Watching the quarterly results tumble out and surprise the market, I wonder if we are once again in that zone of uncertainty where we know less about our future than we think we do.
I have always believed leadership is an art form best tested in uncertainty. Some will succeed while most will fail, and this is how you would know the difference between good and great.
I have been through three cycles of uncertainty and have learnt through my mistakes. I believe the best way to navigate uncertainty is to become smart about the questions to ask. If the question is right, the answer is just a step away.
So here are 7 questions I believe every business leader, team leader should be sitting down with his/her team and discussing:
1. How do I DEFEND what I have?
Brands that survive are adept at defending what they have. Companies can get into trouble if they do not defend their customer base when a new competitor enters the market. Even more so, because service differentiation is becoming difficult with most players offering similar “Traditional” services or it has become commoditized. Thus, vendor consolidation is fast becoming a price game and at times a lottery. Leaders will have to find a way to defend their company’s turf, when there is so little to set companies apart. Focusing on or building differentiators is one way.
2. How do I WIN new?
For long-term survival, a company needs to consistently win new business. Naturally, this is easier said than done. Most new business is very competitive and winning new deals is becoming expensive and difficult. Leaders have to decide the right customers and business segments to target. Within the company, leaders will have to work on developing high-performance teams that can learn from each other and help the company grow faster. The challenge for leaders is to get the whole team behind their strategy, to win new business.
3. How do I BUILD new business lines?
Intense competition in business has made it harder for companies to stay consistently at the top, unless they can build successful new lines of business. Building a new line of business is like building a startup, except that an established company has the team, funds, market insight that gives them an edge over a new company.
The challenge is in hiring new people who can build a new line of business, and enabling them to grow within the traditional structure, which is a cultural challenge as well.
Leaders will have to make the tough call of building a team from within the company or hiring new people. There is also the question of investing in a new line of business or acquiring a company.
4. How do I build a HIGH PERFORMANCE team?
Lone-wolf entrepreneurs do not create successful organizations. The world’s leading organizations such as Google and Apple were built by a group of highly skilled people, working on achieving a common business goal.
Leaders have to build teams with shared values and vision. Team members can get more done when they believe that they can win together. This happens when leaders, through constant communication, help team members stay focused on the goal. How can I manage a team without micromanaging it, to empower them? How do I measure and reward performance? These are all questions leaders will have to find answers to.
5. How do I drive INNOVATION?
Companies with an innovative culture grow easily. The challenge before leaders is on structuring the organization to innovate. How do I as a leader get more people to innovate? And to do so daily. The quickest way to drive innovation is by creating an environment where your employees can go to their leaders with their ideas. Instate a "no idea is a bad idea" policy and offer support to your employees to try out their ideas. You'll be surprised to find many innovators at the workplace. All that a leader has to do is lead by example. Be a role model for change and passion.
6. How do I make my STARTUP stand-up?
Startups are everywhere. But, most don’t make it. Startups usually hope to be the first business to solve an unsolved problem, disrupting the status quo in the market. Leaders will have to ask themselves if this solution is scalable enough for the business to last.
The next big challenge every startup faces is attracting the best minds in business, and to get them excited about creating something unique. Over-hiring is a common mistake by startups. It burdens the company with fixed costs and when the going gets tough, employees are the first to go.
What is the culture of the organization? This is often overlooked but could be the key to building an organization to last. If your team has the right values, the company will have the right values, leading to more business.
7. What do I do with ME?
Leadership is a continuous journey of personal development. Improving leadership skills, requires critical self-introspection. Leaders open to feedback and behavioural changes make far better leaders than those who operate in their own echo chambers.
Good leaders create motivational environments, where employees can thrive. If your team is engaging proactively in solving problems, then you have succeeded in motivating them.
To be a high-performing leader, you have to invest in your own well-being, because when leaders are happier, they tend to treat employees well. Leaders will also need to master the skill of persuasion, to convince the board of their vision.
If you focus on these 7 question, you would start seeing this uncertainty as an opportunity to accelerate, grow by trying to do new things or doing them in new ways.
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