"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure."
General Colin Powell
Passing by the shops, storefronts, and warehouses that once housed thriving businesses that are now closed, I always think of those that failed unnecessarily. Given the business I’m in, it always bothers me when I see yet another tragic failure, because I know that many of these can be averted by the systematic and diligent application of known principles.
Working with various business leaders in these troubled times has given me valuable insights into why some do well during economic downturns while their competitors who serve the very same markets struggle or go out of business. Of course they actually do things differently, and I’ll address that aspect in a bit.
A lot of discussions of leadership focus on the qualities that define success, and such discussions certainly have their place. We must keep in mind however, that qualities such as “vision,” “determination,” or “empathy” are not actual behaviors, but abstractions. And while abstractions are useful for theorizing, it is what leaders actually do that really matters.
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Anyone who has paid attention to business management over the past several decades has got to be fascinated by the sheer number of trends that have been touted as being the wave of the future. A look back however, shows that the past is littered with the remains of such trends, along with their jargon, implementation manuals, and training rituals. In the meantime, sound leadership retains its value as the most viable business resource.
“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present.”
Abraham Lincoln
“The future ain’t what it used to be.”
Yogi Berra
Thriving in business at any level is tougher now than any time in recent decades, and the challenges to individual business leaders are increasingly daunting. While it used to be argued that “change is the only constant,” even that is no longer true. Change occurs at an ever-accelerating rate, making it anything but a constant. The ability to anticipate and adapt to it has never been more essential.
“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
— Albert Einstein
A lot of businesses suffer because their owner-operators have a fear of numbers, a problem that is more common than assumed. This often leads to sloppy accounting practices that undermine profitability, but it doesn’t have to be that way. By dealing realistically with the “math phobia” that afflicts so many, a lot of struggling business owners can stop getting in their own way and begin to improve their margins.
Behavioral scientists have conducted extensive study of the “norm of reciprocity,” a social convention that governs exchanges between human beings. Its importance in various business functions (sales, leadership, teamwork, and bargaining) is often underestimated. Its workings are often subtle and nuanced, but its power cannot be overstated. It deserves our utmost respect and understanding.
A quick review of the news makes it evident that America is currently facing both internal and external challenges that are unprecedented in the lifetimes of most of us, and innumerable polls indicate that Americans feel that we’re lacking the kind of leadership required to meet those challenges effectively. But by facing certain realities squarely, “we the people” can be the key to our own better future.
“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”
— Albert Einstein
In our technology driven information age, we’ve accepted that clinging to old ways of thinking and doing things can be detrimental to business success. But information technology used independently of the timeless and unchanging principles that define wisdom and integrity can breed as many business failures as successes. In an age of complexity and rapid change, it’s important to remind ourselves of that reality.
“Sometimes you hit a point where you either change or self destruct.”
-Sam Stevens
We all know of the antics of people such as Bernard Madoff, or Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling of Enron, who wrecked their own multibillion business concerns through behaviors that seemed bizarre to most of us. But these are just spectacular examples of a very common syndrome of self-destruction that affects businesses of all kinds. It’s more common than we think, and we should all be wary of it.
“America is the best half educated country in the world.”Nicholas M. Butler
Historically, education has been touted as the key to success in America, but for decades our educational system has been in decline in ways that range from the subtle, to the blatantly dysfunctional. In the meantime, the costs of education are skyrocketing. What follows is a discussion of the problems plaguing our institutions of learning, and some suggestions for how business leaders might help.
“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”
John Wooden
Benjamin Franklin said, “time is money,” and spoke truth in doing so. But far too many businesses suffer because of the mismanagement of this invaluable resource. It’s the one thing that we can never replace and in an age of complexity, chaos, and competition for our attention, so we all need to be continually improving our use of it. The following discussion offers hope for devising means for doing exactly that.
