For months my partner and I have been closely following the global economic markets. In July we moved our savings out of mutual funds, bought six months worth of dry and canned goods, took out a month’s worth of cash, and outlined to our children what was being forecast by some financial institutions such as the Royal Bank of Scotland (who warned their clients to prepare for serious financial problems world wide). I then spent the summer redesigning my business to be in a position to support the flexibility that clients will require in order to engage the critical leadership support necessary to practically and confidently manage the current economic storm (you can learn more about my By-Donation approach on my website at www.awomanbehindwomen.ca ).

However, I hesitated to vocalize my preparations and planning for fear of being labelled a doom’s day loony. The time just didn’t seem right to step up and out on an issue that I was following through BBC business news and the Globe and Mail business section. I decided that even though the front page news sections of the news papers were not covering these stories, most people would be following these issues through TV news (I have almost never had TV). I decided that I needed to wait until it was clear that the projections were actually forecasting a valid concern.

So today I hope that my assumption was right, and that you are current, and have been preparing to be as nimble and flexible as possible in the face of the financial instability that we experiencing. Even so you may be still feeling like you are caught in the eye of our current economic storm. One of the ways to regain a feeling of stability is to begin to talk about your fears, take stock and develop an action plan. As a leadership coach, I can help you to do just that. However, I think it is prudent for me to offer a facilitated discussion forum through this blog posting so we can share what we know and what we believe is useful information, and to discuss past practices that we can implement as we weather this current financial storm. This way we can all benefit from our individual learning and experiences.

For immediate reference here are links to current videos that cover the financial situation over the last 48 hours:

Global National

http://canwest.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/canwest-globalnational-pub01-live/current/launch.html?maven_playerId=globalnationalmedium&maven_referralObject=3090782  (if this long link doesn’t work copy and paste it into your browser)

BBC News World markets react to Lehman

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7619490.stm

This morning I also received an email article from respected marketing adviser Robert Middleton about “Marketing in Tough Times”. Feel free to send me an email request if you would like me to forward his straight forward and actionable advice. 

The latest email came from April Dorey, a Victoria  Investment Advisor for Raymond James Ltd providing critical information about the disciplined, conservative management of their investments (no subprime loans or Asset Backed Commercial Paper or ABCP). She is also preparing to do a presentation on How to Handle Bear Markets.

To get the discussion started here are some questions:

What valuable information or advice have you been receiving?

What preparations are you making in light of the current financial circumstances?

What are your top three concerns and how are you addressing them?

Is there anything I can do to help? Remember, you are part of my community and as always, together I believe we can do anything!

Note: For those that are not members of this Blog or networking site, feel free to share your answers, thoughts and question via email to tawelch@shaw.ca .

With resiliency!

Terrill Welch
Executive Leadership Coach

Elite executive leadership services at a price you can afford.
Find out how it works at http://www.awomanbehindwomen.ca/bydonation.htm

By-Donation makes a difference every time.

Terrill Welch - A Woman behind Women
www.awomanbehindwomen.ca and http://terrill.gaia.com

Mayne Island B.C. 1-250-539-5877
email: tawelch@shaw.ca

© 2008 Terrill Welch, All rights reserved.

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"By Terrill Welch founder of Terrill Welch – A Woman behind Women. Terrill Welch is an Executive Coach, providing leadership services designed specifically for women leaders. To learn more, feel free to browse through the www.awomanbehindwomen.ca and http://terrill.gaia.com websites."