Throughout the history of doing business, there will be always some forces that add shock to the way we conduct businesses. As we face a new reality we find a new way of working fuelled by the technological revolution. Many companies experienced such a scenario when the COVID-19 crisis shut down large swaths of the world economy. As volatile and uncertain as the world has become, it has created enormous opportunities for organizations to build a new form of advantage. Let us examine what a Business Leader needs to do to navigate the uncertain times, imagine new possibilities, and building a lasting company.
To compete and win in volatile, rapidly evolving business environments companies must adept at pursuing multiple transformations on an ongoing basis. It should be an essential part of operating your business. Not just one change, but one change after another change on an ongoing basis. It is like they are always in transformation. Change has to be part of the DNA of your firm. To excel at always-on transformation, Business Leaders should envision the firm’s desired future and how to get there, inspire and empower the workforce by building capability to execute the vision. It is no longer enough to articulate an operational goal like, cut cost by 20%, improve quality by 15%, or any other measures.
Success depends on your ability to get people inspired and empowered to make the change real. Employees will become more enthused in transformation if they understand at a deep level why they are doing it. They need purpose, clarity, energy, and guidance in a way that is logical to them. Not just understand, they must feel it each and every day as they do their work. Employees have to live the purpose in their daily work, which in turn means that the culture must change to evoke and support it. You have to define what the company stands for, something that meaningful.
You cannot simply articulate the purpose in words and expect it to stick. Dedicate your organization to making a change as an integral part of your operating model, and you will dramatically fasten your firm’s ability to compete, grow, and win in the years ahead. As you provide clarity of direction, you must motivate and inspire teams to behave more confidently and perform at their best, demonstrate care and empathy, actively listen, coach, and empower everyone.
Finally you must mobilize your team to the agile way of working to work in more open and collaboratively with daily stand up meetings, and less directive way. Agile has the power to transform the work. Breakdown the change process into manageable parts and connect with the operating model, inspire employees by connecting these changes with company reason for being, build a self-managing team, lastly cutaway bureaucracy, and make work far more productive and collaborative. Remember, agile is a tool, not a strategy.
So, what are you waiting for? What legacy will you leave? Pick your priorities and get started re-inventing your company to sail through the uncertain times. And become a transformational leader.