Shelter Chieza Change Management
The business world is awash with formulas and recipes of how to achieve success, how to make it to the top, how to get rich quickly (if there is anything like that).
So it got me thinking, what does it take to be successful in today’s business world, do we look at someone’s current position or their potential.
We all aim to get to the top but do we have the stamina to endure long hours and moments of pressure.
I have listened to the stories of some founder members who are leading some of the World’s most successful and most attribute their success to hard work and endurance.
There are hundreds of companies that have been and are still household names, which we can draw lessons from. I discovered that Harris Corporation, an American telecommunications company founded in 1895 found out that the traditional newspaper will face challenges from digitalisation and so management at the company took the decision to exit the sector and move to adjacent industries. Now it focuses on high tech electronics and communications solutions, delivering over $5 billion in annual revenue and creating jobs for 14 000 employees.
This success has been achieved over a long period of time. However, in the current environment most companies do not have a long-term vision as their strategic plans do not normally go beyond 2 years.
If we were to ask the Registrar of Companies about the average lifespan of companies in Zimbabwe, you will discover that some are formed to satisfy an urgent need or a tender process.
Those are the same companies that distort the level playing field, either they create unnecessary demand and inflation or lower their prices to such unimaginable levels to push out existing businesses that have set themselves up professionally. It’s truly worrying that such unfair competition prevails.
In America, it has been recorded that the average lifespan of S & P 500 companies has gone down from 60 to 18 years. That’s a huge reduction. For the few that are surviving, dozens and dozens more are folding up.
I read an interesting research by Sherill Horowtiz who said the most successful firms in the world recorded at least 10 percent growth in both profits and revenues, every year, for 10 years. Successful companies have come to the conclusion that success is not about mere customer satisfaction but about utterly delighting the right customer and choosing not to do business with the wrong customers.
I know of a couple of customers that we are doing business with at my company that I believe we should not be dealing with.
Having a lot of movement in your shop does not necessarily translate into increased business. I would rather have two customers walking into my shop per month that buy something rather than 100 that do not buy anything.
In successful companies, everyone thinks and acts like an owner. They know and talk of the value of the company, and they know the value they add. They are empowered to make decisions and compensated for the value they add.
The leaders see themselves as stewards. They share information freely, make themselves accessible and avoid artificial bureaucracy and barriers. They also do not seek publicity, and do not have an exit strategy, because they love what they do.
We are living in unpredictable and uncertain times in a global world where it is increasingly becoming difficult to focus simultaneously on meeting the demands of managing business and providing effective leadership to employees.
My opinion is that success has to do with sustainable survival. There are qualities of survival and leadership that distinguishes whether a company will survive.
When we slow down and think about what it means to be successful, endurance may be the ultimate solution. Next time you do a strategic planning session; consider what it takes to be big in 100 years, not just 100 days.
Till next week, may God richly bless you.
Shelter Chieza is an advisor in management issues. She can be contacted at shelter.chieza@gmail.com