Re-writing the rules of business

We now live in an era of hyper competition. There is less money and consequently less demand for products and services. Conversely the amount of competition for the business has dramatically increased over the past 10 years. So how do we get that competitive edge in those extraordinary times? My view is that we need to compete on all fronts, being both the most competitive and innovative in our niche market. However, this takes lots of time and effort if we are relying on ourselves. The answer is not only to work harder or smarter, but also tap into the creativity, passion and commitment of our employees. A new paradigm To do this requires a fundamental shift in our views of management and leadership. Management has always been synonymous with control. Leadership is and has been synonymous with giving direction. While we need both values in business there is a need to widen those paradigms to make each business more responsive to today's needs. In order to have more control we need to give up much of our control. Equally we need to give up much of the responsibility for leading the business. This is a tall order when what we are doing does not seem to be working as well as we would like it. The classic response is to try harder to have more control and equally to try and give even better leadership. Paradoxically the opposite may well be what the business needs or at least a different form of both approaches. What has changed? Management 100 years ago was invented to get people to do the same thing over and over in perfect replication and ever increasing efficiency. In that model human beings were an extension of a machine and paid not to think. It was our first attempt to create robots. People are now better educated, more inquisitive and open to change and consequently want more involvement and challenge. We also need to see that people -especially ourselves as leaders- are amazingly adaptable. People have adapted to live in the harshest conditions from the Eskimos to tribes living in the desert. In the recent past we have adapted to computers, mobile phones, the internet etc and we -leaders and employees- have the ability to adapt even more than we are doing to this form of management and leadership. How to do it As well as still needing to lead from the front we now also need to lead by following others. We need to facilitate our people to lead, manage and control the business. We need to create the conditions where people feel more in-control of their lives by linking what they do to the bottom line results the business needs. As well as being a mind-set change that employees are business partners, this is a gradual process of giving people the information they need to make up their own minds on what is needed to make the business more successful. It's moving from directing to more asking and informing. It's working more with the picture in other people's head's. This I term facilitative leadership. It means that instead of feeling responsible for solving problems, we share that problem with those around us. It means being more in touch with our vulnerability. We cannot do it all our selves. In many ways this new model of management and leadership is going to be much easier in that it will go more with the grain of what it means to be human. This approach will be very relieving of the stress that goes into managing a business. It goes to the heart of the cliché 'a problem shared is a problem halved' It is now accepted that we are less effective when we are under too much stress. Sharing the responsibility for the success of the business has a double whammy positive effect. It motivates and inspires employees and at the same time gives owners and managers the psychological and emotional air to become more creative, innovative and effective leaders. NEXT WEEK: Part 2. Kevin Fahey And Associates Ltd is a local company which supports medium and large companies to achieve measurable improvements in their business. Check out his blog at http://www.kfaheyandco.ie/index.php/blog/ He can be contacted at 090 6472974 or by email at info@kfaheyandco.ie