Nov
11
Coming out of recession? The shape of the winner is?
Daily dispatches from the business press, the BBC and the like are pushing us all towards the seemigly unavoidable conclusion that the landscape of the recovery is to be unlike any other we have known. John Major’s sunny weather report of green shoots in the Spring seems now to have as much nostalgic appeal as a Hovis advert. Ah the good old days of the nineties recessions……..
So it’s now tough and getting tougher. Spring roots are moot yet a Winter of discontent might yet be grumbling. The macro is for others to wring hands over – we have to respond to conditions as we find them. For some time now I have been working with directors to devise tactics in repsonse to the tough times. Here I suggest an overall strategic view………….
Boards – get focused on two inter-related things, they are: Value and Values.
Value in terms of what you are “worth” in marketplace terms, value in products and services, value in terms of the balance sheet and value analysis rather than cost analysis.
Values in terms of what you stand for or what you want to be renowned for. This applies for customers and marketplaces and for your people.
These two inter-related points are then applied in Financial Disciplines, Marketplace Offerings, Customer Relationships and Leadership and Culture.
How to apply these is what I have been engaged on of late across the boardrooms I work in. Green shoots and developments are happening. Talk to me about the specifics for your business and let’s get focused, get out there and get on with it. Spring can’t come quickly enough.
Last night’s Scottish Plant Owners Dinner provided me with a forum to share my views. A great bunch of resilient, doughty fighters against the forces of darkness (the Banks) as they are, they are out there at the sharp(est) end of industry – selling assets and people to produce and create, with a good number looking for respite or at the very least “give us a break!” Maybe that’s why their secretary Steven Mulholland of MPS introduced me saying that I would talk about coming out of the recession and the shape of the winter. Don’t worry Steven I enjoyed the talk aound the table and it won’t be too long until the longest night is over!
