This is a great article and (so far) mirrors my current experience. For the past 18 months our CEO has been preaching about the upcoming recession and we have to be better positioned to not only weather the storm, but come out stronger. This is different for every company, but for us it meant working hard to diversify our client portfolio, not spend money like drunken sailors (*cough ‘airlines’ *cough), and ensure that our employees were cross-trained in other areas of the business.

I realize that the notion of a simple recession seems almost quaint in hindsight, but the principles are the same. They involve the ability to look 10 years down the road at the type of company you want to build, the lives you to touch in a positive way, and to value the people who built your company rather than simply fixating on next quarter’s bonus.