How to Navigate Disruption and Make It Through the Storm With David Giersdorf
David Giersdorf is a business consultant and author with decades of experience as a leading figure in the cruise and travel industry. David grew up in Alaska and worked in his father’s pioneering cruise company, which offered adventurous travelers the opportunity to explore the remote and beautiful Pribilof islands. Later, David established Windstar Cruises and served as the Chairman of the Global Cruise Industry Association. In his recent book, Hard Ships: Navigating Your Company, Career, and Life through the Fog of Disruption, David shares his six protocols for survival, stability, and success and uses the example of the impact of the Covid pandemic on the cruise industry to illustrate how to survive and thrive in difficult times.
In this episode, you’ll hear from David Giersdorf on:
(00:13:07) Knowing your waypoint and staying afloat. David shares his first two protocols for navigating through disruption. These involve taking stock of where you are, recognizing what sort of disruption you’re dealing with, and ensuring you’ve got the necessary resources to survive and emerge stronger and more successful from the crisis.
(00:28:21) Finding your first first and getting flexible. The next steps on David’s list are identifying the most immediate and important course of action to aid recovery and coming to terms with the need to do things differently and adapt to rapidly changing circumstances.
(00:31:30) Becoming collision-proof and protecting your value. When everyone else is panicking, David recommends learning lessons quickly to minimize risk and avoid repeating costly mistakes. He also advises business owners and entrepreneurs to concentrate on adding value rather than damaging their brand by offering heavy discounts.
(00:45:40) Building an endurance mindset. David describes his life as a recovering Iron Man and talks about his commitment to consistent training to maintain his emotional resiliency and physical vitality.
(00:48:26) David’s personal mantra. He reveals his powerful “I am a bridge” statement and explains the sense of responsibility he feels to pass on the knowledge he learned from his predecessors and share his own insights and expertise with the world.
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