A N.I.C.E. Solution to Challenging Times

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
~ John Wooden, author of Wall Street Journal Best Seller Wooden on Leadership: How to Create a Winning Organization (2005) and American Basketball Hall of Fame member (player and coach)

Uncertain times – initiated by an organizational change or market turbulence – present an opportunity to stay focused on what you can change / control and what you cannot.

I’d like to share with you an acronym used by Jana Schreuder, president of Northern Trust Corporation’s Worldwide Operations and Technology group – Be N.I.C.E. 

Never panic. Innovate. Communicate. Execute.

ACTION: Consider how you might be able to apply this acronym to help your team or organization remain resilient during uncertain times. I’ve included one of my interpretations below to get you thinking:

 N  Never panic. How can you instill confidence in your team, your organization, your family, your clients, your suppliers, the community the marketplace?
 I  Innovate.  How can you help leaders understand how to navigate their teams and themselves through challenging scenarios in interesting, creative, and likely cost-effective ways?
 C Communicate. How can you ensure that those people being affected by a change properly know what is going on impacts them, and if / what tools or ideas do you have to assist them?
 E Execute. How can you ‘keep on keeping on’  – and even grow! – while also stepping out of the way to attend to urgent matters that may arise?

Keep asking, “Given the business reality that exists, how can we make the most positive, possible difference in our future?” The solution: Be NICE…and I am not just saying ‘be nice’ because I am from the south! 🙂

Print Friendly
If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends, leave a comment or sign up for our news.

Contact Us to learn more about our services in Learning & Organizational Change, Leadership Development, Employee Engagement, and Large Scale Program Management.
Sandra Schwan

Sandra Schwan

Managing Partner at Evolving Strategies LLC
Sandra is the Managing Partner of Evolving Strategies LLC, a consulting firm helping companies and people learn, adapt and perform. Sandra holds a Master of Science degree in Adult Learning and Strategic Organizational Change from Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Arkansas. Previous employers include the Corporate Executive Board, Lante Corporation, Kensington International, and Accenture where Sandra was awarded mentor of the year.

Connect With Sandra:
@LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sandyschwan
@LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/evolving-strategies-llc
@Twitter: twitter.com/smschwan
@Facebook: www.facebook.com/evolvingstrategies
Sandra Schwan

Latest posts by Sandra Schwan (see all)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CAPTCHA Image

*