In business, have you ever wanted to wave a magic wand and make all your problems go away?  I certainly have, on several occasions, but the miracle has never quite happened! So what’s the next best thing? 

 

In my experience, when facing any challenge it is to take a “Hamlet Moment”. For those of you with short memories or young lives, it refers to the Hamlet advert on TV some years ago. When all had gone catastrophically wrong, the ‘hero’ simply sits back, lights his Hamlet and the serene music of Air on a G string suggests that all will be well.

 

Now transpose that scene into modern business today - the hectic world of trading, selling, meeting deadlines, coping with staff problems, lack of opportunity to do all that you want to do…. and what is missing?  The answer is time - time to sit back and really think, objectively, about the future and where your business is going.

 

A mark of true leadership is the ability to recognise the moment when the odds are stacking up against your company and that even though you are trading successfully, you aren’t really going anywhere.  Does that matter?  For some, the response may well be no.  But for many companies, standing still will ultimately lead to failure, either because the staff get bored and go elsewhere or maybe because someone sees a business ripe for take-over and before you know it, you (the boss) are looking for new employment.

 

So how does one overcome this particular nightmare scenario?  The first thing is to take time out for that Hamlet Moment – and to think clearly, logically and objectively about where you are going and what you need to do to make the transformation.  Then formulate a plan.  It helps if you actually know where you are in relation to your market and where you want to go to.  Of course questions arise: “Have I sufficient money to finance my change programme?  Have I the people and the expertise internally?  If I go for outside help, where do I go? etc, etc.”  This is where SPS comes in.

                         

Once you’ve decided on the need for change, perhaps the biggest unanswered question will be: Do you the CEO/MD have the requisite leadership skills to lead your company down the potentially challenging and inevitably bumpy path to increased profitability?  Have you got the ability to get your staff to do what you want them to do because they want to do it?  There are techniques, taught by SPS, which will make CEO/MDs better leaders. But the main issue is the requirement to create a realistic and ‘implementable’ plan.  With the help of an SPS business mentor, the CEO/MD can be supported in achieving his/her goals and objectives throughout the whole process.  SPS will be your guide: helping you to know yourself better, create a vision for the future, write the Implementation Plan, ensure that your vision is well communicated, and help you build the necessary trust amongst colleagues to facilitate the change management plan.  And finally, ensuring that you take effective action to make it all happen, just as though you had waved that magic wand!