I always had a hard time understanding why people frown upon having a plan B. Honestly. Some people believe that when you have a backup plan, it says that you are not 100% committed to your initial plan and goals.
I think this is way off the mark. I think people who think this way don’t exactly know what plan B is made for. Note that I am not saying WHY they are made and am saying WHAT they are made for.
Let’s start with a story. I was planning this week to write a big (and very detailed) blog post about low/high context cultures. It’s a fascinating topic. And very few people in Leadership even know what this is, so I thought that by educating people on this, I would really be making a difference in the world.
I was planning to spend 9 hours on this: between keywords, headlines, text Copywrite, infographics, pictures, quotes, and all that good stuff, then editing and publishing it; it would take me a total of 9 focused-time hours. 9 hours that were already scheduled and planned for in my calendar.
But then, something happened and derailed all my plans for the week. Literally. And I was like, “ok, time for plan B.” But, wait… “what IS my freaking plan B?”
That’s the thing. Things were going so well in the past few months that I got lazy and didn’t create my weekly plan B like before. I felt it was sort of unnecessary since things were going so well, and I was handling my schedule pretty well.
This week I realized (sort of again) that Plan Bs are not a clutch for your performance variations (although they could be, they should not be). It’s an alternative when things outside YOUR control happen, and you need to re-strategize.
When things are going pretty well, it’s because you are dealing well with stuff that is under YOUR control. You don’t need plan B for your performance. There should be no plan B for your high performance. Your performance is a product of things under your control. If it’s under YOUR control, there is no need for Plan B.
Like, for example, how disciplined you are, how well you are taking care of your health, how you are treating your mental game and health, which productivity tactics you are using, etc.
Your performance is a product of the 5 elements of personal power. Something that I go extensively over during 2 entire modules in our Global Executive Leadership Program. If you are interested in learning more about the 5 elements of performance and personal power, check this program out here.
Plan B is not for that. It’s for when THAT alone is not enough. Plan B is for when things outside our control happen, and we have to re-strategize. Basically, having a plan B is not because you are not confident or committed to your goals. It’s because you want to be so confident that you’ll get it done that you are covering all your bases.
Unfortunately, a lot of people get confused between plan and goal. Having a Plan B is not the same as having a Goal B. Your Plan B must be just another route – an alternative – to get you to your main goal. Your plan B is meant to beat the odds. It’s you saying to the universe that you’ll achieve what you want, no matter what. It’s having an Ace card in your back pocket.
So let me be clear: if you hear someone say you don’t need a Plan B because it distracts you from your Plan A – STOP. They don’t have a freaking clue what they are talking about. They are confusing goal with plan. Remember: a plan is just the root that you are taking to reach your goal. The goal is your destination.
Why Do Great Global Leaders Always Have A Reliable Plan B?
Simply put, the best global leaders in the world do always have a reliable plan B because they want to ensure these 8 things:
- Confidence. Increases your confidence that you will get the most important things done, no matter what the scenario.
- Resilience. Counters lower cognitive functions when we are emotionally hijacked or really stressed out.
- Resourcefulness. Line up beforehand resources and actions in case they are needed.
- Speed. Engages things to happen faster since everything is already prepared and thought out.
- Reliability. Cushions our mental game to prepare for what’s necessary to be done, in case we have to quickly pivot things.
- Communication. Helps us manage our expectations and those of others around us.
- Clarity. Develops our clarity on what’s most important to get done first
- Executive Presence. Improves our executive presence since we continue to operate and perform even under higher stress or ambiguous conditions.
How To Create A Reliable Plan B?
If you are like me, you probably have a weekly (and busy) schedule with a bunch of things going on. You have some things that MUST happen that week in order to make progress in one or several goals.
This means that if something goes wrong and it derails your entire week, you might need to change strategies and tactics. This is the 7-step-process that I use when I have to do just that. You can read here what to do when things go wrong, and you don’t have a plan B (like what happened with me this week).
Step 1: Defining success. Determine what’s essential and what has priority in your life. Or in your week or whatever planning period that you are planning the Plan B for.
Step 2: Determine trade-offs. When things go wrong, and you cannot use your Plan A anymore, you will likely have to give up certain things. Be prepared to know what these things are. Be particular about what you can give up or postpone. In the middle of the crisis, thinking about that will become strenuous. Just give yourself a hand by having this thought out beforehand.
Step 3: Back up resources. Lining up some resources or even a specific budget for plan B is always a smart thing. You don’t want to use them, and hopefully, you won’t. But just by having them, it is like knowing there is a safety net that you can rely upon if needed.
Step 4: Prepare your mental game. I always talk about the importance of a sharp and resilient mental game. Like athletes, we have to have the right mentality to perform under stress or when outsmarted, or even when outperformed. Yeah, it sucks when things don’t go our way. But we have to be mentally prepared to beat the odds. And that’s a lot more likely to happen if we are not emotionally hijacked. Because this is so freaking important, I have dedicated one entire module in my Global Executive Leadership Program to talk about mental game and strategies to improve it. That’s how important this is.
Step 5: Simulate. Run some simulations in your mind, and what would you do in each scenario. This is called scenario analysis. Basically, what you want to do is to run scenarios based on probabilities. You should not run a scenario about the apocalypse happening. That’s not probable. Not yet, at least. But there is a probability that you will lose power during a hurricane season or during heavy snow in winter. Run simulations based on the most probable things that can happen to hinder your plan A.
Step 6: Keep hoping for the best. Have a positive attitude and your mindset set for success. I do believe in the power of our unconscious minds. If we think something will go wrong, it will go wrong because our minds play tricks on us. That’s simply proven, don’t even think about arguing against that. This is called “mental activity not mediated by conscious awareness.” But being prepared is not the same as hoping (or expecting) for bad things to happen. On the contrary, because we are fully prepared, those bad things will not happen. And if they do, we are ready for them.
Step 7: Have your Plan B handy. I lost count of how many clients have told me that their plan Bs are “in their heads.” They even boast about it. Listen. When we are in a pinch, and adrenaline and cortisol start to pump in our system, our brain processes move from the prefrontal cortex to the primitive brains. This does not mean you cannot engage in cognitive functions anymore. But it does mean they will not function properly anymore, from a cognitive point of view. So do not count on your “smartassness.” That’s why you have a Plan B in the first place. So just hear me out on this, and have your plan B written somewhere and in a convinient place. In other words, have the results from steps 1, 2, 3, and 5 written somewhere handy. And if you want to be top-notch, have an anchor phrase prepared for your mental game devised in step 4 and write it down as well.
There you go, global leader! You have a Plan B Creation Framework. You can now get yourself a Plan B. Maybe more than one depending on what you are planning for.
If it’s something minor, like having a plan B for my weekly accomplishments, I would just have one alternative plan. If it’s something big, like a big moment, big event, etc., I would plan a little harder and have a selection of alternatives and resources.
Wait, What’s The End Of Your Plan B Story?
We all mess up. That’s human nature. Especially when things go too well, we start to slack off on certain things. I didn’t beat myself up for this once I realized it, though, and you should not do that either. Beating yourself up when things go wrong will accomplish nothing. Instead, just acknowledge what went wrong, learn from the process and move on. Move on to your plan B, or – in the absence of one, like I was – re-strategize.
I did not give up on my post about high/low context cultures. But I didn’t want to write a lousy blog post just for the sake of writing a post. That’s a motto that I have: I always check things out of my to-do list when they are done with my best effort.
Meanwhile, I decided to write another critical blog post, which is this one: about having a plan B, its importance, and how you can do it. I’m still achieving my initial intention, which was to provide value to society. I just had to re-strategize the format, content, and timing.
Global leader, you can do that too! Achieve your original intentions, but be flexible and adjust to how you pivot things; be gracious about how you deal with this process. More than global leadership skills, for this, you need global leadership intentions. I am sure you intend to be the 3i global leader: impactful, influential, and inclusive.
Where Can I Learn More About Other Crucial Global Leadership Skills?
Option 1: Global Executive Leadership Program
If you are interested in learning more about the 4 secret pillars of success in Global Leadership, and develop as a global leader, you are in luck. As we mentioned, we will soon launch the 9-week Global Executive Leadership Program covering all aspects of these 4 pillars in a very transformational and interactive self-paced online course.
It’s not meant for any leader. It’s intended for those who want to be impactful, influential, and inclusive global leaders. It’s for those who want to learn how to make good decisions and how to catalyze the decision-making process for others. You can learn this – and many other skills – in each of the 4 pillars, in one single place without any hassle. Subscribe to get more information on the program, and you’ll be notified once it’s launched.
Option 2: How to become a 3i Global Leader – Free webinar
If you seek a quick training that talks about some examples and experiences in each of the 4 leadership areas to illustrate them, stay tuned for our on demand webinar. It’s a 90 minutes webinar packed with information on the 4 secret pillars of global leadership success and how to become a 3i global leader (impactful, influential, inclusive). Subscribe to our newsletter below to also receive weekly content.
Option 3: Global Leadership Competencies – Coaching Program
On top of this, we also offer executive coaching programs for busy professionals. Contact us if you want to improve a specific skill in any of the 4 pillars or work on many skills at once. We can customize a program just for you. Or, conversely, you can follow our regular program, where we will talk about one of the competencies each week during a longer program.
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