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
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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