Howard Anderson joined the BRA Morning Zoom and gave a great talk about Adversity.  He began by saying that some overreact, while others underreact – neither works.  The following are other takeaways from the balance of his presentation.

• Mr. Anderson referenced a Mormon tradition of storing food for 6-12 months and reminded the group about the biblical story, where Joseph advised Pharaoh to prepare for a famine by saving for seven-years.
  Howard’s message – make sure you have a rainy day fund.
• Avoid making mistakes that make your company unbalanced.
• When evaluating cashflow, there is no such thing as fixed costs.  Think of it as semi-fixed or reduced cost to mitigate risk.
• He said, “Hope is not an option during adversity.  Leaders must be quietly confident, as well as a strong realist.”
• Be a thinker, assemble a team of specialists and make hard decisions.  Understand what your customer needs and deliver by being innovative.
• This is undoubtedly a challenging period of time.  Winston Churchill said, “If you are going through hell, keep going.”
• Book Recommendation – The Reckoning, By David Halberstam