Stephen Covey says, “If there’s one thing that’s certain in business, it’s uncertainty. Most organizations can get predictable results in an environment that is predictable. But, there are great organizations that consistently perform with excellence, even in the most unpredictable times, which we are now experiencing. These organizations not only survive the tough times, but they thrive and set themselves ahead of their competitors.”
Failure to execute: You’ve thought through the crisis. You have your strategy. Now the question is, can the team execute? Will they? Some people in your organization understand it, and they are getting it done. Some aren’t and probably never will. Then there’s the great middle population– how much more could they contribute if they only knew how?
Crisis of trust: Levels of trust are at an all-time low. Securities markets plunge due to a huge crisis of confidence. Too many people see betrayal wherever they look. On an uncertain road full of pitfalls, everyone decelerates: It’s not called a “slow-down” for nothing.
Loss of focus: You have fewer resources, fewer people and more confusion. People try to do two or three jobs at once. A person doing two jobs has half the focus of a person doing one job, and half the likelihood of doing either job well.
Pervasive fear: Economic recession causes psychological recession. People fear losing jobs, retirement savings, even their homes. It’s “piling on.” And it costs you; just when you need people to focus and engage, they lose focus and disengage.
The authors also suggest four key principles for getting predictable results in unpredictable times:
- Execute Priorities with Excellence: Winning companies have “simple goals” repeatedly revisited, together with clear targets and strong follow-through, including the measurement of results. As with any team, all team members know the goals and their roles in carrying them out. And, they execute precisely.
- Move with the Speed of Trust: Low trust slows everything down and raises costs. That’s why the economy, your clients and your cash flow slow down in times of turmoil. But, when trust levels rise, everything speeds up and costs go down. The winning companies are capable of quick action “with the agility to respond ahead of, or at least stay even with, rapid changes in the new economic environment.”
- Achieve More with Less: Of course, everyone is trying to do more with less, but the real question is, “More of what?” Shouldn’t it be more of what customers truly value and less of what they don’t want? The winning companies focus totally on value – they are not just cutting back, they are simplifying, reducing complexities that customers don’t value. Instead of having everyone do two or three jobs, they focus on doing the job the customer really wants done.
- Transform Fear into Engagement: The root of psychological recession is the sense that people have no control over what happens to them. Winning organizations help people break through that hopelessness and focus on what they can do. Much of the fear is caused by unclear direction, by a less-than-compelling purpose. Entrusted with a mission they can believe in, they channel their anxious energy into results.
“No leader can compute all the uncertainties of the future into a set of certainties,” said Brett England another of the co-authors. “But there are certain changeless principles that leaders and managers can rely on to thrive in volatile times.”
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