Time is short, and markets are uncertain. As a leader, the time to act is now. Of course, you need to consider the long-term implications and how your industry is evolving. You also need to be building the foundation and pushing for these changes now. Every leader should constantly ask themselves, “What is my highest and best use to the organization, given the current business environment?” Not only do business and life reward those who are prepared, but they also reward those who take initiative and take action. I’ve been telling my clients, and I am encouraging you to start playing more offense and less defense. Here are eight actions you can take right away.
- Spend more quality time with your “A Players” and get them engaged in raising the performance bar.
- Personally check in with your top and fastest-growing clients to determine how you can provide them with even greater service.
- Plan and coordinate a high-quality year-end All-Staff Meeting that is informative and engaging, regardless of the format.
- Interact with as many employees as possible, asking the question, “What is the biggest obstacle to your success, and how can we help?
- Schedule a leadership team meeting where you ask two questions: 1) If you wanted to knock us out of the market, how would you do it? And 2) What would we be doing differently if we were starting this company from scratch, knowing what we know today?
- Tackle any big, difficult conversations you’ve been avoiding professionally or personally (they are holding you back emotionally).
- Read at least two articles on artificial intelligence and think about how you could apply it to your business.
- Have your finance team run through multiple financial scenarios, factoring in continued inflation and increasing cost of capital. And, identify resources you can invest opportunistically within the next six months.
Don’t worry too much about making mistakes. Just learn to pivot as needed. Press forward. You may never get another chance like this to separate yourself from the competition. Good luck!
Related Articles:
- There Are Five Ways You Can Make an Impact as a Leader (weforum.org)
- The Five Actions Every Leader Needs To Take Right Now (forbes.com)
- 25 Leadership Skills You Need to Learn Fast (imd.org)