LEADERSHIP STRATEGY: PROSPER DURING RECOVERY

find out and take action faster than the competition

Businesses that survived our prolonged recession deserve respect—but the traumatic experience may have damaged their capacity to succeed in recovery.

 by LSI publisher Art McNeil

A discussion with Brain Keenan, a Regional President with First National Bank of the Gulf Coast identified seven actions that differentiate recession survivors:

1. Took action to downsize ahead of the curve
2. Avoided “bet the company” opportunities
3. Preserved access to cash
4. Eliminated levels of management and downsized support functions
5. Reassigned managers to doing the job
6. Retained only top producers
7. Asked  employees to multi task

To prosper in recovery, CEOs may have to shake off “hunker down” behaviors that helped them survive.  Success will depend on a company’s capacity to quickly, assess, decide, initiate, and eliminate.  Futurist David Houle calls this era the “shift-age”. He suggests that the ground will continue to move under our feet. Only the fleet of foot will survive—standing still won’t cut it. An excellent example of shift-age adaptation is the military’s transition from the conventional deployment of troops towards the use of smaller, more flexible special force units.

How to adapt to a new reality:

• Resist the urge to recreate what was. Retreating to the familiar will not be an option as business has been irrevocably altered.
• Resist the urge to stand still.  A prolonged fortress mentality will not withstand assaults from competitors who have made shift-age adaptations.
• Know how to use cultural values, ethics, and supervisory protocols as performance tools to inspire and discipline—without  a litany of rules and policies.
• Replace a dependence on experience and knowledge with processes for finding out and taking action faster than the competition.
• Operate from a process rather than a departmental orientation in order to: reduce resistance to change, align behind the customer’s total experience, accommodate employee centered continuous improvement, facilitate the elimination of waste and rework, make better cash management decisions, and create an environment where the next generation of employees, “the millennials” can contribute.

This post is sponsored by the new E book Secure Corporate Viability by Creating * Transferable Wealth and Wisdom: how to make your business more profitable and valuable–while reclaiming a personal life.  * a company not dependent on the CEO or any individual   

Available in e bookstores or via this link for download to PC and MAC