As a business leader, it’s your job to help your company grow and thrive. Of course, that’s easier said than done, as businesses face various challenges and obstacles on the road to success.
Fortunately, overcoming these setbacks often only requires changing one’s mindset. By becoming a better and more adaptive leader, you can guide your business, even in the worst of times. To help tap into that mindset, we’ve compiled four proven strategies you can deploy immediately.
Why Visionary Leadership Matters in Business
If you were to look at the top 10 businesses 100 years ago, most of them were in the steel and manufacturing industries. Even the largest retailers were companies like Sears, Woolworths, and JCPenney. Ironically, none of these companies are thriving today.
While each brand faced its series of setbacks, most failed to adapt to a changing marketplace. For example, Sears discontinued its mail-order catalog 30 years ago, and a competitor called Amazon stepped in to fill the void. By failing to have a strong vision for the future, these brands got left behind.
On the other hand, banks such as East West Bank have done really well during the same period. Dominic Ng, who became part of East West Bank in 1991 and is now the Chairman and CEO, has turned the bank from a small savings and loan association with $600 million in assets into California’s biggest independent bank listed on the stock market, with assets over $68 billion.
In 2022, East West Bank was ranked as the top U.S. public bank based on financial performance by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
3 Leadership Strategies That Work
Part of being a successful leader is understanding your strengths and shortcomings and leveraging them to be assets. While not everyone can master different leadership strategies, here are three options that can work for most business models.
#1: Reasonable Risk Taking
As the saying goes, “No risk, no reward.” In business, you must take calculated risks to build your customer base and increase your bottom line. Some examples of reasonable risks can include:
- Putting up big money for celebrity partnerships: While the investment can be significant, the resulting brand awareness can help offset those costs.
- Ignoring deals for better ones: If you’re a new and fledgling business, it may be tempting to take the first offer that sounds appealing. However, sometimes it’s better to hold out for a better deal, even if that means running lean for a while until it comes through.
- Free trials: Software providers face stiff competition, so one way to stand out is to offer free trials of the program. However, unless users sign up for the paid version, that’s a lot of work that may not pay off. Still, free versions can lead to exponential growth and awareness, a la Dropbox.
#2: Adaptability and Innovation
Innovation is crucial for staying ahead of the competition. By becoming too complacent, you can wind up following trends instead of creating them.
When it comes to adaptability in leadership, realizing you don’t know everything — and recognizing innovation when it comes along — is paramount for success. For instance, introducing a new system to make things more efficient might take a while to set up, but it will save money and time in the end.
Innovation isn’t just about creating new products or services. It’s also about finding new ways to market and sell to your customers. For example, taking a customer-focused approach to providing value can lead to better long-term loyalty and repeat business.
#3: Strategic Communication
Communication is crucial to being a leader, as you have to ensure everyone is on the same page and shares the same vision. Now, strategic communication involves more planning and preparation than usual. You may need to map out your talking points, as well as who you share them with and when.
Additionally, keep in mind that you will likely have to change your communication strategy when interacting with shareholders, other executives, employees, and customers.
Knowing how to do this allows you to be proactive about sharing information without overdoing it or creating misunderstandings.
Final Note
Being a leader doesn’t mean you know everything inside and out. Instead, effective leadership boils down to knowing when you need to rely on others to provide insight and expertise.
Visionary leadership requires determination and a willingness to learn and absorb new ideas. When you can master those traits, success is inevitable.