How to Lead during an Economic Slowdown
By Mark David
Originally published in The Journal for Quality and
Participation
September 2001
Over the last ten years we have experienced an incredibly
bullish economic environment, but we have now entered an
economic slowdown. The need for excellent leadership is at
an all-time high to maintain and exceed the levels of
business success we've come to expect as the status quo.
The experienced leader knows that business does not simply
go up and stay up. Over time business goes up and down; it
fluctuates with the economy. Common strategies for dealing
with economic slowdowns include cutting overhead,
downsizing and, most importantly, increasing productivity.
As downsizing occurs to keep organizations afloat, the
people who remain must increase productivity with:
fewer people and resources,
tighter deadlines, and
sometimes less pay.
As a leader it is important to be a model for handling
these challenges and the accompanying stress in a proactive
rather than reactive manner. The bottom line to an
organization's survival and success depends on its leaders'
abilities to:
- create the correct business strategies to navigate to
the correct destination,
- ensure that everyone is on the same page working in
harmony toward the same goals,
- maximize the productivity of every employee each day,
each hour, each minute, and
- keep everyone in the organization energized and
focused.
Look back over your own experience with previous
economic slowdowns and examine ways that you were able to
achieve success. Learn from your experiences, both good and
bad. Your knowledge is a tool for developing successful
strategies and avoiding pitfalls. Encourage your people to
do the same and to experiment within the realm of common
sense. Innovation and flexibility are integral to achieving
greater productivity with fewer resources.
Following are a number of mandatory strategies you must
execute to increase productivity and realize success during
these tough economic times.
Strategy #1: Broadcast Your Vision to Your Organization
Strategy #2: Tell Your Organization What You Expect
Strategy #3: Focus on the "Top 20% Responsibilities"
Strategy #4: Create a Culture of "No Fear"
Conclusion
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