Jensen Consulting Blog

August 12, 2011
Written By: Pete Petersen

Once again we are back to market inflicted economic uncertainty.

It is distracting and unnerving. Voices run through business leader, employee and customer heads asking: “What’s next? What happens to our businesses if this continues?”

The facts are few of us have any control of the market, but leaders can control how they run their business and where they put their energy. Based on our experience business leaders who win in uncertain times stay the course and focus on execution. Specifically, they:

1. Limit their consumption of news … it may or may not be true and limit their discussion of the economy to people who offer perspective and insight not more uncertainty.
2. Communicate clearly to their leadership team that performance expectations and accountabilities have not changed … no excuses accepted.
3. Absolutely ensure that the customer sales and service experience is better than ever … customers are getting their own dose of deflating news elsewhere.
4. Reassure employees and owners that the market is cyclical, we’ve been through this before, we are smarter than before and we will get through this again.
5. Keep their marketplace surveillance at high levels watching for any disruptions with customers or the supply chain.
6. Make prudent business adjustments based on facts and not emotion.

As a leader you have a choice.  You can stay the course and focus on execution, or you can let the market and the media control your focus, performance and direction.  Making the choice to stay the course is easy; having the discipline to stick with it is not. 

But when has winning ever been easy?