Marcia's Leadership Q and As: The Easy Competitive Edge Most Leaders Miss!

Q. What will our organization’s competitive edge be as we face this year’s challenges?

A. Every year leaders and their teams face ongoing as well as new issues that need to be identified and considered. There are external challenges such as economical, political, regulatory, financial, new trends, societal, new competitors, innovation and disruption, and technological. Internally companies face their ability to be creative and innovative and to engage and retain their employees in a healthy, productive workplace. They invest in their employees so that they serve their customers with almost unprecedented satisfaction. 

Where’s the competitive edge? Initially and repeatedly, the competitive edge lies with your products and services. But over time, the greatest competitive edge is human. It’s how you interact with your customers about your products and services. 

People can be resilient, strategic, tenacious, and quick! Those traits are fundamental to achieving a competitive edge. Being not only able to improve, but to innovate, transform, and create different products and services will find that new markets emerge. 

Surviving and thriving into the future means envisioning what’s possible and how new ideas can make a difference in the future. Innovators let go of the status quo and believe there are boundless unknown opportunities. 

Organizations that achieve a competitive edge maintain an obsessive connection with their customers. They also generate and implement ideas continually. Frequent, deep conversations about how the customer is using the products or services open doors to achieving unique differentiation and potentially new markets.