Council Post: Three Points Of Focus During Times Of Crisis

Malinka Waliyadde is Co-Founder & CEO of Alpha Health, the first Unified Automation company for revenue cycle management in healthcare.

Which ingredients are most important for your company’s success? Is it your idea? Your revenue model? Your funding? Your team? Timing? 

In reality, the alchemy of success is sprinkled with all of these and likely any number of additional elements that are out of our control. It is that last bit, the unexpected, for which many entrepreneurs are least prepared.

We’re learning that in real time, as much of what we know is upended by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Careful planning and preparation are important for any business, but the world often has other plans. As Mike Tyson once said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

Success depends on our ideas, money, the strength of our business models and the teams we build. But it’s our ability to get hit and maintain focus that is most crucial. We all have been smacked in the face this year, so the questions should be: “What do we focus on?”

When crisis strikes, when you are pushed against a wall, here are three places to focus your attention.

Purpose 

Not every company is mission-driven, but every company has a purpose. It’s the answer to the question: “Why are you doing this?” Most of us started businesses to solve a problem. When a crisis hits, it’s a chance to ask yourself whether that problem is still worth fixing. If it is, your purpose can sustain you through almost anything. Focus on that.

For us, a young company at the crossroads of AI and health care looking to bridge the gap between top technology talent and top revenue cycle talent in order to better support health care revenue cycle leaders in meeting their ambitious goals, the crisis only accentuates the importance of our work. This is an ideal time to eliminate wasteful health care spending. That’s our purpose, and it fuels our passion and commitment.

People

There are people we like, and then there are the people we can depend on; they are not always the same. In a crisis, you need to know you have the right people with you. Do they share your sense of purpose? Do they have the skills and the stamina to lead the company through this tumultuous time?

There is no one I’d rather have with me now than the people we’ve brought together to create our business with decades of experience, desire, integrity and the knowledge that fills the gaps in my own skill set. We complement each other. Looking around you at this time, can you say the same things about those with whom you work? About yourself?

Pluck

Crisis begets fear, and fear is contagious. But so, too, is courage. Pluck is the ability to persist in the face of danger, a sort of determined courage. Basil King once wrote: “Go at it boldly, and you’ll find unexpected forces closing round you and coming to your aid.” Those forces are the team you have assembled and the purpose that drives them, but it takes a leader to show courage and confidence to keep that fire burning, to rally those forces to your side. I know that the confidence and courage I see from my team bolsters my own resolve. It’s my job to show the same kind of fortitude for them.

Taking the time to focus on these three areas has given me optimism about what comes next for us and the opportunities this moment presents.

The COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest of recent weeks serve as a defining moment in our lives. Everything is in flux. Everything will change from how we travel, to how we work, to how we get health care. As entrepreneurs, we have the opportunity to shape that change and ensure that change is for the better.

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