In a competitive market where there is a greater demand on businesses, people and resources, leaders play a critical and ever-increasing role in maximising the performance of their teams, and ultimately the business. Here are 6 skillsets you need to effectively lead the business.
It is essential that all leaders are armed with the tools, the confidence and the skills to be the best they can be in maximising their own potential, leading the business and unlocking the potential in their people.
Those who follow my blog will be familiar with my latest leadership blog series, and in particular the three tracks of developing leadership capability; I Lead Self, I Lead the Business and I Lead Others.
This week’s blog is all about I Lead the Business and the I Lead the Business framework.
I Lead the Business Framework
Building a high performing business and organisation does not just happen.
It takes discipline, it requires boundless levels of drive and energy, and it requires ALL of your people to be aligned, focused and pulling in one direction.
Your journey to high performing and ‘world-class’ can be accelerated through tapping into a proven framework, the I Lead the Business framework.
The 6 skillsets you need to Lead the Business
#1 Be a Change Agent
The one constant in the market today is change. Any leader, irrespective of business size, sector or scope has a critical role to play when leading change. Ultimately you have to become an effective change agent. Irrespective of whether you see change as an opportunity or a threat, a friend or a foe, the impact of change is real.
How you manage this impact – to the individuals involved and the business overall – will determine how quickly you can move through the change curve, moving your people through rationalisation to acceptance to the future.
Are you change ready? Check out 6 steps to landing change effectively to find out.
#2 Build a high-performance culture
It’s a certainty that you know a high performing organisation when you see one. There are clues all around. Disney built a reputation as a leader in customer experience, which has remained unchallenged for more than 60 years. LEGO® is the second biggest toymaker in the world, with a respected and loved global brand that has remained popular for nearly 70 years. The list could go on. But what are their methods that guarantee their position in history as exemplars of best practice and enduring greatness? How have they built a high performing organisation in their chosen field?
Want to build a high performing business? Check out the 5 key ingredients of building a high-performance organisation in How to build a high performing organisation
#3 Be commercial ‘savvy’
Developing a commercial mindset is essential for today’s leader. Understanding where the competitive battleground for your business is, and the strategy you have in place to fight and win on this battleground is the difference between a good business and a great business. Whilst it might not be as vicious or cutthroat as ‘Game of Thrones’ it is still a battleground.
Do you know your competitive battleground? And more importantly, are you winning?
#4 Develop a laser beam customer focus
Many businesses talk about the customer being at the centre of their thinking and behaviours and yet in answer to the simple question; is there a specific leader responsible for customer experience in your business, the response is often a resounding ‘NO’. Words and actions are often misaligned.
There is a massive philosophical shift happening in the way businesses are having to think about how they acquire, maximise, and retain customers and it’s affecting your business right now.
Where you have previously been able to focus your energies on building great products and services as a competitive advantage, taking your business to its full potential is going to require something quite different in the future.
Check out this blog; 4 components of the customer experience you should know
#5 Hone your business growth mindset
Without customers, businesses don’t exist. FACT. The challenge is that most business leaders over-engineer their business growth model, making it more complex than it needs to be.
Having in place a structured and sustainable business growth strategy to help you grow your business organically year-on-year is now more important than ever. Yes, you can reduce costs to increase profits, but reducing costs is finite. You can only cut back so far. Yes, you can buy a competitor or similar business to drive growth, but with this comes additional cost. Plus the significant amount of effort it will take to manage the integration.
Strip it all back and it comes down to 4 fundamental questions; How do we increase the number of customers, how do we increase the average order value, how do we increase the average order frequency and how do we increase the retention of our customers?
Want to delve in deeper. Check out these 9 simple strategies and ideas to organically grow your business.
#6 Lead stakeholder engagement
Success in business today is not just about your ability to create positive stakeholder relationships. It’s also about your team’s ability to positively impact others within the wider business, forge strong partnerships both internally & externally and then, the ‘power of the whole’ performing at peak.
Understanding the nuances and differences between building and developing internal versus external relationships, and how to manage multiple agenda’s, motivations and priorities is a skill. Building stakeholder relationships & networks is a skill. Have you got this skill-set?
Whether you’re a leader in the making or a leader at the top of your game, here’s more in my leadership series…
On-demand webinar: ‘How to build a self-sustaining leader-leader culture’
Video: A-Z series of business growth: L=Leadership
Blog:
Why great leadership is an inside job first