Have you ever been in a real work crisis? Everything’s blowing up all around you, and you don’t know which fire to put out first?

There’s a certain way people react when we’re in crisis mode. We lose thoughtfulness, abandon strategy, and we have to move quicker than we want to – there’s an urgency that takes over and puts aside our best-made plans. The worst time to prepare to handle a crisis is when you’re actively in one – it’s far better to be ready in advance. And the best way to do that is through consistency.

Often times, the CEO has a great strategy, but they don’t deal with execution unless something is falling off the rails. Right? There’s an “oh crap” moment, you miss a deliverable, you disappoint a client, something falls apart, and – boom! – fire drill! But when you have a regular cadence of meetings, a routine, constructed rhythm of measuring progress and managing goals, then you know the company’s status whenever a crisis arises, and you can pivot easily to handle any problem.

That’s the power of consistency. When you have that consistency, you can be thoughtful in creating solutions. You’re not forced into reactivity; you have a solid foundation to work from when something goes wrong. Consistent cadence in your business, with your teams, and with your employees, allows for greater and more beneficial communication, and it encourages your teams to have candid conversations about the brutal facts of the business, so they’re not afraid to come together and work through even the most difficult issues.

Holding a consistent cadence of meetings every single month allows you to look at your business as objectively as possible. You start by identifying your organization’s key drivers – it’s vital factors. When you’re looking at these vital factors on a monthly basis, you can see issues before they arrive, and handle things before a problem becomes a crisis. Ask your teams how things are changing, where do we want to double down, and where do we want to put our bets?​

Like the tortoise and the hare, a little bit of preparation and consistent effort is ten times more powerful than a panicked, instantaneous reaction. That’s the power of consistent cadence – and it can work for you.