ACE Magazine: Issue 2 / 2016 ACE Magazine: Issue 2 / 2016 | Page 38

ASEAN COMMUNITY OF ENTREPRENEURS BUSINESS DRIVEN LEADERSHIP Leadership In Challenging Times BY DR VICTOR S.L. TAN T here is a saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going” During challenging times, leaders need to bite the bullet and confront the real issues instead of being wishy-washy with lots of double talk. Here are some key actions leaders can take: 1 Maintain Competitiveness Without Reducing Price: In a downturn where sales are decreasing, it is all too easy to succumb to reducing prices of products and services. It is better to find out what is truly dissatisfying our customers and to provide them with what they value most. Often on closer scrutiny, other non-price factors such as convenience, level of service, suitability of products and speedy response to customer complaints are more important than just price. Reducing price obviates the need to improve. People will no longer explore new ways to differentiate their products or services. It is such complacency that will eventually lead to a company’s downfall. 2 Engage Staff in Resolving Real Issues: The role of the leader is not to 36 provide all the solutions to their staff. Enough damage has been done in school where teachers think for their students and spoon feed them. The more leaders get their people to think for themselves and come up with their right solutions, the more effective their leadership is. This makes perfect sense as it is not possible for a leader to be aware of all the actual happenings in the workplace. By engaging employees to address the real issues, they will also develop more commitment and a sense of belonging which by themselves have that intrinsic motivation for them to perform better. 3 Set High Standards: Nothing breeds complacency faster than low goals and expectations. All too often leaders like to rationalise that the company is not doing too badly compared to others. Others rationalise that they have done relatively well considering how far they have come. They would argue that given the tough challenges in the industry and the economy, the company is doing pretty well. Michelangelo, the multi-talented Italian painter, architect, sculptor and poet, said it best, “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our ASEAN COMMUNITY OF ENTREPRENEURS | ISSUE 2 : 2016 aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark”. For that will certainly drive us to become totally complacent. 4 Monitor Progress Regularly: One supervisor learned the hard way. To build a “more trusting environment”, he decided to get rid of the weekly output progress meeting and allow each individual to monitor his or her