The Soul of a Start-Up
All enterprises are born out of a core philosophy, a principle that is quintessential to the character of the company. With time, as the business expands and demands fresh structure and protocols to support its burgeoning girth, the founders often tend to loosen their grip on the initial drift that created the company, its very […]
Nimble Leadership: Balancing Chaos & Creativity
While command-and-control leadership is said to be passe, there doesn’t seem to be any concrete alternative to governance yet. Unlike most research documents on leadership in today’s VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world which are pinned on new-age startups or legacy firms trying to pull up their socks, the authors here explored two organizations […]
Reorganizing Your Organization
Volatile market conditions may force you to reorganize your company. So, do you require a new structure or must you tweak the existing one? When organizations have to reorganize, leaders are left weighing options large and small. Often conflicting advice and opinions leave them grappling with questions of whether or not to reorganize, and if they must – what, when, and how to reorg! The term reorganization encompasses two distinct processes, restructuring and reconfiguration. Restructuring essentially calls for altering the structural archetype around which resources are allocated […]
THE ART OF PRESCRIPTIVE SELLING
With B2B purchasing becoming more complex than ever before, success comes from making it easy for customers to buy. B2B sellers tend to attribute great powers to their customers. With a deep understanding of their need and information at their command, customers must be truly in the driver’s seat. This probably inhibits engaging with suppliers until late in the process and […]
TRUST YOUR GUT
“When you face a trade-off conflict, it just behooves you to focus on your gut.” Life calls us to make choices. Some of them feel particularly big and overwhelming not because they involve pinning down one option to the exclusion of others, which is typical of most decision- making, but because their outcomes and more so ‘wrong’ choices can be damaging or have far- reaching implications. Innumerable decisions have to be taken […]
CREATING A CULTURE OF EXCELLENCE
Strategy matters – sure. But without a winning culture to drive it forward, your strategy’s taking you nowhere. An organization that excels without is strongly held from within. Its success is an outcome of strong leadership and employee efforts that do the right thing at the right time, instead of opting for what is easy and quick. The values that employees espouse and the behaviours they voluntarily exhibit create an environment […]
WHEN IT DOESN’T PAY TO STRETCH
“We are not advocating stagnation or risk aversion; to the contrary, we understand that the next Panama Canal, moon landing, and iPhone cannot be produced without bold ambitions. But attempts at such outcomes should not be ill-advised lottery bets.” Named CEO of Yahoo in July 2012, Marissa Mayer bullishly announced that she had set her sights on bringing “an iconic company back to […]
LEND YOUR VOICE WITH CHARISMA
Janet stands at the podium, looking tentatively at her senior colleagues assembled to hear her explain the new project and take queries from them. Rob reluctantly walks into a meeting after a failed product launch to address a dispirited team that desperately needs his direction. Our third member, Wills, addresses the shareholders assembled in an auditorium but that […]
DO YOU KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER’S JOB TO BE DONE?
“Is innovation inherently a hit-or-miss endeavour? Not if you understand why customers make the choice they do” Innovation for many large organizations is as mush a top priority task as a source of frustration. A McKinsey research revealed globally 84% of business leaders acknowledged that innovation was integral to their growth strategies, yet 94% were far from satisfied with the way initiatives fell short of aspiration. Something has been going wrong, despite best efforts. […]
TRANSFORMING THE TRANSFORMATION STORY
‘Transformation is perhaps the most overused term in business. Often, companies apply it loosely – too loosely – to any form of change, however minor or routine.’ Scenarios and developments in industries that once seemed improbable and far-fetched are emerging as highly possible and menacing in today’s volatile business landscape. The changed moment and milieu of doing business is emerging as one of the compelling reasons for leaders to break away from “routine […]
WORKING AROUND THE WORKSPACE
The best collaborative spaces also support solitude. Privacy in a workspace does not compromise collaboration but can nurture it. Not so long ago, the corporate world was of the opinion that the open office was a good idea. It nurtures a culture of collaboration, encourages learning and development, and promotes harmony and camaraderie. Research shows that there is a natural […]
INCREASE YOUR IMPACT
For functional experts and mangers to enhance their influence in their organizations, their 4T Competencies can make all the difference. How do you build or wield influence in your organization? More so, if you are a function or domain expert aspiring for the attention of top management and hoping to acquire greater influence on the organization’s decision-making. A study conducted […]
