One thing that differentiates leaders from everyone else is their ability to look beyond today’s challenges and set a positive tone for future success. This is not just putting a positive spin on gloomy news – this is seeing the possibility of future success and leading people there.
Windsor has seen its share of ups and downs related to the auto industry, and Windsor has many strengths in terms of skilled workers and manufacturing know how.
There are approximately 100,000 people in the workforce in and around Windsor and even with a 9.7% unemployment rate, there are still 90,300 people earning a living. These people are customers for businesses, so if you own or manage a business, you need to be motivating your staff to not only survive but thrive. In fact given that the normal unemployment rate is 6%, it means that we have about 3700 people not working currently who would like to be.
As leaders can you use challenging times to motivate your employees to do even more to succeed. It is normal for people to focus on the negative – a leader needs to look beyond the hood of the car and the potholes of today – towards the horizons of tomorrow.
It may be that because of business conditions, some other companies may need to downsize slightly. Many managers and business owners will acknowledge that scaling your business down should be done sooner rather than later. And while that may strike people as painful and uncaring, the business needs to survive in order to grow.
The key is vision and communication. The leader needs to point out that if the organization focuses on doing the little things well, it can achieve even greater success in the future.
Get your people together – acknowledge that things are tough and use it as a rallying point. For example if you are in the hospitality business, your team needs to bring joy to customers to distract them from the reality of life. And by being fun and positive, customers will be more attracted to your business.
If your business is going through tough times, then you will need to make some difficult decisions in the short term – take action and then focus the people you have left on getting more business, being creative and innovative.
Be sure to highlight every positive occurrance and celebrate every success.
For those managers who want to take on the challenges and become great leaders, they should join us at the Exceptional Leadership Seminar on March 1st at the Caboto Club. To register, use the link below or give me a call at 866-700-9043.
http://www.LeadershipWizard.com/seminar.htm
