Be like a Palm Tree

by Alice Arandia, Commercial Director

How many of the videos, messages, and memes about Covid19 do you ignore?  For me, it is most of them, however one I received recently, from a Spanish business associate, struck a chord. It caught my attention firstly because it had a lovely picture of palm trees on a beautiful sandy beach.  If you live in Scotland, like I do, I promise you that is an inviting image in midwinter.  For me, palm trees take me back to so many memories of lovely places I have been, and even some places like Trinidad & Tobago, Bolivia, and Ghana where I have been lucky enough to live. So, just the image was enough for me.. but then the message confused me a little.  It was in Spanish, but the rough translation was that it was “time to be a palm tree”.

We are so often told we need to be strong like an oak, well rooted to the ground. There are certainly times when this standing tall and rigid like an oak is probably great, however during these uncertain times for our lives and our businesses, the message was that we need to be like palm trees, that have the flexibility to bend and sway in a storm, but then pop right back up when it passes. 

In business, as we are battered by this current storm, we too can improve our chances of surviving it by being flexible, able to adapt to changing circumstances, and to position ourselves in the best possible place to be able to stand up tall and strong again when the storm passes.  Not just that, we need to adapt ourselves to the environment we are in.  Tall thin palm trees would stand no chance in our harsh British climate.  Similarly, a business model that works here in the UK, may not work elsewhere, so if looking at new markets is part of our survival strategy, we need to think about how we need to change to succeed in that market.  Cultural awareness training & consultancy is part of that process, analyzing things like how communication and management styles vary around the world, and how to avoid cultural misunderstandings.  There is no right or wrong answer, simply different ways of doing things. It’s good to be aware of them though... so here’s to surviving the storm, adapting to the new ways, and coming out of this stronger and with a renewed vision of success.  Good luck!