The tide is probably turning. Many executives can finally move from the back to the front and start to look forward to it. Certainly, the outlook remains tenuous, but the CEO's confidence is growing. chief executive officer Reported by June CEO Consection Index.
Still, I have heard and read a lot about the “belt emphasis” activity.
Economic, geopolitical and social forces affect all businesses. No matter what they do, who they serve, how they are organized, wherever they are, an external context is important. And always, in good times and bad times – situations create benefits for some people and trouble for others.
Key Strategic Questions
Strategies are journeys that don't go as planned. The ups and downs require a certain degree of adaptation. With each shift, executives face key strategic questions: crime or defense?
Take these examples:
- The CEO's board of directors has revised short-term profitability expectations downwards and directed them to “reduce deeper.”
- A skilled senior executive embraces an exciting first role with an obligation to dramatically increase the global impact of the business and revenue. Upon arrival they learn that they don't have a budget.
- Faced with rising import prices and tensile supply chains in low-distance businesses, executive teams consider the pros and cons of raising their own prices.
- Looking at the immediate impact of current outlook, C-Suite identifies critical long-term vulnerabilities.
These leaders certainly aren't alone. Perhaps you are facing a similar challenge.
Strategies and operations reorganization
As experienced leaders know, they actively coordinate and replicate strategies and operations by achieving their goals (your vision). (Find some important tips in my book, Course Chart. ) This is a constant balance that can be particularly difficult under external pressure from the board, Wall Street and customers. Of course, human influence on staff should not be ignored.
With the face of worsening outlook and wide range of negative consequences, we want to focus on defensive measures to mitigate risk and maintain capital, revenue and cash. Still strategy everytime Both defenses are required and Often attacked at the same time.
Combining current and positive action
Importantly, as mentioned in the relevant article here, both defense and attack should include a combination of current and positive actions.
Do what you need to do to survive a serious recession and keep the competition at bay. Next, pause to stock other vulnerabilities that the current situation reveals. Just like the C-Suite team above does. Addressing these vulnerabilities is a proactive practice that will better position your business, survive today and live to fight another day.
Conversion result
Still, survival is good, but stakeholders are demanding more. Many leaders respond by identifying and capitalizing immediate opportunities, namely aggressive behavior. However, in many cases, leaders are asked to attack with one hand tied behind their backs, unlike senior executives who don't have the budget in the example above. In my experience, such decisions encourage incremental benefits (if any) rather than meaningful long-term outcomes or transformational outcomes.
Instead, when it gets difficult, the best CEO Invest. Strategically.
Iterative Testing – Avoid – Adopt a return approach
Smart CEOs explicitly assign actual resources to activities and opportunities that are most likely to have a positive impact. Usually it's a combination of talent, time and dollars that will make a difference and produce the results you need.
That does not mean offering Cult Blanche Or free reins. In fact, I often recommend impose some constraints (usually on time and dollars). These promote a shared sense of urgency and facilitate the shifting of resources as needed to enhance outcomes.
It's about agility
Of course, I have not proposed waffles from executives on investment decisions. It's about agility: taking in what you've learned and taking new actions to achieve your goals.
The executives I advise are strategically investing in positioning companies for a promising future, even if they adapt to get through the current situation. for example:
- We have launched an innovation team. A team with clear delegation and resources to accomplish it is a specific, specific, Recent period The deadline to provide results. The team is tasked with expanding the scope of ideas, implementing prototypes quickly, and testing the validity and impact of solutions. Senior executives are strengthening their results by investing in contributing to both internal and external experts.
- Hire a Chief Growth Officer. This addition to C-Suite is externally and explicitly focused on generating new opportunities and rapid revenues for today's future. Their bonuses depend on the outcome, despite organizations taking certain steps to integrate “beginners” and set them up for success.
- Purchase important assets. To enhance known vulnerabilities and unlock the possibility of pursuing something completely different, the CEO is actively “finding money” to make targeted investments. They have looked at the opportunities that arise from today's situation, even if they dramatically cut back in response to a sudden loss of their contract.
- Improve strategic ability and capabilities. It's easy to be troubled by everyday life during difficult times. These mid-sized CEOs repeatedly ask important strategic questions such as: What is the real problem here? What happens if you don't walk that path? what else? Exploring teams and strategic questions ensures that adequate attention will be paid to the future, even if the team is running at the operational level.
- Locking with different types of joint relationships. Uncertain times can breed strange bed fellows. Your business model is probably under threat. We pursue relationships that accelerate trust. Savvy executives look for people who share core objectives or face common critical enemies. They reconstruct the question: why do not have Partner or collaboration? One CEO deliberately revealed certain vulnerabilities and sometimes broader meaning to their competitors. Now they are working together to unlock new options for mutual benefit.
In both good and bad times, the most effective CEOs also rely on strategic advisors. A skilled strategic advisor places the situation in the right context and quickly surfaces the broader meaning of decisions. Invest in advisors, CEOs acquire strategic best friends who will guide them to accelerate their performance regardless of the situation. And they know that such investments will benefit the entire team.
A skilled CEO will routinely inspire your team to face positively, even when dealing with immediate challenges. Importantly, they express their confidence and commitment to both people and business. The progress is strict and visionary CEOs will invest.
