Business Lessons from the Squad Car

Mandie Crawford, founder of Calgary-based Roaring Women, has a pretty unusual background for running an association of women entrepreneurs – she’s a former cop.

In a recent speech, she talked about the lessons she learned as a police officer - and how they apply to business.

* Never make a decision when the pressure is on:

Crawford learned long ago that when the pressure is on, she would often experience a sort of “emotional hijack.” When we feel stressed or afraid, she says, “our brains do not process information correctly.” She learned to fall back on her training when judgment deserted her.

Since then, she says, she has seen many business owners make rash decisions under pressure. When you feel stressed, she says, “take longer to make your decisions. Make them when you are feeling happy and excited about life.”

* When the going gets tough - the tough support each other!

When times are tough, police officers back each other up. “There was no room for self-preservation thinking - we were all in it together.”

When times get tough in business, she says, “we need to take time to support one another. This is not a time for gathering everything you have a little closer. This is a time when paying it forward and supporting others really pays off.”

* Never quit.
“This was key to everything we did in policing,” says Crawford. “We all wanted to go home safely at the end of the day. Giving up or quitting was never an option. Those who gave up did not last long in the community of brothers and sisters.”

When things aren’t working in your business, she says, use that opportunity to make changes that will help your business work better. If you don’t know how to improve things, ask for help. Never quit: “Your problems are really not that unique.”

For more information on Mandie, click here.
For more on Roaring Women, go this way.

And be careful out there.