Top Five Strategies for Leading in Radical Times

As we move into the future, we will experience both changes and opportunities in the business world that will challenge us in ways we have never experienced before. As business, community, and political leaders, we will be called upon to step up and embrace our employees, constituents, and customers as our most valuable assets, because more than ever, they will hold the secret to our success. . I know we hear this every day, but many people honestly don’t know how to build a sustainable company through people. In this article, I share five of the most important skills that leaders and teams will need to embrace to thrive in tomorrow’s world.

1. Radical innovation

Is your company or organization really designed for innovation? Are you sure? Every day I speak with leaders who say their businesses are designed for innovation, but in my opinion, this is rarely the case. Because? Because they are stifling open debate, shooting the messenger, and making it unsafe for people to express their opinions.

If your business or company is truly innovative, your doors will be open for discussion and your culture will be designed to make it psychologically safe for both employees and customers to express not only their suggestions, dreams, and goals, but also their concerns and complaints. . and frustrations. A recent article in the Harvard Business Review: The Customer-Centered Innovation Map is a must-read for any company that wants to prosper in the future. The article is based on the perspective that when a customer buys a product or service from your company, they are actually hiring them to do a job. This “work to be done” could be making more money, looking more beautiful, living a healthier life, moving into your dream home, becoming more believable, or building a better relationship. At each step in the process of getting the job done, both your employees and your customers will experience both successes and pain points (and some people will have more difficulties than others). By carefully mapping the work a client is trying to get done, you can find golden opportunities to innovate as you help the client through their process. Along the way, you’ll want to ask questions like “How can we do this much more efficiently?” and “What difficulties and inconveniences do our customers experience?” and “How do trends affect the way work gets done?” and “What causes execution to drift?” As you move through the life cycle of working with a customer, looking at each and every praise, complaint, and challenge can open the door for your company to provide a new product, offering, or level of customer service that sets you apart. of your competition. .

2. Intellectual power

It’s going to be harder and harder in the future to stay ahead of the competition if your team isn’t the best and brightest in your industry. Intellectual power includes not only IQ (many people believe that today you need an IQ of 130 to be a top player), but it also includes transferable skills, the ability to understand and break down a complex situation into logical steps and be super sharp, agile and fast. study. Intellectual potency also includes being able to accept paradox and ambiguity and being adept at functioning effectively in the midst of opposing ideas or forces.

If you go back and consider the previous topic on mapping the work to be done by the client, you will be able to identify skill gaps in your organization. Every time a customer expresses success, ask yourself “Who worked with this customer and what skills were in play to make this customer’s experience outstanding?” On the same note, if a client’s work isn’t getting done, it’s time to step back and ask “What skills are missing from this process that we need to implement?” From there, you can provide your team with the training and development they need to create exceptional customer experiences. Once you’ve trained your employees, if you have someone on your team who just doesn’t “get it,” then it’s time to replace that player with someone who can “get it” and do it quickly.

3. Employee development

There are two scenarios that I often see in the work that I do as a leadership coach:

1. The company relies on the heroism of a few employees to keep customers happy or

2. Customers constantly run to the business owner, who seems to be the only person who can clean up a mess.

Both of these scenarios probably mean your company is failing, your service is lousy, and it’s time for some rigorous employee development, and I don’t mean putting your team in a training room hoping they get what they need. to do a great job. As a leader, your job is to build a true learning organization, one that provides your employees with ongoing personalized training and coaching so they can step in and run your company at any time. This process starts with a very thorough examination of what is really going on in your company (this is the time for you to become your biggest critic), listing all the assets and deficiencies and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. password for each employee. Your next steps will be to design and implement a customized program that includes an on-the-job training and development program for every employee in the company.

After six months (12 months max) of on-the-job training, if someone at your company can’t be “trained to move up,” then, as harsh as that sounds, that person will most likely be obsolete for years to come. As technology advances and our global economy becomes increasingly competitive, having a rock-solid employee development system will be critical, and that development program needs to be designed so that an employee can advance in your company. If an employee can’t develop the skills necessary to move up in your company, that position will become a financial and productivity burden on your company. Just because you’re not tackling L&D doesn’t mean your competitors aren’t, and those who are will have an advantage going forward. It’s that easy.

4. Strategic agility

In today’s world, your customers may know what they want, but in most cases, they have no idea what’s possible and what creative offerings you can bring to the table. One of the reasons Apple is so successful is that Steve Jobs has an uncanny knack for knowing what customers need and want before they ask for it. None of us knew we wanted a white headset and 10,000 songs in a tiny device that could easily slip into a shirt pocket or the palm of a hand, but boy did we ever eat it! By honing your strategic thinking, you’ll be able to anticipate future consequences and trends, create competitive breakthroughs, and paint a vision of what your business will look like tomorrow (which always instills a sense of inspiration and optimism in a business). One of the best ways to strengthen strategic agility is to move your team from working on details to a place of curiosity and imagination. By asking some radical questions like “What would a doctor, actress, or astronaut tell us to do in the future?” or “How would we change our business if we moved headquarters to China?”, you’ll find your perspective will broaden and your focus sharpen.

5. Technological knowledge

I know that I know. Everyone is so tired of talking about technology. But there are some amazing things happening right now. Many leading companies are using Facebook to build networks, the Second Life tool for training purposes and games like Warcraft, EverQuest and Lineage are being used to strengthen strategic thinking, the search for speed and stimulate discussion about the world of business and finance. I believe Gen Y holds the key to their ability to build a tech-savvy organization, so don’t discount what they can bring to your company. They are our future, and it is time to start welcoming them and allowing them to teach us what they know so that we can leverage their knowledge for our future success. Generation Y will provide you with an excellent opportunity to deliberately develop your company’s capabilities, so embrace them, learn from them, develop them and lead. You will set the tone for generations to come that you respect young, enthusiastic and creative minds.