Leaders lead. It’s that simple. When given the opportunity to lead or follow,
they will always lead. But what sets a
good leader apart is their ability to watch and recognize pattern shifts. Great leaders watch patterns and make
adjustments based on those patterns.
Here are three areas that every
great leader patrols to insure their company’s success:
1. Market:
What is your market doing? What are your potential clients doing? What are your competitors doing? Are you on their email and mailing list? If
not, why not? Shouldn't you know what your clients are being told? Are you
getting a lot of repeat business or referrals? If not, why not? Do you have a systematic market survey that
you send to clients? Are you connecting with them when you’re not trying to
sell them something? You want to occupy
prime real estate in their heads. What
about unhappy clients? Unhappy clients
are a gold mine because you have nothing to lose and a wealth of information to
gain.
2.
Industry:
What is your industry doing? What has it done in the past and what direction is
it heading? If you’re in book publishing business and you’re not in eBook
publishing perhaps you should study your industry’s patterns of growth and
change. Is your industry at the
beginning of its life cycle or at the end?
If it’s at the end, how are you adapting to be relevant and innovative? Look up Western Union’s rich history, 160+
years in business shows they know how to reinvent and reinvent and reinvent.
3. Your Company: Here’s the one I believe average leaders miss
but great leaders almost never miss. Has
the team’s dynamic changed at all? Sometimes
leaders are so busy leading that they forget to look and see who’s following,
who’s fallen behind, who’s no longer making the grade and who’s emerging as a
leader of the pack. When was the last time you ran a “systems check”? Not the
annual performance evaluation tune-up, the check the brakes and the oil and the
air filter systems check. What’s going
on with the leaders you lead? Are they challenged enough? Is their work load to
light or too heavy? I frequently ask our teams, does anyone have any cares,
questions, concerns or complaints? Remember,
it’s never a problem until it’s a problem.
Seanlai M. Cochrane is the CEO of Divirsus™, a multi-million
dollar national provider of professional construction services. Ms. Cochrane's service to Divirsus™ led to
the company being recognized by several trade groups as well as in the illustrious Inc.500/5000 list ranking
884 overall, #27 in construction companies, and #5 in Oklahoma Companies. As a
professional speaker Ms. Cochrane speaks to and consults with business leaders
and entrepreneurs. @SeanlaiC
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