Able Stewards
Modern-day business executives are faced with an increasingly changing and often volatile business landscape characterized by sweeping technology revolution, changing consumer values, fast globalizing markets, and increased environmental and social consciousness. Such a difficult business landscape requires a multi-pronged reaction based on flexibility, creativity, strategic thinking, and a focus on ethical and environmentally friendly strategies. Successful executives in achieving these mandates stand in a good position to guide their companies to sustained prosperity and 21st-century development.
Maybe the most powerful force reshaping our marketplace today is the inexorable tide of technological revolution. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are just the beginning; blockchain and the Internet of Things are calling the shots, too. Technology is changing and rewriting successful business models daily, and business leaders today must have a thorough grasp of those technologies and how they can impact their markets. It is not a question of staying abreast of what is popular today but a question of moving forward to discover how they can leverage them to drive operational efficiency, launch new products and services, and enhance customer experience. It is digital transformation that the leaders are putting money into, they are developing an experiment culture, and they are building dynamic organizational forms which are able to react quickly to technological changes. Simply put, the increasing adoption of the internet as a platform for marketing and online shopping has pushed conventional brick-and-mortar retailers to acquire robust digital traces and use data-driven marketing campaigns in a bid to stay afloat. Changes in consumption patterns are also a strong driver fuelling the evolving market trend.
Today’s consumers are better educated, more refined, and tech-savvy than ever. They expect personalized experiences, channel-optimized experiences, and values-aligned goods and services. Leaders of today are responding to these changing expectations by keeping customer-centricity ahead. That includes CRM software expense, data analytics to allow them to know as much about the customers’ taste as possible, and to get marketing campaigns and product development right. Besides, CEOs are more and more recognizing the growing importance of transparency and authenticity in building consumer trust and loyalty as consumers increasingly value the ethical and social responsibility of the companies they shop from. Globalization continues to reshape markets, creating opportunities and challenges for business leaders.
While international expansion presents new growth possibilities and access to alternative pools of talent, it also poses the problem of coping with diverging regulatory environments, cultural nuances, and geopolitical threats. Today’s leaders are creating adaptive, context-driven global strategies. This involves purposefully studying markets, building strong local networks, and creating cross-cultural capabilities in organizations. The growth of global supply chains also demands robust risk management systems to buffer against disruption by pandemics, trade tensions, or geopolitical tensions, as recent experience has starkly brought into perspective. Moreover, increased emphasis on social and environmental responsibility is strongly shaping the manner in which modern businesses must behave.
Customers, employees, shareholders, and communities are expecting increasingly more from companies to act on some of society’s largest issues today, such as climate change, inequality, and equitable supply chains. Leaders are responding to this presently by adopting ESG as a business strategy. This involves developing ambitious sustainability targets, encouraging diversity and inclusion at work, as well as responsible sourcing and supply chain management. Companies actively engaged in addressing such challenges not only make the world a better place but also enhance their reputation, keep and attract the best talent, and even gain competitive edge as consumers and investors increasingly favour purpose-driven businesses. In a race to be able to ride this complex and dynamic market situation well, today’s business leaders are adjusting to some necessary strategies.
They first build a culture of flexibility and constant learning in their businesses. They reward workers for staying current with the latest in their professions, for experimenting and trying out new things, and for being receptive to changing methods as the moment requires. Second, they are moving towards a more analytical approach to decision making, employing analysis to discover more about trends in markets, customer patterns, and business activity. This facilitates wiser decision-making and more effective use of resources. Third, they are forging solid and collaborative relationships with a wide range of stakeholders such as customers, employees, suppliers, partners, and even competitors. This yields leaner and stronger ecosystem. Besides this, day leaders are also learning the lesson of adaptability and flexibility organizational design and processes. Hierarchical organizations are giving way to flatter, networked, and cross-functional teams that are responsive to changing marketplace demands. Scrum and Kanban, two of the agile practices, are being used to maximize product development and project management. This allows companies to move faster to iterated products, receive feedback sooner, and adjust their offerings to changing customer needs.
These operational and strategic shifts are also reflected in business leaders as they shift the style of their leadership.
Command-and-control style leadership is decreasing its applicability in the current high-tech world. More team-oriented, more empathetic, and more empowering forms of leadership are being embraced by leaders increasingly. They wish to build high performance teams, establish a sense of purpose and shared vision, and build climates where difference of opinion is valued. Authentic leadership, with its accompanying transparency, candor, and genuine stakeholder commitment, is more and more vital in building trust and engaging employees and customers. Strategic vision is more and more a necessary competency for business leaders too.
They must be in a place where they can predict what is coming next, look ahead to likely disruptions and develop anticipatory strategies to counter threats and maximize future opportunities. Scenario planning, horizon scanning, and futures discussion in their firms are only some of the activities that they must partake in. Leaders who have the ability to reflect and plan for different futures will likely handle uncertainty more effectively and guide their businesses toward success in the long run.
