Leaders Navigate Uncertainty for Better Business Control – What It Takes

Key business challenges in 2022 include cybersecurity, employee retention, the ongoing pandemic variants, and planning for the return to work.  How will leaders navigate these and their other specific issues? How will they maintain and improve the control of their business? For leaders who quickly scan and assess their environment, they can pivot their direction and accelerate. Continually planning and adapting as needed creates a resilient culture—and that will guide a sustainable enterprise.

Whether a current challenge or an emerging one, it’s imperative for leaders to act effectively. As systems thinkers, leaders succeed when multiple interdependent characteristics work together and deliver better results. Leadership action, courage, and communication are the foundation of addressing the key business challenges.

Great leaders ensure that the following essential parts work together as the foundation to deliver the best results. Are you ready to navigate the uncertainty for better control of your business?  Assess your leadership and your teams.

1.     Purpose—where are you headed?

2.     Communication, two-way, frequent, ask/answer questions

3.     Optimizing Flow (information, communication, work)

4.     A culture of trust

5.     An identity defined by behaviors and actions

6.     Designed infrastructure: Where do you find stability and predictability? How do you make rapid decisions? What can you count on? How do you fit together? Where do you go for help? How do you measure process and results measures? What does the process need to deliver? Does everyone understand how they can contribute to make a difference? Does what we’re doing make sense?

7.     Connections—the pros and cons of interacting. Where are the weaknesses that could cause gaps?

8.     Inclusion: can people contribute without biases? Through diversity, can everyone support each other, break down barriers, and be intentional? Can tough topics be put on the table and worked through?

9.     Courage to act. It’s lonely at the top. Focus on learning past the actions (and the mistakes which surely will be there, too.) Make the tough decisions.

10.  Ability to pivot, disrupt, adapt—to survive and succeed

11.  Improvement and Innovation can only come from being open to learning and flexible

12.  Leading together. Leaders own the problems and the solutions.

In the face of adversity and chaos, leaders step up, get clarity, decide quickly, and move forward. Whether on the global stage or running a small business, leaders are both strategic and operational to achieve success.