Is Your Business Playing Catch-Up?

by James Canada

One of my favorite sayings is “If you’re not moving ahead, you’re falling behind.” This applies to every business, no matter the size. If we continue to work the way we always have, we risk sabotaging our own success.

Organizations that are constantly improving will eventually provide a better or more innovative product or service and take the lead.

The historic examples are Kodak and Blockbuster. By resting on their laurels, they lost their market share in the emerging digital world.

Is your business moving ahead or playing catch-up?

As business leaders, we have to focus constantly on the edge of change and improvement to keep our organizations moving forward. We have to walk the fine line between being a risk taker and maintaining our strategic plan. Very often we have to step out of our comfort zone as we make the tough decisions.
Stepping out of our comfort zone may mean giving up the old management style of micromanaging our employees and/or our business partners. A high turnover rate is actual proof of this old management style. Good leadership means being receptive and allowing people the freedom to explore. Skilled leaders place the emphasis on learning from mistakes and not repeating them. My experience shows that if we’re not making mistakes, we’re not doing enough.

If we allow our employees to assist in the development and communication processes, we create an educated workforce and a culture of engagement. Revisiting the strategic plan on a regular collaborative basis not only helps us track progress and celebrate wins but also provides opportunities for innovative thinking, new direction and expanding the horizon.
The quality of our leadership determines whether we stay ahead in the marketplace.

James H. Canada is managing partner/CEO of Alliance Technologies LLC and author of “Corporate to Entrepreneur: Strategies for Success.” Contact Jim at james.canada@alliancetechnologiesllc.com, 636-734-2337 or www.alliancetechnologiesllc.com.