In his article in BusinessWeek on July 11th, Steve McKee points out Five Dont’s for Marketing in Tough Times that are oh-so-appropriate for startups during these tough recessionary times:

• Be Smart and Thrifty, But Don’t Panic. This, Too, Shall Pass
• Marketing is Muscle, Not Fat. Be Careful About Cutting It.
• Don’t Lose Focus By Chasing Business You Wouldn’t Normally Want
• Don’t Discount
• Don’t Neglect the Elephant in the Room

In his last point, McKee drives home the point that as the leader of your company, you have to let your employees know that you’re on top of things and that you have a plan for guiding the company through tough times.

When John Crowley spoke about his days founding and running Novazyme at the TCN Year-End Gala Event, he recounted days when things looked bleak at Novazyme — they were running out of cash, or drug development wasn’t going as well as they hoped, etc. — and that he had to make sure he went out of his way to talk to his employees to tell them what was going on and project continued optimism. That was one of his “lessons learned” from starting and running a company: You have to remember that you are a leader and that everyone is taking cues from you on how to handle challenges.

Its a good lesson to remember: Being a leader not only means being the big boss giving orders — it also means being the lead cheerleader whether things are looking great or otherwise.

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