Checkers or Chess ?

How to tell a good manager from a bad manager? According to Marcus Buckingham ( management consultant and author of books such as; First, Break All The Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently and The One Thing You Need to Know...About Great Managing, Great Leading and Sustained Individual Success), there is a simple answer : Bad managers play checkers. Good managers play chess. The good manager knows that not all employees work the same way. They know if they are to achieve success, they must put their employees in a position where they will be able to use their strengths. "Great managers know they don't have 10 salespeople working for them. They know they have 10 individuals working for them .... A great manager is brilliant at spotting the unique differences that separate each person and then capitalizing on them."
This may sound elementary, but, according to Buckingham, “ a quick glance around the business world indicates that many companies have yet to grasp this simple concept of putting people's strengths to use,” meaning that the business world -- and the world at large -- is obsessed with weaknesses and finding ways to fix them.

The vital question here is ; where do I get the most benefits with the least effort, or to put it in business language how do I get the most return out of my investment , is it by working on strengths or mitigate weaknesses ?
According to Buckingham, the best managers share one talent -- the ability to find, and then capitalize upon, their employees' unique traits. "The guiding principle is, 'How can I take this person's talent and turn it into performance?' That's the only way success is possible." And yet not everyone has that knack, Buckingham states: “Truly inspiring business leaders, are rarer than many think “.

Quotes # 5

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”

John F. Kennedy, speech prepared for delivery in Dallas the day of his assassination, November 22, 1963

Strategy? Planning?Thinking? Long term ?

I see a major difference between conventional long term planning and Strategic planning as the first one is build on projection and extrapolation of data and experiences from the past, while Strategic planning builds on anticipated future trends and competitive assumptions. Conventional long term planning tends to be numbers driven, while on other hand Strategic planning is focusing on providing a clear organizational vision and is more qualitative rather than quantitative.

I am always ready to learn, but I do not always like being taught. "Sir Winston Churchill "

Quotes # 4

"Thoughts are the seed of action."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882)

What are the key elements of a strategic plan? (Part 2)

What is strategy after all? If You search for the term in google you will find 456.000.000 results.
In my opiniom one of the most comprehensive definition is the one provided by Arnoldo C. Hax and Nicolas S. Majluf :
"determines and reveals the organizational purpose in terms of long-term objectives, action programs, and resource allocation priorities;
selects the businesses the organization is in, or is to be in;
attempts to achieve a long-term sustainable advantage in each of its businesses by responding appropriately to the opportunities and threats in the firm's environment, and the strengths and weaknesses of the organization;
identifies the distinct managerial tasks at the corporate, business, and functional levels;
is a coherent, unifying, and integrative pattern of decisions;
defines the nature of the economic and non-economic contributions it intends to make to its stakeholders;
is an expression of the strategic intent of the organization;
is aimed at developing and nurturing the core competencies of the firm;
is a means for investing selectively in tangible and intangible resources to develop the capabilities that assure a sustainable competitive advantage."

What are the key elements of a strategic plan? (Part 1)

What happens if a manager wants to see beyond how his business is performing today?

Measures like; revenue, profitability, market share and customer satisfaction are only a Photograph of the actual position that company is in.
But those measures can not point us the path to the future, in a constantly changing business environment, the above measures only tell us how well / bad the business has performed in the past.
To overcome this situation creative leaders should focus on more than just documentation driven strategic planning, this process should be much more based on one to one conversations, listening to others opinions, be more motivational for everybody involved in the process, seeking voluntary commitment, it should contain strong creative elements instead of being just analysis driven, focusing on the big picture than rather on details.
Strategic planning should be mainly about setting a direction rather than segmenting and budgeting, it should be aligning and inspiring people rather than organizing and staffing.

Quotes # 3

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
Groucho Marx

Participation ( Part 1 )

An effective business strategy development, is a creative team process, that depends on a very high level of collaboration and participation among members throughout a business organization. The team responsible for implementing changes in their business unit should be involved in shaping and deciding the strategy from scratch.
To make the most of the workflow of expertise and ideas that other colleagues in their organizations possess, creative leaders need to stop from presenting their solution to a problem before others have had an opportunity to offer their own insights and thoughts.
Leaders must understand that the best options mean very little if different parts of the organization are not willing to cooperate to execute the decision.

Quotes # 2

"Coaching is unlocking a person's potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them..." -- Timothy Gallwey,

Leading versus Managing ( Part 4)

A leader inspires his followers by appealing to their common sense rather than resting on his formal authority.
A leader fosters hope rather than fear;
A leader says “we” rather than “I”;
He does "it" instead of talking about "it ";
A leader do not need to ask for respect, Followers willingly respect him.

What drives employees ? ( Part 1 )

J.W. Atkinson: “achievement is 50% ability and 50% drive”

To a certain degree each person has specific needs, drives and ambitions.
Once satisfied basic needs according to Maslow´s pyramid, there are some “extra” needs that enables employees to be ready to contribute above and beyond their call of duty.
Most of these needs , as well as aspirations and expectations are unexpressed and here is where a creative leader has to develop some kind of a detecting mechanism that enables him to better recognize and understand these “ extra wishes “.and aim to respond at them as we do in regards to satisfying our customers needs.
A first step could be not to brand people under a generic category of “employee”, but to treat them as human partners.
We must recon them as human beings with individual needs, drives, characteristics and aspirations.
Changing habits involves both knowing how (learning) and wanting to (motivation). It is important to see that learning is different from performing.
In terms of how far we get in life--how much we accomplish--motivation may be just as important if not more important than learning. A common barrier to accomplishing many goals in life is not wanting the goal enough to give it the necessary try, therefore it is vital to coach our “human” business partners by giving the necessary confidence boost providing them with sufficient quality time, energy attention, help advice, mentoring and support.

Farewell, Peter Drucker: A Tribute to a great visionary

"With the passing of Peter Drucker, the world has lost one of its intellectual giants," says Yoram (Jerry ) Wind , director of the SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management at Wharton.


"Management is so much more than exercising rank and privilege, it's so much more than 'making deals.' Management affects people and their lives, both in business and many other aspects as well. The practice of management deserves our utmost attention; it deserves to be studied."
Peter Drucker

This book brings competitive advantage under a new light.

Quotes # 1

Building a deep capacity for strategy innovation requires a company to imbue its employees with new passions, as well as new skills. It requires a never-ending effort to engage and capture the imagination of every single individual. It requires that top management surrender its monopoly on setting strategic direction. It requires a relentless quest to bring profoundly new benefits to customers. It requires allegiance to new financial measures that focus attention on the challenge of creating new wealth. It requires a relentless search for new business concepts. It requires the total absence of nostalgia for old business concepts. It requires a relentless attack on anything that inhibits innovation. It requires that companies encourage and celebrate activism at all levels. It requires companies to create vibrant internal markets for innovation, capital and talent. “Gary Hamel”

Leading versus Managing ( Part 3)

The vital issue when analysing the key differentiating points between leadership and management is the theory that employees willingly follow leaders because they want to, not because they have to.
A leader may not have the formal authority to reward good or to penalize poor performance , but followers provide leaders with real power by attending their requests.
Managers on the opposite side, may have to use their formal authority to get their reports to perform accordingly.
In modern companies the persons who are the key driver achieve authority through, and only through, their success.

Leading versus Managing ( Part 2)

Managers have to deal with complexity, they handle it, by bringing order into a situation and predicting its outcome. But, to succeed in times of uncertainty and turbulence, those tasks are no longer enough. Nowadays companies are desperately trying to adapt themselves to a rapidly and constantly changing business environment. To achieve this, managers have to learn how to manage change, or, how Professor John F. Kotter, Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership at Harvard Business School expressed; they have to lead change.
The question that managers facing change have to ask is:
What do I need most “ to develop more Leadership or more Managing skills ?
What are the crucial distinctive elements on both definitions?
1. Management involves planning and budgeting. Leadership involves setting a direction.
2. Management involves organizing and staffing. Leadership involves aligning and inspiring people.
3. Management provides control and problem solving skills. Leadership drives motivation.
The challenge is to know when to be a leader and when to be a manager,
Both skill sets—management and leadership—are needed to achieve organizational goals. Managers typically take care of the inner-workings of the business. They design systems, create rules and procedures and oversee daily operations.
Leading involves motivating and inspiring people, both directly or indirectly. Leaders are often seen as collaborative, visionary and tuned with the needs of their staff. Leaders have a high level of personal involvement in a company or project. They are able to set the tone with their behavior and attitude (leading by example) and influence decisions (credibility and power).
Sometimes, however, we must wear both hats , the one of a leader and the one of a manager . "we may be in a leadership position, but we still need to manage every day if we want to stay profitable and keep a our stakeholders satisfied.

Leading versus Managing ( Part 1)

Strategic Leaders provide their followers with general guidelines, just as The Prussian Marshal Helmuth von Moltke (1800 - 1891) did , by promoting directives to his officers rather than commands .
Moltke wanted to foster entrepreneurship among his ranks by motivating Prussian officers to practice autonomous decision making .
Great entrepreneurs create a corporate culture in which their vision, core values and business strategies are lived by employees who think independently.
In an Harvard Business Review article, Hans Hinterhuber and Wolfgang Popp translate Moltke's example into business terms. According to Moltke, strategy should mean; applied common sense and is a skill that cannot be taught.
Both authors suggest that good entrepreneurs and managers—as Moltke did with his generals--are born with the qualities that make them successful.
But, potential is not everything, like top athletes, in order to become a champion one has to constantly and continuously work and develop this natural ability.
Hinterhuber and Popp have created a questionnaire that can help potential strategic leaders to measure their own strategic management competence.

Here are the questions that can guide you trough your introspectional process and, hopefully, provide food for thought.
1. Do you have an entrepreneurial vision for your company and your business unit/department within it?
2. Do you have a clear sense of the corporate philosophy and the role that you play in it?
3. Do you feel your product, service or brand offers your customer a unique competitive advantage ?
4. Do the people who report to you use their ability to act independently in the company's best interest, without too much micromanaging on your part?
5. Does the department/business unit you manage reflect your own vision?
6. Do you involve your direct reports/followers in strategic planning?
7. Are the core values in your department/business unit compatible with these strategies?
8. Do you monitor the external competition closely and try to learn new things from them?
9. Do you feel that your success has been due to hard work rather than luck?
10. Are you trying to leave the world a better place than how you found it?

Be a Change Agent ( Part 2)

Leadership starts with ourselves, you were not born with (at least that is my theory) it is a skill that you develop overtime by learning from you mistakes, your habits and ultimately it is the showroom of your character.
It is your actions, your ethical behaviour your creativity, your beliefs that shape organizations.
Leadership is primarily a relationship between people and this relationship to be successful must be built on trust.
Trust is something that you foster and strengthen with time by living the values that you believe in.
The golden rule of leadership is providing the example by living what you preach,
Leading by doing what you mean.
Leadership based on mutual trust should be everyone’s business, and be applied not only to the financial world but also in our daily actions in our social and private environment.
Leadership is about the ability to motivate others to achieve common objectives.
If we want this world to become a better one, than leadership starts with ourselves we all take full responsibility for doing what we say we will do.
It is an important first step to reinstall credibility in our financial, political and social institutions.

Be a Change Agent ( Part 1)

Aligning business organizations to be successful in the present and keep on doing this in the future means to develop a new style of Leadership.
To celebrate success in our days a leader must be able to craft a strategic vision, define objectives, design, implement and monitor the execution of a strategy and be a change leader in those same organizations.
The success of these change initiatives depends largely on leadership and each leader’s ability to not only face change but to welcome it and facilitate it. In addition, leaders must ensure that those who work for them will not only accept the change but embrace it.
Most change initiatives focus on the operational and processing aspect.
What managers too often ignore is the human side – the humanistic aspect of change. Anyone who has ever attempted to implement a change of any kind has experienced some kind of resistance by people in the organizations.
Therefore it is vital to make the change project, their project as well as yours.
The only way to give people a sense of ownership is to involve them make them believe that this is primarily their project and that the expected outcome will benefit them in may ways.
To achieve this You have to take in consideration some basic rules:
2 way communication; it is important to listen to each others ideas and thoughts
To show respect: Everybody participating in a team must have respect for each other.
Treat others the same way You want others to treat You.
Involvement in the change process, make sure that everybody is able to participate with thoughts and ideas in most of the decisions that have to be taken.
Share best practices expertise and allow that everybody learn with each other, provide feedback, by ensuring that people are committed to the aims of the change process; be sure to pass around any favourable feedback. Communicate, send out emails - anything, just make sure that everybody hears the good news.
And last but not least; have fun. Team members should be able to have fun together. It can be amazing how productive a good laughter can be. It improves motivation, increases moral, team Spirit and performance.

The Power of vision ( Part 4)

The vision statement of an organization must be a shared vision. The purpose of the vision statement is, after all, to thrive for action and achieve results, not to have a nice piece of poetry . If a vision statement is to paint a vivid picture of how the future will look like, and impel for action, then the leader ,and others in management positions, must communicate it broadly, consistently, and continuously, until it becomes an integral part of the organization's culture and values . It takes every public and corporate opportunity, in speeches, management meetings, articles, and interviews, presentations, press releases to publicize this core message.
Vision, is not simply a matter of a written statement , but a constant roar , that should be echoing everywhere and on every occasion.
A vision statement is build up with words, that have a meaning , are understand by everybody in the organization and are backed up by action, beliefs, motivation and behaviours.

Current blog: Bizz, Books , Brain and Bites

The Power of vision ( Part 3 )

Entrepreneurship is not for everyone, it is most suited for a bunch of leaders who take the action in their hands, who have the vision, the dream and the will to get things started.
But the sustainability of such projects can only be achieved if those leaders have the ability to be surrounded by “ordinary” people, who are motivated, fuelled with team spirit and who are committed and embedded in those change projects.
High Motivational levels are hard to keep in the long term. It is directly linked to various internal factors like: good working environment, job satisfaction, wages, bosses behaviour, personal ambitions etc.
If we think of dealing with employees the same way we treat our friends when they are our guests at our home, than we will be in the right path .
Common sense recommends us to manage our business human relationships the same way we manage our private ones.
Treat each other with respect, independently of the business hierarchy , the same way you would like others to treat You.

The Power of Vision ( Part 2 )

If we talk about Innovation we should not be just thinking about new products or services, they are important but the vital aspect is to start looking at innovation as the awareness that a business model can have in it different variables ,and they all need to be constantly revisited and challenged. A company that is not dealing with new business concepts or looking for new business opportunities is probably planning only short term .
Managers who are serious when talking about innovation need to define it as a Core value that will require the same kind of focus , commitment, persistence, investment , motivation and high level of passion that they brought to their other projects , such as quality , reshaping customer service or restructuring logistics.
It is crucial that these managers realize that in the long term the most important question for a company is not what they are but what they are becoming.

The Power of vision ( Part 1 )

The development of a business strategy is driven by what a organization is trying to accomplish.
A mission statement answers the questions: Why does our organization exist? What business are we in? What values will guide us? Yet a vision is stronger, is more compelling . It tries to answer the following question : "What will success look like?" By following that image of success people get motivated and committed to work together as a Team and ultimately to reach their objectives.

Inspirational Power ( Part 6 )

Creative Leaders do have vision. They are able to share a dream and the direction that other people want to follow. True leadership vision goes beyond your written organizational mission statement and your vision statement. The vision of a leader is all over the workplace and is manifested in the actions, beliefs, values and goals of your organization’s staff.

Inspirational Power ( Part 5 )

A PARTICULARLY helpful way to support future leaders is through mentoring. A close relationship with a senior executive of proven leadership skill is likely to keep a young manager open and willing for growth. Mentoring , as I define it should be paired with a portion of warm , friendly positive proactive support which means that the mentor should free up an important time of his agenda to perform this task .

Inspirational Power ( Part 4 )

Creative Leaders value the individuals who follow them .Creative Leaders know they are the most important tools , and the origin of their success and the people with whom they are building their future.
They respect them as people. There is a special and personal bond between the Creative leader and each and every of their follower.
People are very perceptive about how sincerely a leader cares for them. Great leaders really do get to know deep enough each of their key followers - enough that people see it is for real and can be sure that they too have a bond with their leader.
Since great leaders value the individual, they set the followers up to win. They make sure they are well led at all levels. They give credits, recognition and empowerment and provide them with the best possible and available training programs and invest a great part of their time in properly assessing and mentoring the followers personal development paths.
Leaders bring out the best in their followers.
Great leaders have good interpersonal skills. They listen well and focus their attention on the person with whom they are speaking. They transmit confidence and the belief that the follower can accomplish the task. They are practical and not hung up on formal procedures.

Inspirational Power ( Part 3 )

The road to success is not paved with Leaders , actually they are hard to find. They exhibit a unique portion of charisma, the ability to craft and communicate a compelling vision and deep rooted character traits that attract people to follow them.
There is a need to attract followers.
To follow, people must feel confidence in the direction in which the leader is heading. They are enabled and empowered to do their part in accomplishing previous defined objectives.
Further, leaders people wishes to follow, are accountable and trustworthy.

· Be the person others choose to follow.
· Paint a vision scenario that others want to follow
· Be a source of inspirations to your followers
· Show respect ,make other people feel important and appreciated.
· Live your values. Behave ethically.
· Set the pace through your expectations and lead by example.
· Develop a change environment that permits continuous improvement.
· Develop others, provide opportunities for people to grow, both personally and professionally.
· Show empathy towards your peers, care and act with compassion.

Inspirational Power ( Part 2 )

Time management is absolute crucial nowadays where business decisions have to be taken often at the speed of light, leaders have to find spare time to prioritize their actions , and time , well time is the scarciest of all resources.
Leadership should be about developing the ability to inspire people to reach high levels of performance and success .
Being able to dream a vision , having the passion to communicate that vision and concentrating the attention at key strategies , listening ,coaching, mentoring being an inspiration for others while managing the change culture of your organization. This are the skills and competencies that leaders clearly need to focus on..
To achieve this you have to free up time, which, actually seems to be a paradigm in current days.
So how can we best cope with this situation?
Managers who get caught in the trap of apparent excessive workload become prisoners of their routines.
John Lubbock the great English Anthropologist once stated that:
“In absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia."
Managers, who do fall in that trap, rarely have time to spot opportunities. Their daily work routine prevents them from taking the first necessary step towards being a Strategic Leader; Developing the capacity to craft an idea and transforming it into reality.
Most cases of apparent excessive workload are originated not from managers' actual work situations but from how they cope with those same situations.
First of all You have to believe that You are not unbearable.
So why don´t You try and delegate more.
If Yo feel being trapped in apparent excessive workload this is so, because most managers are not able to influence the flow of those demands. It is a question of reacting instead of acting
Managers that take demands for granted and simply respond to them, rarely challenge themselves about the meaning these demands actually have , and if they really make sense or whether one could or should transform them. By being always "under fire," people never find time to ask themselves the vital Leadership question: "Am I busy performing the right actions ?"
We really need to frequently challenge ourselves about the usefulness for the business of some tasks we are performing.
And how can we best monitor the level of importance for the organization that a specific request is having ?
Well here are 6 Questions that helped me to prioritize projects troughout my working carrer. The answering of these questions helped me in evaluating the degree of priority for a specific demand or project.

— "What economic benefit will this action bring for the company ?
— "Is this action aligned with the company's Vision and mission statement ?"
— does it fit in the global startegy the company or department is persuing ?
— "How will it satisfy stakeholders?" How important is it to your boss, your team, and other interested parties?
— "What is my level of passion, skills , and energy for it?" If you can't bring all three to the table, if you're not going to achieve a high return on your efforts.
— "Do we have the resources?" Is there sufficient time, money, and any other necessary resources to accomplish this goal?

That should be one of the criteria that identifies a leader, the ability to question routines ?
The simple fact is that being busy is easier than not. Most managers cannot admit that a fragmented day is actually the laziest day, the day that requires the least mental discipline and the most nervous energy. A higher level of adrenaline gives us the perception that we are fully occupied and busy as time is passing by
It is basically a question of being entertained, and most people, we have to admit it, feel more comfortable not having to think about the usefulness of some tasks.
Answering to each new demand, providing an answer to the latest request , and complaining about excessive workload is easier than setting priorities, or reflecting about their relevance for the organization.
It makes us occupied and people like that status , being the center of attention, where people constantly ask them for assistance , information, or advice if the pack is moving in one directions Strategic Leaders need to stop and ask themselves: Why are they (we ) doing this ?


Strategic leaders deal in a different manners with requests and demands than their busy manager colleagues do. They need time to think and reflect. They look cool and relaxed giving the impression of being fully in control of the situation. Rather than simply responding to any issue that gets thrown at them, they handle their demands by :

-Designing a road map of how and when they want to achieve what in their jobs:


1.). For example, rather than keeping general goals in mind such as "sales increase " or "excellent customer service," , that are no better than wishfull thinking , they try to paint a general picture of how this objectives can be achieved, a vivid mental representation of your objectives that includes ways to achieve them. While reacting to demands can be distracting, the kind of personal road map that one needs to create should produce an up- side down effect: It allows you to allign short term actions with the long term strategy , so that You can immediately point out Your short term priorities and relate them with YOUR vision and longer term planning.
Such an approach is much more motivational and should produce better results as simply responding and reacting to demands and requests.
(integrate the diverse, loosely related goals for your short- and long-term responsibilities into one broad master plan. You can, therefore, relate immediate and short-term priorities with Your long-term purpose—which is ultimately much more inspiring than merely responding to demands.)


2.) All managers have to cope, to some extent , with more formal procedures and routine praised requirements—such as attending specific committee meetings and participating in certain events or functions). But many demands that you might accept for granted are not always necessary or even avoidable, sometimes You do have the choice to not being involved, You can do that by delegating , or simply turning the invitation down.
Strategic Leadership , by contrast, means that you take a closer look at what you choose to do or not do. That way, you create space for actions that are vital for the organization rather than executing tasks you like or find most familiar or easy.
It is important that You leave Your comfort zone and try to get used to more unfamiliar tasks. It is therefore important that you as a Strategic leader develop your change management skills and competencies. Set priorities among your tasks, aligning your activities with your Road Map.

Clearly defined priorities based on each task's urgency and significance.

3.)
Practicing Time management also means monitoring the daily time we spent interacting with others.
Reacting blindly and instantly to any demands that pops in is extremely time consuming and even exhausting as this means long lasting face to face discussions, telephone calls , etc.
This is one of the main reasons why people complain about the multiple interruptions they face during a regular working day.
Management is mostly about Team work , which means that a Strategic Leader must learn when, how and for how long one is available to spent time with his direct reports.
We often spend more time then really needed with our direct reports, often because we want others to consider us a caring good boss by being uninterruptedly available.
It is important that you provide them the feeling that YOU ARE THERE TO HELP THEM , ADVISE THEM , TO HEAR THEIR NEEDS AND SHARE THEI Concerns, but this should not be at any time , any place and any time .
Try to explain them that they have certain hours where Your door should be open for them , or if this is physically not possible due to space arrangements ( Open space offices ), then try to get some reserved , restricted time for You to reflect and analyze.

4.) There are managers out there , that constantly worry whether they are meeting others' expectations. They want to come under a good light at the group picture, by Trying to please everybody, these managers tend to get absorbed in speculations about what others expect, about the best way to meet those expectations, and the impact of not meeting them. The end result is that these managers fail, because in the quest of trying to please everybody they usually end up pleasing no one and ultimately do not find free time for following their one agenda.
Strategic Leaders, are aware that they can not meet every-ones expectations, instead they focus on their key stakeholders because these managers have the sensibility to know the influence these stakeholders have their capability of achieving their objectives.
Giving a strong and honest commitment to these key people implies having to say no to most of the less relevant ones.
The biggest advantage of this strategy is that by focusing on these strategic stakeholders You can actively shape your actions according to the demands of these persons, and ideally will be to combine this strategy with being proactive. To play on anticipation. .( the attack is the best defense ), action is better than reaction, Strategic Leaders present their own visions, projects and objectives before Their Key Stakeholders come across and present their demands.
This is a form of tailoring to your personal goals others expectations. Rather than arbitrarily building a relationship network with many individuals ,Strategic Leaders , opposed to what most managers do, deliberately focus their time and effort on building strong and close ties with people who can influence the achievement of their objectives .
This is a long term strategy that is based on the build up of a solid long term relationships, and Strategic Leaders spend a lot of time developing their personal networks
While such a form of building relationships might somehow be seen as a manipulative approach, it will , at the end , not work out without a huge portion of true warmth, respect, and, even some friendship.

Inspirational Power ( Part 1 ) … by Henrique Plöger Abreu

Probably, the greatest challenge to management in the next five Years will be to change quick and fast enough, in order to keep pace with new technologies, new markets and new corporate values
Information technology has already changed the business world.
Despite being at the eve of this change process, the impact will be much higher in the near future that what we have seen so far.
It will affect the way companies approach business how they will change society and even affect the rules of the game.
The result of this evolution is that business companies and their leaders must be more flexible in the way they will handle change management, meaning that strategic leaders will have be more flexible in dealing with complexity.

Customer focus has nowadays become a cliché among companies keen to win competitive advantage. But this issue deserves to be taken very seriously, as it disguises a shift from brand recognition to customer recognition. . Every business competing for a leadership role in the market they are operating is customer driven, customer focused, customer related, so what is new?
A new form of interacting with our customers, what I call an, “Intelligent Communication ”, should be the strategy to follow;
It helps if a manager has a sales background paired with good oral and written communication skills, but a dialogue consists in a interaction between 2 persons, in a typical business scenario between buyer and seller, and to have a dialogue one should also develop the ability to proper listen to people.
This ability, is, in my opinion, the key skill for success.
Managers generally like to hear themselves, but how can we develop a deep knowledge of our customer needs if we do not take proper time, focus and energy on really actively listen to what they have to say.
By doing this, You will become a better listeners and a more critical and creative thinker.
These are the basic elements of what I consider to be an intelligent dialog with customers
Managers daily face an endless exchange of ideas, messages, and information by dealing with their internal and external network day after day. How well they communicate can help determine whether their companies quickly grow into an industry leader or joins thousands of other businesses stranded in mediocrity.
Managers should, therefore, develop a deep understanding about what their customers wants and needs are, about meeting their expectations and key requirements, and ultimately, this focus should be the source of all the inspiration.
It is becoming more and more important to demonstrate your understanding of customers and your ability to build trust and loyalty with them.
Make sure that you have THE right story to tell to Your customers, as we are entering the “Age of the storyteller ” where the biggest challenge facing companies is how to tell, communicate their story in the most compelling, consistent and credible way possible.
Business is comparable to art, it should be seen as a stage, where every sell is a performance and where the customers will meet new selling experiences, will feel motivated and engage to interact with the seller and the desirable result of such an interaction should always be a win-win situation.
Basically companies are what they charge for, by competing solely on a price basis those same companies have been commoditized providing their customers the perception of little or no differentiation to the competition, and adding little value to their offers, be it a product a system or a service
The challenge for a modern business organisation should be to move to a situation where the customer starts buying from you rather than being sold to . . .
Business as usual is no longer a recipe for success.
Business relationship should be practiced as an act of friendship, rather than merely been seen as a simple process of negotiation. It is about connecting sincerely with people in, a profitable way, but caring for there needs, wishes, and not merely persuading or manipulating them to buy.
If we want to practice value based management, than we should realize that the value of product ranges and brands no longer lies just in their capacity to deliver better margins, but in their ability to develop business relationships which deliver the vital assets and resources that make the difference between perishing and prospering.
Therefore, and in order to stay current and close with our customers we should focus on the R of CRM and create a new form of selling “relationship ”.