Coming Back Better Now
Welcome to my blog if you want a better business . This blog is written for small and medium-sized business owners and managers, whether for-profit or non-profit, who want to come back stronger than ever from the current bad times. In more than 50 years of business practice, observation and teaching I've seen many organizations emerge from recession better, stronger, sharper and smarter. They learned lessons that made them winners in the better times that come.
I have two goals with this blog: 1) to pass on some of the lessons I've seen good leaders learn, and 2) to show how you can use them to get better coming back. The blog format seems ideal for this, because you and I and others with interest can talk with each other. If you have a question or an observation on something you see, just post a comment on my blog.
This recession won't last forever. None have lasted forever. This blog is about making your business better when times get better. If your market is slow these days, use this time to think about and plan how you will improve your organization and how it works. When the turnaround happens you must be stronger than ever. A recession teaches lessons to smart people; competition will be tougher - many of the weak will be gone - and customers will be smarter (buyers learn lessons, too!)
Coming back better depends on you! If you are a strong leader - or if you want to become a strong leader - you can make your business better. Living through tough times can make your organization stronger, but only if you learn the lessons of leadership that tough times can teach. I hope to show some of those lessons, and to help you become a better leader of a better business.
So, what do good leaders do in tough times? James Kouses and Barry Posner, in their great book and workshop series called "Leadership Challenge,* say that exemplary leaders, when working at their best, demonstrate these five practices:
1) They Model the Way,
2) They Inspire a Shared Vision,
3) They Challenge the Process,
4) They Enable Others to Act, and
5) They Encourage the Heart.
Other authors and teachers have use different words to describe the practices of great leaders, but this is as good as I've seen. In fact, it's interesting that writers on leadership have said essentially the same things for at least 50 years. These practices, stated in several ways, will be the basis of this blog. I can only hope to help you understand how you can become a great leader through tough times, and Come Back Better.
*Kouser and Posner, The Leadership Challenge, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2007.
Our next post - Establish Your Leadership Image - will explore how to demonstrate (model) in your own organization, the attitudes necessary to be better.
Bob
I have two goals with this blog: 1) to pass on some of the lessons I've seen good leaders learn, and 2) to show how you can use them to get better coming back. The blog format seems ideal for this, because you and I and others with interest can talk with each other. If you have a question or an observation on something you see, just post a comment on my blog.
This recession won't last forever. None have lasted forever. This blog is about making your business better when times get better. If your market is slow these days, use this time to think about and plan how you will improve your organization and how it works. When the turnaround happens you must be stronger than ever. A recession teaches lessons to smart people; competition will be tougher - many of the weak will be gone - and customers will be smarter (buyers learn lessons, too!)
Coming back better depends on you! If you are a strong leader - or if you want to become a strong leader - you can make your business better. Living through tough times can make your organization stronger, but only if you learn the lessons of leadership that tough times can teach. I hope to show some of those lessons, and to help you become a better leader of a better business.
So, what do good leaders do in tough times? James Kouses and Barry Posner, in their great book and workshop series called "Leadership Challenge,* say that exemplary leaders, when working at their best, demonstrate these five practices:
1) They Model the Way,
2) They Inspire a Shared Vision,
3) They Challenge the Process,
4) They Enable Others to Act, and
5) They Encourage the Heart.
Other authors and teachers have use different words to describe the practices of great leaders, but this is as good as I've seen. In fact, it's interesting that writers on leadership have said essentially the same things for at least 50 years. These practices, stated in several ways, will be the basis of this blog. I can only hope to help you understand how you can become a great leader through tough times, and Come Back Better.
*Kouser and Posner, The Leadership Challenge, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2007.
Our next post - Establish Your Leadership Image - will explore how to demonstrate (model) in your own organization, the attitudes necessary to be better.
Bob
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