Blogger’s Note: It’s definitely a depression and not a recession and I don’t care what definitions economists use. Now that I got that off my chest, here are 4 Reasons I Love This Depression. Hint: all of them are designed to make me a better leader.

1) We Got Lean and Mean. Everyone loves that expression and right now it’s a necessity. If for some reason you haven’t gotten lean, you better get on that diet now. For us, the leanness was found in looking at the smaller expenditures – the habit of, let’s say, always ordering a case of paper, when in fact we already had 3 cases. We cut all unnecessary expenses and then went over everything again in a month and found more. You’d be surprised what you might find is slowing your cash flow down (uh, unnecessary purchases). In 2009, we will make more online bill payments, conserve energy by monitoring the thermostat and hold off on major purchases. We will survive. Period. And I get to walk around saying, “We got lean and mean.”

2) We Made Ourselves Pause and Plan. All retail companies take inventory at the end of each month. But the kind of inventory I’m talking about is much more drastic: it involves pausing and stripping down the basic direction and focus of one’s company to see if it is, in fact, still viable. It’s called a visioning – and it takes stock of where we’ve been, where we are now and where we want to go – from a position of strength and focus. Who are our best customers? What makes them the best? How could we lose clients? What are our strengths and our weaknesses? Why will clients hire us? Fortunately for us, we have Lady Foster in our employ (Account Director, Suzee Foster), who led us in ours. We argued over words; we ached to go back to our desks and check email. Each time we do our visioning we come out of it an enormously stronger and more focused company. It is a gift we gave ourselves – and our clients.

3) We Acknowledged What Really Matters. We had a rough fall. Who didn’t? What’s the old saying? Revenue = vanity; profit = sanity; cash flow = reality. Well, I was humbled, insane and brought my loose change the Coinstar machine at the local King Kullen. (It wasn’t that bad, but you get my point.) But what really matters? Health, family and friends. I’m a better leader when I’m spending time with my family (mom is 90), swimming at the Y, reading a really good book (Brisingr) or navigating abstract art at MoMA. Yes, it’s a balancing act. But having balance helps me sleep well. And when I sleep well, I lead well. And I’m a better father to my son and son to my Mother. And that’s what really matters.

4) We Made a Decision: Lead or to Bleed. So this lousy, stinking, rotten economy has given me cause for thought: am I going to lead or bleed? Am I going to whine or inspire? Are we going to give our best efforts for our clients and for each other? I think you know the answer.

What about you? Do you have any reasons you love this depression? I’d love hear about them.