Is it the challenge ahead—or the opportunity hidden within it?
There is no doubt that our current world panorama is complex and perplexing.
History tells us that there have always been upheavals and global dissonance. Situations have existed that seemed impossible to come back from and with overwhelming challenges to overcome.
Think of Britain’s plight in World War 2. In an embattled London, Churchill rallied his people to be resilient, tenacious and ultimately victorious. Ukraine is currently beating the odds in the Ukraine/Russia war not only through great leadership, but also via amazingly innovative technology. In a matter of a couple of years Ukraine has become the global leader in drone technology and now is on the way to becoming one of Europe’s leading military powers.
Adversity, faced with the right mind set and resolute leadership, can change your direction and create successful outcomes.
Many in our New Zealand business environment are facing extreme difficulties and are having to have a really good think about what they can do to both survive and prosper. It is not an easy challenge to overcome. But there are ways.
It starts and finishes with your leadership team.
Difficult commercial situations require a clear head, a calm demeanour and the ability and skills to lead from the front. Is your Leadership Team up to it?
A clear head means that the goals and ambitions of the organisation are grounded in reality. Have you sat down and considered these in the current environment? Have you reset your goals? This may mean revisiting some of your basics. It may require some fine-tuning to reduce ambitions.
Alternatively there may be a need for some left field thinking that stretches your ambitions in a slightly different direction. Don’t discount any of your thoughts. When one door closes another one opens.
A calm demeanour allows your team to have confidence that you have the confidence to lead them through tough times. This is a tricky path to walk down because any head winds do need to be acknowledged as real and difficult but also need to be seen as positively challenging and able to be overcome. They can in fact become exciting once you start to get some runs on the board and register some wins. Wins take you forward so are really important for your team’s motivation. Even small ones are an advance and each one matters.
Also of great importance is the leaders’ core strength to resolutely and determinedly keep their shoulders to the wheel.
“80% of success is pitching up”.
Woody Allen
The ability to lead from the front demands a set of skills that encompass all the basics such as communication, motivation, problem solving, time management, managing conflict, innovation and improvement, and delegation. It also requires a good dollop of emotional intelligence.
Using these skills to keep your team pushing hard for success in a difficult economic situation is what makes the difference. It will allow your business to succeed or fail.
So, lying awake at night can go one of two ways.
It can either be fraught with worry about what might happen to the business, or it can be about excitement as you pro-actively search for and find new ways to navigate hard times and emerge successful.
Positive People has over 30 years of experience coaching and training leaders to become the sort of people that others want to follow.
See our programs here and call us on 0800 00 00 49 to find out more.