“When” is now

By Linda VandeVrede on July 15th, 2009 In Advice

It’s hard to go to any meetings now and not have the question come up, When do you think things will get better in Phoenix?  Phoenix is not alone, by the way. I just returned from a quick trip to Northern California, and have never seen the Oakland airport car rental shuttle bus so empty. I’ve never seen the wineries in Russian River so sparsely filled with tourists.

The bright spot in my day was a recent business lunch at Olive & Ivy organized by Brian Callahan, managing director of Markwood Capital Alliance.  He lives in California and organizes groups of professionals in cities like Phoenix where we all get together and discuss trends that we’re seeing in our region. It’s a chance to network and brainstorm.

At the most recent lunch, the topic came up, when will things get better?  Todd Bankofier’s take on this was that “‘when’ is now.” We can’t let the current recession (or whatever you want to call it) hold us prisoner both in attitude and action. We have to put on our bootstraps and plow ahead, with the faith that we will be then well-positioned when things improve.

As Brian put it, “we need to look at the sky, not at our shoes. We need to get over what has happened.”   Bob Denton observed that we all need to partner more, as it is now a period of coopetition.  That reminded me of something Park Howell mentioned to me several months ago. He had noticed that the public relations professionals in Phoenix seemed much more open to sharing with each other than previously. “We’re all in this together.” Lunch attendee Jeff Rassas also offered this advice:  “get out and exercise. It helps keep you focused.” He gets up every morning and rides several miles (a la Michelle Olson). 

If you’ve read any of the Eckhart Tolle books, such as “The Power of Now,” they serve as a reminder to live fully in the present.   I keep the book cover-facing-out on the bookshelf in my office as a visual reminder.

“When” is now

Comments

KC Says:
July 15th, 2009 at 10:00 am

Couldn’t agree more, Linda!

Tyler Hurst Says:
July 15th, 2009 at 3:46 pm

Agreed. Question what’s going on. Never settle. Expect more. Stop just being okay.

francine hardaway Says:
July 15th, 2009 at 4:33 pm

Todd makes a great point. Things will get better when we make them better. After all, we made them worse. We didn’t develop downtown, we didn’t diversify our industries, and we didn’t support our education system. And this is nationwide. I’m in the Bay Area. Today I went to InterSolar, a global solar conference. Do you know who leads in solar energy? Freakin’ Germany. How did we let THAT happen?

The small community of entrepreneurs at Gangplank, where we hang out, seems to be doing just fine, btw. The entrepreneurs always do, even without money. That’s because other things are important to them: innnovation, change, collaboration…etc. Good post, Linda.

Todd Bankofier Says:
July 20th, 2009 at 10:42 am

I have to pick on the point Francine makes about “How does Germany rule the earth in solar and not Arizona?” Arizona has been talked about as a potential solar capital since 1973, and 36 years later we are finally beginning to lay a foundation for industry and entreprenuers to get excited about evolving in the Arizona market. It would be very unfortunate to throw away the competitive advantage Arizona possesses. We need to let our Corporation Commissioners and know we need leadership and vision…… and quickly.

Add your Comment


Want Your Picture Icon? Go to gravatar.com and set a picture up to your email address for free. It also works on thousands of other websites, too!