Although Australia was not hit by the GFC nearly as badly as the rest of the Western world, we still felt the effects. Commerce slowed down, and we had to fight harder for business we won. Revenue was good but not buoyant through most of 2010. For Mindset, our activity and profit sky-rocketed in the last quarter. It was like someone suddenly turned the tap on full again.

Why was this? We are very close to our clients. We are also active through a number of industry associations and have been dealing with CEOs from multiple industries and company sizes across the country every day. So we asked them. What’s changed for them?

The simple summary of their responses is that they were tired of being in “survival” mode. They had shifted their mindset back to “thrive” mode and with that simple gear-change became more positive in their outlook. They commented that with this change their staff had picked up on the mood and were more engaged, more motivated and more productive. Their workplaces are great successful places to be at again.

Such a simple thing to do.

If you are a CEO or MD, are you still stuck in “survival” mode?  Switching back to “thrive” could change your business, and every day you delay the switch opens the door further for your already thriving competitors.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on whether your business is still in “survival” mode. If you’ve made the switch to “thrive” mode, what was the catalyst for the change?