June 17, 2025 • 12 mins
In chaotic times, awareness is key. In the latest episode of "Awareness: A Key to Thriving in Chaotic Times," Ed Drozda, The Small Business Doctor, shares crucial insights on leading with understanding and empathy. Dive in for strategies that can stabilize and strengthen your business. #Leadership #SmallBusiness
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:10):
Welcome to the Water Troughwhere we can't make you drink,
but we will make you think.
My name is Ed Drozda, The SmallBusiness Doctor, and I'm really
excited you chose to join mehere as we discuss topics that
are important for small businessfolks just like you.
If you're looking for ideas,inspiration, and possibility,
you've come to the right place.
Join us as we take steps to helpyou create the healthy business
that you've all.
Always wanted.
Ed Drozda (00:43):
Welcome back to the water trough.
This is Ed Drozda, The SmallBusiness Doctor.
Over this past weekend, I hadoccasion to go to a peaceful
protest, and I want tounderscore the word peaceful.
We're making a lot of noiseabout protests that are, quote,
not peaceful, but we're livingin times that are really, really
(01:07):
different.
I haven't personally seenanything like this since the
1960s.
And in the 1960s, for those ofyou old enough to know, there
was a lot of political unrest, alot of unrest in many areas of
this country.
It certainly is reminiscent ofthat today, although I would say
(01:31):
that it's a little bit differentand even more intense than it
was back then.
The purpose of this protest,which was held on Saturday no
King's Day, was for people toexpress their concern that our
current president appears to bedesirous of staying in office at
(01:52):
any cost, for the remainder ofhis natural life.
Now, I might be pushing it alittle bit, but the sentiment is
that this is what his desire is,and people have gotten to the
point where they're completelyaggravated.
Of course, those who aresupportive of him are not
aggravated at all.
(02:13):
They're very content with thenotion and find it quite
enjoyable.
This is freedom of expression,freedom of belief, freedom of
speech.
There are two sides to everycoin, and I'm not here to
dispute that.
I didn't really want to startthis episode sounding as if it
were a political call out, butit is, I think, an important
(02:36):
place to begin, because in thecurrent time it's really
difficult for any of us toignore what is going on in this
administration, what is going onin the country as a result.
For many of us, perhaps most ofus, a general sense of malaise
(03:00):
has set in.
A fear, a concern, a lack ofcertainty, a lack of clarity.
If these things set in for anindividual, they in turn have an
effect, on larger organizations.
For example, I have seen anumber of businesses that have
(03:22):
had considerable disruption as aresult, where trusted employees
are losing their positions,they're being taken from their
workplace, and those thatremain, even if they do have a
sense of certainty that theybelong, are feeling vulnerable
(03:46):
and unsure of what is going tohappen to them, of what their
role will be in this modifiedworkspace, and how they will go
forward.
These things are real.
These are genuine outcomes thathave resulted from some of the
activities that are taking placetoday.
(04:08):
And in business, particularly insmall business, it doesn't take
a lot of disruption.
It doesn't take a lot ofuncertainty to create a
significant and potentiallydeleterious impact.
This is something thatleadership needs to think
(04:28):
strongly about.
Repeatedly I have said that onemust first be aware.
It is very possible that withinan organization, a small
business, a large business forthat matter, that leadership is
perfectly content with the waythings are and is experiencing
(04:49):
no remorse, regrets, concern, orwhat have you.
It's absolutely possible, butit's also likely, that not
everyone within an organizationshares that feeling.
And the ability for uncertainty,for fear, and for a lack of
(05:14):
belief will create or can leadto chaotic circumstances and the
best of leaders, no matter howwell equipped they are at
leading will find in thatenvironment that they are not as
effective as they want to be.
(05:34):
And so the first step is to beaware within your business,
within your organization thatothers, those others upon whom
you depend for the success ofyour business may not be feeling
so comfortable.
They may not be feeling sofortunate.
(05:57):
They may be feeling overwhelmed.
Their work performance might besuffering, or maybe for the
moment they're doing a good jobof keeping that at bay.
But in either case, failure forleadership to recognize that
these things exist, that peopleare being impacted by the
(06:20):
environment in which we live,can lead to a state where a
business leader will lose thecontrol that they have.
To do so in a time of generalmalaise, of broad uncertainty
could be catastrophic for anybusiness.
(06:41):
Again, regardless of howsuccessful a leader has been or
is currently feeling, beingaware of the folks within your
business is critical.
You can't hide behind the factthat life for you is great and
expect things to continue on asnormal.
(07:01):
At some point in time, thesethings will catch up.
Now, what you need to do to beaware, there's a host of
different ways to do this, butcertainly at the very least,
leadership cannot rely upon thestatus quo.
Leadership must be open tolistening to what people have to
(07:24):
say.
Leadership must be engagingemployees, asking them for their
opinion, their position, so asto understand what is actually
going on within the business.
This is a leadership mandate.
It is not an optional situation.
(07:46):
It doesn't matter about thecircumstances in the environment
either.
This applies at any time, butduring a time where the
prevailing environment can be asimpactful as it is now, it's of
even more importance.
It is critical that leadershiphas wide open eyes and ears and
(08:12):
knows and understands how theiremployees are being impacted.
Armed with that information whatdoes one do?
Well, this of course has a hostof possible outcomes as well.
At the very least, engaging youremployees, reminding them of the
(08:35):
mission of the business,supporting them, giving them the
confidence to believe that theirpurpose remains, that they are
valued, that they do, and canmake a difference.
These are just fundamentalnatural expectations of a
(08:56):
leader.
Again, in the currentenvironment, vastly more
important than they wouldnormally be, but always
important.
And during these times, duringthese times, they're critical.
As a leader, you must understandthat you depend upon your
(09:16):
employees to bring your goals,your objectives, your mission to
fruition.
If those employees areexperiencing hardships, if those
employees are experiencingdistress that is resulting from
factors outside of theircontrol, one doesn't expect you
(09:40):
to change the fact that they do,but it is important that you
acknowledge that circumstance.
That you give them theopportunity to express
themselves so that they can bereminded of the value of what
they're doing.
A business is at its mostvulnerable when the relationship
(10:04):
between leaders and employees isnot complete, and that is
exacerbated by an environment inwhich there is uncertainty,
chaos and fear.
During these times I stronglyurge you as business owners,
business leaders, to be mindfulof these things.
(10:26):
They're not simply to bedismissed.
Even if you are feelingconfident about what's going on,
the people upon whom you dependmay not feel the same way.
And yes indeed, you arevulnerable.
Your business is vulnerable ifthey, the employees, are not in
(10:50):
the position of being able tosatisfactorily achieve the goals
that are expected of them.
This is Ed Drozda, The SmallBusiness Doctor, until the next
time we meet, I wanna wish you ahealthy and a fully aware
business.
Welcome to the Water Troughwhere we can't make you drink,
but we will make you think.
My name is Ed Drozda, The SmallBusiness Doctor, and I'm really
excited you chose to join mehere as we discuss topics that
are important for small businessfolks just like you.
If you're looking for ideas,inspiration, and possibility,
you've come to the right place.
Join us as we take steps to helpyou create the healthy business
that you've all.
Always wanted.
Ed Drozda (00:43):
Welcome back to the water trough.
This is Ed Drozda, The SmallBusiness Doctor.
Over this past weekend, I hadoccasion to go to a peaceful
protest, and I want tounderscore the word peaceful.
We're making a lot of noiseabout protests that are, quote,
not peaceful, but we're livingin times that are really, really
(01:07):
different.
I haven't personally seenanything like this since the
1960s.
And in the 1960s, for those ofyou old enough to know, there
was a lot of political unrest, alot of unrest in many areas of
this country.
It certainly is reminiscent ofthat today, although I would say
(01:31):
that it's a little bit differentand even more intense than it
was back then.
The purpose of this protest,which was held on Saturday no
King's Day, was for people toexpress their concern that our
current president appears to bedesirous of staying in office at
(01:52):
any cost, for the remainder ofhis natural life.
Now, I might be pushing it alittle bit, but the sentiment is
that this is what his desire is,and people have gotten to the
point where they're completelyaggravated.
Of course, those who aresupportive of him are not
aggravated at all.
(02:13):
They're very content with thenotion and find it quite
enjoyable.
This is freedom of expression,freedom of belief, freedom of
speech.
There are two sides to everycoin, and I'm not here to
dispute that.
I didn't really want to startthis episode sounding as if it
were a political call out, butit is, I think, an important
(02:36):
place to begin, because in thecurrent time it's really
difficult for any of us toignore what is going on in this
administration, what is going onin the country as a result.
For many of us, perhaps most ofus, a general sense of malaise
(03:00):
has set in.
A fear, a concern, a lack ofcertainty, a lack of clarity.
If these things set in for anindividual, they in turn have an
effect, on larger organizations.
For example, I have seen anumber of businesses that have
(03:22):
had considerable disruption as aresult, where trusted employees
are losing their positions,they're being taken from their
workplace, and those thatremain, even if they do have a
sense of certainty that theybelong, are feeling vulnerable
(03:46):
and unsure of what is going tohappen to them, of what their
role will be in this modifiedworkspace, and how they will go
forward.
These things are real.
These are genuine outcomes thathave resulted from some of the
activities that are taking placetoday.
(04:08):
And in business, particularly insmall business, it doesn't take
a lot of disruption.
It doesn't take a lot ofuncertainty to create a
significant and potentiallydeleterious impact.
This is something thatleadership needs to think
(04:28):
strongly about.
Repeatedly I have said that onemust first be aware.
It is very possible that withinan organization, a small
business, a large business forthat matter, that leadership is
perfectly content with the waythings are and is experiencing
(04:49):
no remorse, regrets, concern, orwhat have you.
It's absolutely possible, butit's also likely, that not
everyone within an organizationshares that feeling.
And the ability for uncertainty,for fear, and for a lack of
(05:14):
belief will create or can leadto chaotic circumstances and the
best of leaders, no matter howwell equipped they are at
leading will find in thatenvironment that they are not as
effective as they want to be.
(05:34):
And so the first step is to beaware within your business,
within your organization thatothers, those others upon whom
you depend for the success ofyour business may not be feeling
so comfortable.
They may not be feeling sofortunate.
(05:57):
They may be feeling overwhelmed.
Their work performance might besuffering, or maybe for the
moment they're doing a good jobof keeping that at bay.
But in either case, failure forleadership to recognize that
these things exist, that peopleare being impacted by the
(06:20):
environment in which we live,can lead to a state where a
business leader will lose thecontrol that they have.
To do so in a time of generalmalaise, of broad uncertainty
could be catastrophic for anybusiness.
(06:41):
Again, regardless of howsuccessful a leader has been or
is currently feeling, beingaware of the folks within your
business is critical.
You can't hide behind the factthat life for you is great and
expect things to continue on asnormal.
(07:01):
At some point in time, thesethings will catch up.
Now, what you need to do to beaware, there's a host of
different ways to do this, butcertainly at the very least,
leadership cannot rely upon thestatus quo.
Leadership must be open tolistening to what people have to
(07:24):
say.
Leadership must be engagingemployees, asking them for their
opinion, their position, so asto understand what is actually
going on within the business.
This is a leadership mandate.
It is not an optional situation.
(07:46):
It doesn't matter about thecircumstances in the environment
either.
This applies at any time, butduring a time where the
prevailing environment can be asimpactful as it is now, it's of
even more importance.
It is critical that leadershiphas wide open eyes and ears and
(08:12):
knows and understands how theiremployees are being impacted.
Armed with that information whatdoes one do?
Well, this of course has a hostof possible outcomes as well.
At the very least, engaging youremployees, reminding them of the
(08:35):
mission of the business,supporting them, giving them the
confidence to believe that theirpurpose remains, that they are
valued, that they do, and canmake a difference.
These are just fundamentalnatural expectations of a
(08:56):
leader.
Again, in the currentenvironment, vastly more
important than they wouldnormally be, but always
important.
And during these times, duringthese times, they're critical.
As a leader, you must understandthat you depend upon your
(09:16):
employees to bring your goals,your objectives, your mission to
fruition.
If those employees areexperiencing hardships, if those
employees are experiencingdistress that is resulting from
factors outside of theircontrol, one doesn't expect you
(09:40):
to change the fact that they do,but it is important that you
acknowledge that circumstance.
That you give them theopportunity to express
themselves so that they can bereminded of the value of what
they're doing.
A business is at its mostvulnerable when the relationship
(10:04):
between leaders and employees isnot complete, and that is
exacerbated by an environment inwhich there is uncertainty,
chaos and fear.
During these times I stronglyurge you as business owners,
business leaders, to be mindfulof these things.
(10:26):
They're not simply to bedismissed.
Even if you are feelingconfident about what's going on,
the people upon whom you dependmay not feel the same way.
And yes indeed, you arevulnerable.
Your business is vulnerable ifthey, the employees, are not in
(10:50):
the position of being able tosatisfactorily achieve the goals
that are expected of them.
This is Ed Drozda, The SmallBusiness Doctor, until the next
time we meet, I wanna wish you ahealthy and a fully aware
business.
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