No Time for the Timid

At the end of one of the roughest economic years in recent memory leaders have a great challenge at hand. Government is having greater impact on significant industries such as auto, finance and health and the trickledown effect will be a tidal wave of impact.

Are you ready?

The leadership approach of "wait and see" is no longer an acceptable strategy. The longer you wait, the more changes are going to happen, the more behind you will get. Obviously, I'm not saying take a "ready, shoot, aim" approach because you will need to digest the volume of changes that are coming and interpret the impact on your organization. However, once you have that understanding to the best of your ability it’s time to take action.

Clear picture no more

Not that many years ago the business world was a clear picture of how to make profits, gain a bit of market share and know who the competition was. You can't wait for the clear picture anymore. Visionary skills at the top are more important now because the picture isn't so clear. A leader has to be able to see through the fog and recognize where their organization needs to be heading. Executive ability to lead in a storm is trait most needed in business today. These are not times for the timid.

Over the next few years businesses are going to fall into three categories and the leadership of each organization will determine which category those organizations fall into.

Passive

These organizations will be late adopters and want to follow trends. These executives are more interested in hanging in the middle of the pack and hoping others will determine the path the industry must follow. The only problem here is how fast things change now. By the time the passive organization joins the trend, the wants of consumers has already shifted and these organization will only be serving the stragglers. Passive organizations will always be looking to cut budgets and hope to make profits at the end of the year.

Old school

This category of organizations is the group that just believes in doing things the old fashioned way based on the thought it worked fine for the last 40 years it will work fine for the next 40. Old school organizations resistant to change have a short life expectancy. The Big Three auto makers are the best example of change resistance to the eternal detriment of the company. Change can be scary and sometimes executives just want things to stay the same. Unfortunately, business is progressing rapidly with increasing speed and these companies will be lost and left behind to suffer a fate of either closing, being purchased, or broken apart. In this category the smaller the company the shorter the life expectancy.

Aggressive

These organizations are going to be looking for every advantage they can possibly exploit and take the necessary risks to make it happen. They will shop for top talent, pay high salaries and take the occasional long shot. The workloads will be tremendous and the commitment extensive. This is a group that thrives on change, and desires to be in the forefront of the industry.

Some organizations will project well and make huge strides; others will miss the mark and most-likely cost the executives their employment. This is a gutsy group that lives for winning. The risk is high but so is the potential payoff.

As you can see, the business world, no matter which category you lead your organization into requires risk and courage. It’s up to you to decide which path you feel best to be part of. The day of the timid leader enjoying the ride is over.

When Someone Wins, Someone Else Loses: Deal With it.

I learned that:

Winners get the rewards.
Winners get a bounce of confidence.
Winners are more encouraged to work harder because they believe they will see results from their efforts.

My junior high gym teachers (as we used to call them) tried to instill in us that winning was important, that winning made you a better person, and that winning made you mentally stronger. We were a fueled group giving it everything we had to win whatever we played in gym class.

I also remember the day a new gym teacher touring the schools of the district came to our class. He taught us the game of Earth Ball. It was a huge ball we bounced around between the kids and the object was to keep it from hitting the floor. We all asked, "But how do you win?" With a great big smile he told us there were no winners and losers just the joy of playing with the ball was reward enough. Huh?

He could've said it in Japanese and we would've understood it just as well. By the end of the hour of playing Earth Ball the vast majority of us lost interest, we had no desire to ever play that game again and we were thankful he was there only one day. We kept asking over and over, "What's the point?"

We are turning our schools and places of employment into Earth Ball. Because we are so focused on not creating losers at anything, we are losing the winners in the process. If everyone gets a passing grade, if everyone gets the same pay, if every time there is disparity we take from the winners to give to the losers, people are going to quickly start asking, "What's the point?"

If you want to create an organization of growth that is going to improve and become more successful you MUST reward your winners so they will stay and you must send the losers to find a different game to play where they can win. Not everyone is meant to win in every game they play that’s why most successful people find the areas they can excel at and then focus their efforts on building that success.

If we remove all the incentives, rewards and joy of winning we lose the confidence, desire and drive within the organization. Think about it. Do you want people going through the motions to fill the time like Earth Ball, or do you want people driven for success? If you fall into the mind trap of trying to create a system where everyone is a winner, the cold slap of reality is that everyone becomes losers, because you take away the rewards for making the extra effort to win.

Bottom line with winners come losers. Whether you are competing across the street, across the country or across the world, to grow your company you have to want to win with every fiber of your being.