The People Problem: How to lead in a world of change

Sometimes you just want to take a mulligan today and we'll share with you what I believe is the biggest problem facing companies today. Last week I was a guest on a podcast and the host asked me a question that I really wish I could do over. It's too late for that. But after replaying it in my head over and over again, I would have answered this question differently.

He asked me, What is the biggest thing that entrepreneurs and business owners are facing today? I didn't have any time to think about it, so I quickly answered leadership. Bottom line, my thought on this is that leaders today are having a really hard time leading their companies and leading themselves. There are many reasons why to politics. Societal changes and disengaged employees with my do over.

The answer I would have given is the biggest problem facing companies today is people. I would have then expanded on the people because people make up our leaders. People make up our employees and people make up our customers. It's true. Leaders are walking on eggshells today. We don't know how to refer to people. We don't know what to say.

And we worry about getting canceled at any given moment. At the same time, our employees are becoming more disengaged by the day because they feel like they're not heard or seen by the employers. In addition to that, the economy is stressing them out. Their checks just don't go as far as they used to anymore. And then there are our customers.

Look, we are all customers. And from my personal point of view, customer service is going by the wayside. And as customers, we are getting really used to the easy button. It is very easy to order something on your cell phone and it be delivered to your door the next day. Companies that continue to play by the old rules and they don't listen to our people or our customers will continue to make choices that cause the customer service to reduce as well as the quality of our products to go down.

Ultimately, the customers get the short end of the stick and they don't go away like they used to.  Between customer complaints and bad reviews, our leaders are making decisions that put pressure on the employees, and it just becomes this vicious cycle that keeps getting worse and worse. So yeah, it's getting harder to lead, but it's mainly because leaders have not accepted that the world is changing and we as people are changing.

So what can we do about it? Back in the olden days when I used to play football, we would always have some point in the season where the coach gave us that. Back to the basics. Talk. It's about blocking and tackling, throwing and catching, kicking and running. As a business coach, I would tell you the same thing. We have to get back to the basics of business.

Our people are products and profit. If we start by focusing on our people, our products and profit have a way of working themselves out. Your people, your leaders, your managers and your front line employees will all come together as a team to help you resolve the profit and end product problems. If you need help with that, give me a call.  I'd love to help you solve those problems.

And remember, as you grow, your company grows.  Keep growing!