How to ride through the current storm

By Mohd Khair b Mohd Noor

In my corporate training programmes, there have been questions as to what the current economic storm is all about.

It's not like the previous one where jobs were lost due to the economy undergoing major restructuring. The current downturn is about not enough money going around to sustain economic activities worldwide. Banks not willing to lend. Businesses don't have enough cash to run the mills. Employees don't have things to do at work and asked to go home without pay, and some asked to go home for good. People don't have enough money to shop. Shops don't have enough shoppers and hence no cash. Banks not willing to lend...and there goes the circus...Many things are going down, including prices...Of course things have not bottomed out...many are still waiting...not sure when though. No crystal ball can tell...

Now, how do we ride the storm?

If you are still employed, ask yourself if you have what it takes to remain employable? Are you vulnerable? And what makes you vulnerable? How to reduce the vulnerability?

If you are out of job, what are the options you have now? Do you have what it takes to move on to other jobs? The public sector is offering at least 18,000 jobs. MOE itself is recruiting thousands of teachers. MHA is another Ministry looking for lots of law enforcement officers. Are you in for the long haul or just a stop gap measure?

Or perhaps, you wish to consider startin out on your own? And do you know what it takes to strike out on your own? What type of biz will fit your risk profile? Are you a risk taker? Are you risk averse? Are you willing to pay it forward?

If you have the cash, you are King. This will be period to hunt for the best bargains of nearly everything right up to cars, houses, whatever...but you may wish for things to go even lower.

If you don't have cash, then you must conserve whatever you have and find ways to create demand for whatever you are capable of...whatever..

Bottomline is this...do not sit still. Do not sit through the storm.

But instead, ride out the storm with a new perspective about ourselves and how we look at the world around us, in the midst of taking affirmative action.