Who knows what 2017 will bring? Certainly if 2016 is anything to go by it will be full of surprises; after all who at this time last year predicted the extent to which electors across the world were prepared to vote for the chance of change.
With that in mind, whilst it’s fair to say that the Brexit and Donald Trump effects will continue to have repercussions across business and politics in 2017, it would be a brave commentator who predicted that in other areas the status quo would remain. Is this cause for panic or retrenchment?
Well no, but it does create a challenge for those at the top of business. Quite simply, it is now time to step up and be prepared to lead through a time of change. When the marketplace is uncertain it is all too easy to up the levels of control, to micromanage in an attempt to create a measure of certainty in an uncertain world.
But the true winners will be those who have built an organisation which is agile, which delivers great products and services in response to customer needs and which looks towards customer excellence. And what an organisation such as this requires is not micromanaging but empowerment; inspiring and encouraging and enabling your people to act and react in response to changing market conditions. It’s not quite true that when the business pond is still anyone can lead but it is true that when the waters are stirred is when true leaders come to the fore.
