Leadership – Is Magic Your Strategy?
I saw this cartoon and chuckled to myself. I instantly thought of multiple situations where this brand of leadership occurred. A group of leaders sitting around their conference table trying to fix a difficult situation or turn the company around without any solid solutions on how to fix it. I often wondered if anyone actually thought or wished that something would just magically happen to fix their problem. Is hoping for magic to happen the same as hoping that time will allow a difficult situation to resolve itself? Is that what the ostrich is thinking as it sticks its head deeper and deeper into the dirt? I guess if things happen to create a difficult situation, is it so unreasonable to sit back and let things “unhappen”? Yes, it is unreasonable.
Employees Count On You
No matter how big or small your company is, if you have one or more employees, you have a duty to do what is best for the future of the company. Employees generally take a leap of faith when they join your team. More than likely, they are looking for something beyond just a paycheck – especially the newer generations. They are looking to be part of something growing or moving in a positive direction. If their leadership team is sitting around the table hoping for something magical to happen, how committed do you think employees are to that team? On top of that, employees have expectations that their leadership team will have the capacity to work out solutions for these difficult situations or connect with outside experts that do have the expertise. Here’s a little insight – employees don’t mind if solutions don’t work every time. They mind when there are no solutions.
Customers Count On You
Your customers use your services and/or products because they provide value. They want to keep a relationship with you as long as you are providing positive value. As a customer, it is much easier to keep going to the same company than finding a new company. If customers gets a sense that your company is not capable of solving problems or adapting to difficult changes, they will quickly translate that to thinking your company is not innovative and will not keep up with the trends. They may not jump ship immediately, but be assured they are looking to do so.
Competition Loves This
How do you think a competitor reacts when they hear a leadership team in their industry is hoping for magic? Some may celebrate; knowing that they soon may get more customers coming their way. Others may focus on how they can be opportunistic and take advantage of this situation. How many competitors, do you think, will reach out to the struggling company and offer some free assistance?
Unfortunately, unless you are a professional magician, magic is not going to solve your problems. If you are in a leadership role at an organization, there are times when you are going to need to make some extremely difficult decisions to handle extremely difficult situations. Hoping things work out all by themselves is actually a decision – usually a bad one.
If your group is having a hard time finding a workable solution you have three options: change the makeup of the group, expand the group, or bring in some outside expertise to help facilitate the group. All three of these are better options than hoping for magic.
