Fires, floods, now pestilence with Covid-19. We live in an age of disruption. So it’s not a case of if, but a case of when something unforeseen will come up. Your job is to be aware of what could happen. In other words sleep with one eye open.
My name’s Rashid Kotwal.
On a national level what strikes me is a failure of leadership. Of looking forward to what could be around the corner.
We’ve had major virus scares like SARS before. So why are we not prepared better? Why is this coming as such a shock? Why isn’t there better leadership, planning and coherent communication? Why haven’t we learned from what other countries are doing or not doing?
All this applies equally to you as a business leader.
You’ve set your business strategy. Got your plans in motion. But how much effort have you put into thinking about what could disrupt you?
It could be as simple as a key employee leaving. Or internal fraud. All the way to seismic shifts in your industry like an Uber or Airbnb.
Take Covid-19 which is decimating the travel industry. A member of our mastermind group who provides IT services to hotels worldwide estimates he’s already lost one million dollars since the outbreak due to hotels wanting to cancel his services.
He’s now rapidly diversifying into other industries.
As a leader it’s your job to dream big and set the direction. To put in realistic plans to accomplish them. But equally important, you must be critical as well. What could go wrong.
Then look for ways to mitigate this. Look outside your own industry. How are others handling these sorts of risks. Learning from other people’s experience is often far cheaper.
Then put risk mitigation plans into place. And while you can’t foresee everything, having a methodology to handle events will go a long way to having you survive.
Having said all this, in our experience it’s often very difficult to step outside your business to see what might be coming around the corner. An outsider looking in sees what you may be missing.
Having worked with leaders in over 55 different industries determine strategy and risk, my partner Barbara Sauter and I can cast a critical eye over your strategy and point out where you might be at risk so you can put mitigation plans into action.
Message me if you’d like more details.
Until then, remember to sleep with one eye open.
This is Rashid Kotwal.
