Critical Leadership Priorities in Challenging Times - Creating a Positive Path

The pillars of great leadership are needed now more than ever; the economic challenges many businesses are facing demand strong people leadership that is focused, strategic and ambitious. You need to be clear and confident about the direction you are going in and how you intend to get there. It is critical that this is understood and supported by every member of your team.

Now is not the time to retreat to conservative or fear based approaches to leading an organisation. As many choose to focus on aggressive cost cutting driven by uncertainty, hesitation and nervousness, now is the time to get ahead of your competition and focus on leveraging the full potential of your team. Getting the balance right between risk management and ambitious strategies will be an important determinant of success through these times and in more prosperous years to come.

When the economic climate improves organisations who have found the way to continue to invest in critical projects, make difficult but brave decisions, avoid the restrictive and potentially suffocating effects of unbalanced risk aversion and continued to invest in their teams will be well positioned to harvest the new opportunities that present.

Now is the time to work closely with your team and focus on getting the very best from each person and the team as a whole. Focus on tapping into discretionary effort that is given when someone feels a sense of personal ownership of their role and your organisation. You need every member of your team to be ambitious about what they expect to achieve and what they are prepared to do to get there. This commitment and determination cannot be achieved if they don't trust the leaders of the business or feel uncertain about their future. You need to inspire and coach them and earn their trust every day in the way you make decisions and determine priorities.

Belief in your ability to not only respond to the challenges in front of you but prosper in the face of adversity is critical if you expect your team to have the trust, loyalty, energy, and persistence it will take to succeed. It is every leader's role to inspire this confidence and determination and to leverage the passion and commitment of your team. Expect and guide leaders in your organisation to do this through their actions, decisions and expectations. Look at your organisations culture and ensure what you see are positive attitudes, enthusiasm and resolve from every team and individual.

Be upfront and honest about what you're thinking and doing. Honest, positive, frequent and meaningful communication is a vital part of keeping close to your team and helping them to understand and ‘buy in' to your decisions and priorities. Focus on accountability by setting clear expectations, actively managing performance and dealing with issues. Balancing your appraisal of what people achieve as well as how they go about it is an important way of reinforcing positive behaviours that are vital during difficult times. Remember, recognition and positive feedback go a long way to helping your staff feel valued and maximizing their contribution to your business.

Innovation and creativity are important abilities at any time, but especially when challenges are harder to over come and growth is more difficult to achieve. Harvest your team's ideas - ask them what they think and provide the forums and environment that encourage open and creative thinking. No idea should be considered a bad idea, just another thought or perspective that could lead to the key to overcoming barriers and achieving results.

Understand the long term impacts of decisions you make now. Consider the long term impacts on the culture of your organisation or commitment of your team; understand the potential intellectual capital loss and longer term consequences for the stability of your business.

In summary, don't let the challenges of the current economic crisis distract you from effective leadership approaches and business decision making. Focus on the strengths of your leadership and ability for your team to succeed in realizing their full potential and achieving your organisations goals.