Leadership & Survival in the "Economic Down Turn"

The first thing that can be addressed comes for free - it is all about attitude! Pessimism and gloom quickly become a self fulfilling prophecy. Similarly acting on speculation instead of known fact can generate poor decisions and be destructive. Strong leaders need to work at creating and communicating a positive, proactive and creative attitude, not an easy task, but one which will deliver positive results. A positive mental attitude (PMA) generated by strong leaders will do much to increase resourcefulness, encourage the identification of cost efficiencies and enhance the networking drive. In addition PMA will encourage that crucial  innovative thinking that may well identify new business streams resulting not just in the maintenance of current performance but actually the strengthening of the business. All of which helps create a platform of stability.

At some point the economic outlook will improve. Those leaders and their organisations that have prepared and planned for that upturn now will be those that most quickly and effectively reap the rewards of the economic improvement in the future. Therefore the call to action is clear: use this time now to invest in your organisation’s future. You may be surprised to learn that the investment need not be financially significant, but the rewards can be immense.

The best place for an investment right now is in the general “health” of an organisation, or more specifically in the organisations biggest asset, it’s people. In the first instance that means focusing on maximising the performance of the executive team, and the clarification of their roles and their commitment to the organisation’s values and purpose. Doing this will require some time and energy, but only a limited financial investment. And it will potentially yield significant returns now, and probably even more when the economy rebounds. How?

Strong leaders will work with their senior team and make the very best of the time available during these slower times to work on a range of team and personal behaviours:

• Trust, collaboration and cohesion across the organisation are key.
• Absolute clarity of objectives and aims is crucial
• Effective integration within teams and across teams is crucial
• Addressing and removing politics and promoting internal conflict resolution
• Working at building and increasing trust across the organisation
  

Addressing these five key areas will offer a range of ways of surviving the downturn. Teams and individuals will be better placed to make clear and well informed decisions about:

• The most remunerative business streams
• The most effective ways of exploiting those business streams
• How to most effectively train and prepare all team members to retain existing business and bring in new business.
  

The real benefits of tackling these issues now is that in addition to surviving the downturn, the organisation will be even stronger when the economy does turn around. This will immediately deliver a meaningful advantage over those competitors who have simply “battened down the hatches” until business improved.

And there is more good news: Once the leader and their senior team have made the investment in the “health” of their organisation it is straightforward to cascade that strong leadership behaviour and coaching through the organisation to other management layers and teams, further enhancing the buy-in to values and positive teamwork.

Strong leaders should be investing in the “health” of their teams at all times. When times are tough and business is difficult investing in people is even more crucial, to survive the tough times and prepare for the good times.

Now is a critical time to re-evaluate and invest in your team, the cost of the investment will be smaller than you imagine, the return could be outstanding

If you would like to discuss how Quest may be able to help you and your organisation, contact the Quest team.