a blessing.

We are barely entering the New Normal and no one knows for sure what this means for business and organizations.

So in a world plagued by fear and uncertainty, the basic principle of care – for clients, employees and the world – is truer now more than ever.

In the New Normal, these are no longer nice-to-have ideas; they are business imperatives.

Onward.
——————————————————
Florentino Hernando is the Managing Director of FA Hernando Consulting, a managment consulting firm with the mission to build great companies.

Into the New Normal with Mark Timothy Brion.

Lessons from Business Leaders in the Trenches.

“It destroyed the system.”

That’s Mark Timothy Brion, Managing Partner of Centris Philippines, a home-based Christian education services providing effective and flexible learning solutions tailored to each child’s needs.

Mark is also the CEO of Thrive Publishing & Resources, a Filipino publisher and provider of Christian content with the mission to bring people to Christ, bring people to Christlikeness, and raise up leaders one book, one resources a time.

Add to the list is being the husband of Dorcas Brion also known as Bibong Pinay, a powerful voice in empowering women through her books, talks, videos and, most importantly, her faith. Her influence goes beyond the 60, 000+ followers of her page.

This power couple recently authored “Usapang Mag-Asawa” which I strongly recommend for everyone to grab a copy. We got ours already.

With such impressive profile, it is no wonder why this serial entrepreneur, businessman and man of faith is on my radar. I wanted to give readers a wider perspective that’s not limited in the context of corporate enterprise.

How do you manage in the New Normal when you have multiple businesses to run?

If the challenge of managing one’s business in times of crisis is not taxing enough, the complexity of having a couple more would be a masterclass in leadership development.

Never let a crisis go to waste as the late Jack Welch used to say.

So I didn’t waste time and got on with my questions, starting with the lessons Mark learned during this Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ).

Growth.

The first lesson he shared is about growth. Currently, Mark is immersing himself in studying finance and accounting, an area in which he admits he has no expertise.

This is the best time to learn something that’s beyond the skirts of one’s competency. Sure, the lockdown has created certain limitations that was not in existence before but growing professionally and personally are things we are still and will always be able to do.

The rise of webinars and online classes is a testament to this. The availabilty of the tools needed to create seminars via the web democratized the training industry and have turned hundreds of amateurs into businessmen and businesswomen overnight.

I was never a fan of conducting conference meeting online. I want to be able to communicate face to face so I stayed away from video calls, thought of it as too impersonal and of lower quality and value to my line of work.

So my consulting work and professional development sessions with clients happened at coffee shops on weekends.

But we all had to adapt. I had to learn how to facilitate session and now am among those who are offering Management Classes and Professional Development online.

It’s either that or create Tiktok videos.

Innovate.

Mark’s publishing arm, Thrive, took a hit as it ceased operation during the lockdown. With inventory piled up and no operation in unforseen future, Mark transitioned from publishing physical into digital e-books a week in lockdown.

Result? Sales skyrocketed.

I am tempted to once again insert the Jack Welch quote on crisis here but I choose to bite my tongue, or finger.

If there’s a recurring theme we are to learn into this New Normal series, it’s this: digitize or die.

We had a fantastic and lenghty conversation on this matter and great points were raised. But my biggest take away is the idea of how innovation is defined:

“Seeing the same thing but in a different perspective”

It means seeing the lockdown as a time of no work no pay (which is true) and also seeing it as a time to start a business (which is also true).

It means seeing a pile of books in a warehouse and also choosing to see it as a mountain of literary resource needed by many people who have plenty of time to read.

Human beings are plenty innovative and the proof is the viral video of endless renditions of ‘Law of the Classroom’.

I can’t, for the life of me, listen to the original video without hearing the melody in my head.

Which is why I believe the Queen of Innovation Award during Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) goes to Kim Chiu who turned a social media bashing into a record-deal!

In summary, innovation is re-purposing something or a situation to one’s advantage.

As our time together comes to a close, I asked Mark for advice for those affected by the lockdown.

“In the midst of this pandemic, regularly revisit your vision.”

Thinking about it, doing so will help us endure this season. Our vision rekindles the passion in our belly. Hope gives us the reason to stand up and fight one more round.

As leaders, with people depending on us, we have to keep the hope alive.

Closing thoughts.

Looking back on our conversation, my interview with Mark was less about business operations in times of the pandemic and more on thriving in the New Normal and beyond.

Continous learning, innovation borne of limitation and never losing sight of the vision, this applies not just in business and in times of crisis but overall, in life.

Onward.
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Florentino Hernando is the Managing Director of FA Hernando Consulting, a managment consulting firm with the mission to build great companies.

Bobbie’s Comfort Food and the Rise of New Entrepreneur

New Normal Business Lessons from Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Working from Home (WFH) used to be a thing we look forward to. But with a three-year old who haven’t seen the playground for two months, WFH is exhausting.

So while taking a break, browsing my Social Media, a chocolate chip cookie caught my eye. Since I know the owner recently created the page, I mentioned it to my wife, Tidoy, who was working her laptop.

A little while, I heard Tidoy say “Uuy ang sarap nun maja..”

It was probably the fifth time she repeated those exact, same words when I figured out it’s time to order some sweets.

So I contacted Bobbie, placed my order, and later enjoyed this delectable chocolate chip cookie, which was still fresh and warm when I held it.

Bobbie’s Comfort Food by Bobbie and Sean Itable.

Later that day, when I was reflecting on the event, I realized a couple of things:

1. Men are really insensitive, dull and slow to pick up what women are saying. (..and all the women reading this said ‘amen‘)

2. With the environment we are in, it’s a whole lot easier to start your own business than it was five years or even five months ago.

So since my write-up leans to the business profession and not on the the mystery of understanding the female mind, I will share my thoughts on item number 2.

Here are a few key ideas for entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners.

Leveraging Technology.

In my online class, New Entrepreneurs, I talk about your career being your own business and you are its CEO.

Bobbie’s Comfort Food is textbook study of how to do this in the New Normal.

Like many businesses birthed in the NCOV pandemic, Bobbie’s Comfort Food exist in Social Media. It’s actually only five days old with a little over a thousand followers already.

You browse the tempting pastry and food selection via her Facebook Page, order via messenger, and pay via GCash, bank transfer, or cash-on-delivery (COD).

The frictionless transaction brought by technology has made starting a business and reaching customers a little more like child’s play.

Be Human.

In a world where we automate everything we can, it’s refreshing to experience the human side of the transaction.

In every order delivered to your front door is a note from the owner herself. A letter, hand-written, personalized, and a scripture verse that declares their faith.

Yes, in the New Normal, digitize or die.

But for all its benefits, let us never forget that technology is simply a tool we use to accomplish the main thing: grow customer relationship.

A touching letter is proof Bobbie’s Comfort Food has not lost sight of that.

Final thoughts.

In the nation-wide lockdown, the New Entrepreneurs has been on the rise.

We’ll see this trend accelerate in the coming days.

Turn Digital what you can. Be Human where you must.

So, to answer the question, do I recommend Bobbie’s Comfort Food?

You bet I am.
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Florentino Hernando is the Managing Director of FA Hernando Consulting, a managment consulting firm with the mission to build great companies.

Into the New Normal with Raul L. Quisumbing.

Lessons from Business Leaders in the Trenches.

“With the current situation, our vessels carrying passengers had to cease temporarily. Our freighter vessels, under Trans Asia Shipping Lines Inc., and logistics are the ones operating playing a vital role in the supply chain.

We have business units that are WFH and have identified personnel to do shifting to complement the changes in business behaviour.”

That’s Raul L. Quisumbing, describing the impact of the COVID pandemic to their business operations. He’s the next person on my list.

Raul L. Quisumbing is the Vice President of Marketing and Port Operations for Chelsea Holdings.

Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. (Chelsea) is the biggest shipping and logistics company in the Philippines and has been expanding the breadth of its services, covering Charter, Passage, Freight, Cargo, Tugboat Services, Logistics Services, Ship Management and Crewing.

Chelsea Vision: Being the finest shipping and logistics company of choice.

RLQ, as I prefer to call him, and I used to work together a few years back. He was then the VP of Commercial Services while I was part of the HR team with the Organization and Talent Development section.

Ever generous to share his learnings, RLQ was the first Executive who agreed to sit down for an interview as I launched Leadership Talks, an experimental initiative that aims to transition the culture of the company by having top management communicate the values expected to everyone in our town hall.

So its natural for me to shoot an email inviting him for a virtual conversation about the present situation the world is in and what he’s learning so far. True to form, a schedule was set and write up was on the pipeline.

Real-World Lessons by RLQ: It Pays to be Lean + Revisit the Process.

Since the discussion revolves around Shipping industry, I found it apt to use this idiom:

“A high tide lifts all boats but when the tide hits low, we’ll see who’s swimming naked.”

It’s easy to underplay lapses and shortcomings when things are rosy and the numbers are all green going up into the right.

When things are comfortable, the tendency is to grow and expand, interpreting large size as evidence of being successful.

Unless careful, that growth and expansion turns into fat.

Then when crisis hits and resources are scarce, it exposes glaring weaknesess and redundancies that used to be ignored.

The COVID pandemic, has, in my experience, served as an amplifier of situation, for good or for ill.

In the midst of a crisis, performers tend to shine while those who have been coattailing and basking the glow of other’s work now have nowhere to hide.

In crunch time, incompetence and redundancy won’t get a pass.

Which is why RLQ recommends to be lean.

Ever the hater of unnecessary fat, RLQ operates as a lean machine long before COVID came into play.

I’ve witnessed this first-hand when we were still working for the same company.

I was in charge of organizational design then and I’ve seen multiple redundancies: two different positions with distinct tasks that can be done by one person.

There seem to be an unspoken competition where sheer size of direct report is the yardstick of winning.

As an ENTJ Personality type, one that abhors inefficiency, it’s crazy making to me.

But not so with RLQ. To my knowledge his biggest team consist of less than nine people in charge of Marketing and Commercial services.

When he lost a team member, RLQ’s team operated as if nothing happened. No request for replacement came on my desk.

That’s one lean mean performance machine.

Into the New Normal with FAH and RLQ.

On to his second point, we spent quite some time unpacking this topic.

The knack to turn on a dime is why a lean team is recommended as the whole world transition into the New Normal.

Nobody can fully determine how the business landscape will operate in a post-COVID world hence the ability to adapt quickly is table stakes. Speed and agility are necessary competency in an unpredictable environment, one that a lean team is designed to provide.

Building such requires designing (and re-designing) complex processes into a simple operating system with the goal of achieving the best possible result with the fewest resources used.

The simpler the process, the less tendency for waste to manifest.

RLQ added:

“We are assessing all process to work on a more efficient level and identifying revenue leaks that can be converted into cost savings.”

By this time my head’s already flooded with ideas, so with the clock running out, I asked RLQ what his advice is to Business Leaders who are on the same boat we are in.

He echoed what others have been saying: Manage your Cash Flow.

“You’re familiar with the three Cs”, he added. “Cash Collection Cycle.“

Convert everything you can to cash just for this season. It’s important to be liquid.

And with that, I say amen.

Final thoughts

In the Old Normal, though not ideal, redundancy are inefficiency are manageable. But the New Normal seem unforgiving.

So it all goes back full circle.

Reviewing and redesigning processes according to the New Normal with an eye towards efficiency creates a lean mean performance machine.

A lean team, one that has no fat, all muscle, mean less resources required to operate and deliver necessary results.

Less resources required to operate mean high profit margin which can be converted to long-term cash reserves.

Quick and nimble; such companies are at an advantage in the post-COVID environment and beyond.

Onward.

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Florentino Hernando is the Managing Director of FA Hernando Consulting, a managment consulting firm with the mission to build great companies.

Into the New Normal with Hero M. Laurente.

Lessons from Business Leaders in the Trenches.

The past few months, the world has been rampaged by an invisible enemy. Every industry across all sectors have been brought to its knees.

The economic engine of nations – businesses – suffered and looking at the days ahead, there are only two outcomes for companies: they will either become stronger because of this crisis OR stumble into irrelevancy.

It made me think hard and ask: what do we need to do to achieve the former?

I reached out to business leaders – Owners, Entreprenuers and Executives – to pick their brain and experience as they steer their companies while being in the eye of this economic storm.

The first on my list is Hero M. Laurente.

Hero is the Managing Partner of LaurenteCapital, a Financial Consulting Services firm. It’s flagship product, No Ceiling by Laurente Capital is a Money Management mentorship and investment advisory program.

Our Vision: “Every child will have a Financial Hero to look up to”

A former Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), Hero became a peso millionaire in his 30s by being an extreme saver at the same time investing and trading in the stock market while building multiple businesses.

Now, he gives back by leveraging technologies to empower adults and young adults with strategic money management skills so they can make responsible financial decisions.

It is probably because of his experience which is why Hero’s heart beats for fellow OFWs whom he believes have the biggest advantage in becoming financial independent.

Getting Started.

What was supposed to be a 15-minute talk lasted for over an hour and a half.

Our conversation about the business landscape, the global economy and what it means for corporations – large institutions, small-medium enterprises (SME) and micro-businesses – gave me a difficult time in deciding what to include in this write up.

The first question was the impact of this pandemic to the business he operates.

Surprisingly, since Hero’s business model is an annual fee subscription online, the pandemic has minimal effect in his operations and finances.

It bears emphasizing: this is something every business leader should seriously explore in making our companies bulletproof.

Which leads us to two key lessons Hero shared with me.

Go Digital or Die + The Best Marketing Wins.

We both agreed that in the New Normal, being online is no longer an add-on, nice-to-have feature of a business; it’s table stakes.

This is what I call “The Jersey Rule”.

In sports, one will not be allowed to play if they do not wear their uniform or team jersey.

Now, wearing a jersey does not guarantee a championship but not wearing one guarantees ineligibility to play the game.

Online presence is a company Jersey in the New Normal.

The social distancing protocol in place with a large population voluntarily choosing to work from home makes the shift into the digital marketplace accelerate in the next three to six months. Those who are not online will definitelty be left behind.

Which leads us to the second key lesson: the best marketer wins.

With limited capacity to operate and tightly held resources due to the crisis, competition for the customers’ wallet will be fierce.

By marketing, Hero and I discussed that it doesn’t only mean catchy design and slick tag lines of products and services, but on how these and the company – the whole business in its entirety – are presented to its customers.

At the end of the conversation, I asked Hero what advice will he give business leaders right now.

Be adaptable. The best time to strategize about the company’s new direction was last month.

He added:

Refine your business for the New Normal because it’s always easy to go back to the old business model.

Well said.

Final thoughts.

In the next three to six months, we will see limited business operations in all industries. The migration into the digital marketplace is an imperative moving forward.

It goes without saying that there are businesses which cannot be conducted online. But they are not off the hook.

Those who are unable to find a way to integrate new technology to their old economic model will be at a massive disadvantage. Those who are able to do so will be ready to the new business reality.

Onward.
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Florentino Hernando is the Managing Director of FA Hernando Consulting, a managment consulting firm with the mission to build great companies.

A World in Transition.

A Working Framework for Business and Leaders.

Confession: uncertainty is my kryptonite.

There is nothing I hate more than being placed in a situation where I do not have a firm grasp of how things work and how I should behave.

As an organized person (okay, controlling is the more apt word), being unsure of what to do drives my sanity down the drain.

So when this pandemic hit us, when governments started closing boarders and businesses and organizations began ceasing operations, my mental gears went overdrive.

We are Living in a World in Transition (Photo Credits: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com)

Readers may sense a different tone in this write up largely because the content does not come from the benefit of hindsight and reflection but based on a working assumption.

The objective is to share my observation about the dynamics of organizations in the weeks past and the days ahead as to suggest what action a business leader must take in order to weather the storm.

It goes without saying this is not exact science. It is merely a conscious effort to make sense of the situation, discern patterns and figure out a way to move forward.

A few things I’ve observed so far.

• There are three phases: The Early Days, The Long Present, and The New Normal.
• Each phase requires a different course of action.
• Each phase does not stand alone; they are intertwined varying in degree and time.

Let me explain each phase and the recommended strategy with it.

First Phase: The Early Days (Protection)

The early days of the pandemic forced the world on lockdown. Business operations ceased and with no revenue coming in, Business Contigency Plans (BCP) were activated.

The strategy is to protect your assets, meaning the company’s talent and cash reserves. Without both, an organization – be it business, not-for-profit – will cease to exist.

In my conversation with leaders from different industries, I find myself saying the mantra over and over again: CASH IS KING.

Having a hefty war chest allows organizations to weather this economic storm and the havoc it brings.

Cash is gas allowing businesses to operate albeit on a limited capacity in order to find another source of revenue or survive until lockdown is lifted and daily operations resume.

Second Phase: The Long Present (Introspection)

The second phase is what I call the Long Present because we don’t know when our current situation being on lockdown will end.

The world is on a stand still as we find a cure or find a way to live and move forward in the post-COVID era.

Many leaders must make the most of this time, analyzing what this pandemic means for our business, its effect in our economic model and what changes needs to be in place as we pivot to the New Normal.

In a white paper from Center for Creative Leadership entitled The World versus COVID: How to Win the Second Set, authors Sunil Puri and Elisa Mallis wrote:

“Leaders must go back to the drawing board and revisit what the organization had set out to achieve and if they are able to do that in the new world.”

Now is the perfect time to take stock of what we have, reconfigure the business model as necessary and align the resources, both human and financial capital, accordingly.

Third Phase: The New Normal (Exploration)

No one at this time can fully grasp the implication of the New Normal to how organizations operate, how customers will behave or fundamentally, how things will work since we’re obviously about to wander in unchartered territory.

Yes, in the second phase I recommended business leaders plan and prepare for the New Normal. Yet and I am the first to admit that activity is less about planning and more about guesswork.

One thing is for sure, agility – the ability to go slow when one can and go fast when one must – is a core competency that must be baked into the DNA of organizations coming out of the lockdown.

Slowing down enough to figure things out and identify what works while speeding up when opportunity presents itself is a paradox every leader must be comfortable with in a post-COVID world.

Final thoughts.

It bears repeating: this write up is not an exhaustive study but merely an observation in an attempt to make sense of the situation and formulate a working framework that would guide actions in the coming days ahead.

Protection of assets – both Human and Financial Capital. Introspection of the organization – what it has and its relevance in the new landscape. Exploration of the viability of the business model in the post-COVID era.

Though these steps do not guarantee immunity to the impact of the pandemic, they will give us and our businesses a leg up in our fight to survive and thrive in the New World.
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Florentino Hernando is the Managing Director of FA Hernando Consulting, a managment consulting firm with the mission to build great companies.

Leadership in the Era of COVID and Beyond.

We are living in an unprecedented time. Never have I imagined the whole world would go on lockdown, let alone experience it in my lifetime.

We’re no stranger to infectious diseases gone viral. From the Bubonic Plague or Black Death of the 1300s to SARS of the early 2000s and the recent H1N1 Swine Flu outbreak in 2009, history is littered with plagues and pandemic.

But never as intense and far-reaching as this.

What are the changes in a post-Covid world? (Photo Credits: escape.com.au)

Early this month, I reached out to a colleague who’s part of the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) to get an insider’s view on what the government’s plan is in the coming days.

It was a brief conversation but we both agree that we haven’t seen the apex of this global pandemic. After we said our goodbyes, I knew then that things will never be the same again. Things will never go back to what they were.

The Old Normal has left the building.

The New Normal has entered the conversation.

A lot of talk and speculation has been spouted about what this “New Normal” means and its implication for all, both in business and in life. Some theories have merits, others do not hold water. Many are still unsure.

Though we cannot define what the New Normal is to its fullest extent right now, in the world of work, a couple of things I am certain will be true in the days ahead and years to come.

Virtual is the New Normal.

Long has it been touted, “Digitize or Die”. These days, the sentence rings true more than ever.

With limited movement and face-to-face interaction considered a health risk, e-businesses are expected to boom significantly if it hasn’t already.

For many in the service industry whose business model is dependent with quality client interaction, automation of processes is crucial and online presence an imperative.

A large number of transactions that traditionally took place on site and in person will, in the New Normal, be done via the web.

The key is to create frictionless customer journey from initial touchpoint to the rendering and finally, the billing of service.

In the New Normal, exceptional Client experience married with Operational Efficiency is the name of the game.

From Activity to Results-Only.

If Work-From-Home (WFH) was a controversial alternative work arrangement up until a couple of months ago, the New Normal forced us to embrace it. It also forced us to evaluate what work performance truly mean.

Traditional measure of performance used to largely be based on effort and activity.

Showing up for work, not being late, moving from one place to another and being busy often communicate one is a performer.

But in the New Normal, its difficult to say one has “initiative” or “creativity” or someone is just plain old “hard working” when a team is operating virtually.

Hence, without the benefit oversight, performance in the world of New Normal will be evaluated largely (if not entirely) on one’s output.

For sure there are positions where WFH option is not applicable and there some people who shouldn’t be given the option at all, but my point is what once considered a “best practice” will become “conventional wisdom” in the days to come.

Netflix has been practicing Results-Only-Work-Environment (ROWE) since 2004. In a write-up for Entrepreneur, Travis Bradburry said:

“Since 2004, Netflix employees have taken as many vacation days as they’ve wanted. They have the freedom to decide when to show up for work, when to take time off, and how much time it will take them to get the job done… Netflix employees have unlimited vacation because no one is tracking their time”

One can argue that WFH is not the ideal way to operate a business but no one can deny the success of Netflix the past decade and its impact specially right at this moment to the lives of its customers (i.e. Me).

Final thoughts.

When facing a significant drop in foot traffic and transaction per day coupled with the high demand to meet specific performance in order to survive the economic storm, we Leaders don’t hunker down and wish for the world that’s gone.

We Leaders change according to the times.

No news there. We Leaders thrive on change. In fact, we lead change.

For many of us, it was during moments of uncertainty and transition that catapulted us into positions of leadership. It is when our abilities shine the most.

One thing that will never change though, is the demand for high-performance.

Whatever the environment we are in, we Leaders are expected to deliver the best possible result with the resources at hand.

It is the ability to adapt with the chaging reality of the situation to fulfill the unchanging demand of high-performance that separates the Leaders from the rest.

Welcome to the New Normal.
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Florentino Hernando is the Managing Director of FA Hernando Consulting, a managment consulting firm with the mission to build great companies.

The Black Swan Event.

In December 2019, the City of Wuhan in Hubei Province became the center of a pneumonia outbreak of unknown cause with global implications.

Little did we know the impact it will incur all over the world.

According to Statista.com, as of March 22, 2020, the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) had spread to six continents, around 188 countries and approximately 13,069 people had died after contracting the respiratory virus. Around 4,825 of these deaths occurred in Italy.

COVID-19: Getting Hit with a Black Swan (Photo Credits: cdn5.eyeem.com)

Beyond infections: the impact of NCov-19 to the Global Economy.

In an interview with the Dallas Mavericks Owner and Shark Tank Star Marc Cuban, he calls the Coronavirus pandemic a “Black Swan Event.”

“I’m worried, there’s no question about it,” Cuban told Mornings with Maria host Maria Bartiromo. “Because this is a black swan event. It’s complete uncertainty. We don’t know how this will play out.”

A Black Swan Event is a term popularized by author Nassim Nicholas Taleb. It is an unpredictable event that is beyond what is normally expected of a situation and has potentially severe consequences. Black swan events are characterized by their extreme rarity, their severe impact, and the widespread insistence they were obvious in hindsight.

Personally, I’ve heard of Black Swan Events and have mentioned it in my Management Classes from time to time. Never have I imagined that I would be experiencing one in my career. I am both excited at the same terrified since it’s next to impossible to predict what will happen next.

Taking it Closer to Home.

In March 12, 2020 a community quarantine, placing Metro Manila on lockdown was announced by President Duterte beginning at 12mn on March 15 upto April 12.

When the community quarantine was declared, this activated our Business Contingency Plan to Level 1. In such scenario, we are to operate in split teams with differing schedule.

On the second day of its implementation, President Duterte declared an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) for the whole Luzon. Curfews were set and businesses that are not providing basic necessities are asked to cease operations until the ECQ has been lifted.

That’s when things went hyperdrive.

In a span of days, the level of our Business Contingency Plan accelerated from Level 1 to Level 3.

We shifted from aggressive growth, to skeletal operations, to survival almost overnight.

So many lessons at a rapid pace are unfolding, I feel like I’m drinking from a firehose. One key insight stood out like no other.

Lesson in a Crisis.

I was in a global leadership conference where in the interview, the late Jack Welch, the hard-nosed former Chairman and CEO of General Electric was asked how to lead in a crisis. His response is classic Welch:

“In a crisis, cash is king! It is absolultely, king!”

Now as a Christian, I was tempted to comment that I believe Christ is King, but just did a mental note and moved on.

Faith aside, it’s true: in crisis, cash flow management literally means life or death of the company.

That’s the lesson.

The Day One of the community quarantine, with over 50% of our Branches and the entire Metro Manila Operations closed – revenue dropped in staggering rate.

Our Finance Manager had to scrap our 2020 financial plan and come up with new projections. Brilliant to the tee, this whiz in the numbers gave us the state of affairs and what it means within hours of the meeting. It’s not ugly. It’s not pretty either.

With the financial numbers in, the ManCom scrambled to come up with our Business Contingency and Resiliency Plan.

This forced us to see with unmistakeable clarity which activities are important, which are essential and which are ultimately the irreducible minimum. It guided our actions and painfully decide, as a unified leadership team of the company, to identify and prioritize key personnel and functions.

It’s gut-wrenching for most and heartbreaking for all to write a plan in the assumption of the worst possible case: extending the Enhanced Community Quarantine for several months.

In the event mentioned, we are forced to cease operations, leaving the company with zero income in a prolonged and indefinite period. This means, sooner or later, the money in reserve will dry up and with no revenue coming in – we have to consider the reality of placing manpower operational requirement on hold in order for the company to survive.

To make it clear, we will be asking poeple to take an extended leave without pay for several months because the company cannot sustain the current workforce without revenue coming in the business.

These are real people under our leadership – real lives who will be affected if things turn from bad to catastrophic.

We akin the scenario in our meetings as cutting the arm in order for the body to survive.

But this is what leaders do: to look at and accept reality – the way things truly are, not the way we wish it is – and decide what’s best for the company so that, in the long run, there is a company that people will return to when the business eventually picks up, as they always do.

Closing thoughts.

I once read somewhere “never let a crisis go to waste.”

This Black Swan event in the form of a global pandemic has devastating impact. A lot of leadership mistakes have been revealed, helping me to become better as a leader. But I’m also aware that the only mistakes you can learn from are the ones you survive.

As the days unfold, it is difficult to know what will happen next. One things for sure, as a leader, after all this is over, I will never be the same again.
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Florentino Hernando is the Managing Director of FA Hernando Consulting, a managment consulting firm with the mission to build great companies.

Management in the times of NCov-19.

Day 4.

The National Quarantine offers us a gift – the gift of time to reflect. So with ample time in my hands, my brain is on hyperdrive mining real-world insights – what we should’ve done, could’ve done – in preparation for this Black Swan Event*.

(*Black Swan Event, popularized by Author Nassim Nicholas Taleb, is defined by Investopedia, as an unpredictable event that is beyond what is normally expected of a situation and has potentially severe consequences. Black swan events are characterized by their extreme rarity, their severe impact, and the widespread insistence they were obvious in hindsight, more on this in my next write up)

What NCov-19 is Teaching Businesses. (photo credits: airportknowledge.com)

Two lessons stood out. Here’s the first:

People resist change but they can change faster than we think – when its painful enough.

Confession: I hated Hangouts.

The reason for hating it is, well, I’m scared of it. I’m scared because I don’t know how to use it.

Thinking about it now, I realized its just pure laziness. The busyness of the day to day operations made me push learning how to use the GSuite tool in the back burner. It’s not a priority for me, I thought, I always have time to learn it later. For now, I have bigger fish to fry.

Then – BAM! – Monday morning, 3am, The Guy is on the other end of phone, telling me our Metro Manila operations is cancelled. “Setup the Conference Meeting at 10am”, he said. Still in my PJs, I have nowhere to hide.

During the conference meeting I couldn’t believe why we didn’t use Hangouts sooner. I have been kicking myself ever since.

Priding myself as someone who is an early adopter of technology while looking down on the crowd who wait-and-see, it humbling to see what a fool I’ve been.

People resist change until they have no other choice.The challenge is to create that same sense of urgency in being adaptive to change even when there’s no crisis in our midst. How to do that, however, is a discussion that’s reserved for another day.

For the second lesson:The ultimate test of leadership is the level of excellence people function in your absence during crisis.

As a family man, I am proud to celebrate our 9th Anniversary of being together with my wife, Tidoy, five years of it as Husband and Wife.

Our Anniversary however happened right smack in the middle of the enhanced community quarantine.

So I asked permission from The Guy to skip our Day 3 video conference, just for one day, in respect to my wife who have done nothing but be supportive of my career.

Unfortuantely, that wasn’t the case. I had to check my email and communicate to my team from time to time, a practice I strongly do not recommend to leaders.

Thankfully my Wife, bless her heart, understood my situation and allowed me a few moments to check my messages and talk to the team.

This, however, is a big leadership failure on my end. I did not develop a team who can function on the same level of excellence without me.

Sure, it is a time of crisis, one that nobody could have predicted nor anticipated. But I don’t buy that.

It is my firm belief, to the core of my entire being, that as a leader, my job – and yours – is to develop our team and prepare them to operate in the same level – even higher – in moments of our absence. Crisis or no crisis makes no difference.

This is one area where I failed.

Closing thoughts.

Change before you have to, not when you are forced to.

Build a Team that operate well in your absence.

Tons of lesson can be learned and many more await in the coming days as this global pandemic unfolds.

In Great By Choice, Jim Collins said something that’s been on my mind since the first day of the National Quarantine:

An organization is not truly great if it cannot be great without you.
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Florentino Hernando is the Managing Director of FA Hernando Consulting, a managment consulting firm with the mission to build great companies.