A Great Time to be “Leader Watching”

Recently, I was sitting in the food court at the King of Prussia Mall. I’ve become quite accustomed to this; it’s what I do while my wife and daughter do what they do: shop. I had my laptop open and Starbucks beverage at the ready. I was working through emails, doing some reading, and, okay, I admit, I was also people watching.

C’mon, we all do it.

Here’s a question for you:

Is people watching a transferrable business skill?

It might be. I’d call it “leader watching.”

Over the years, I’ve learned so much by watching the leaders around me, the leaders I’ve worked for, the leaders I’ve read about. 

This past year has provided a learning bonanza. For marketing leaders and business leaders in general, the Great Recession has been the true test. It will likely go down as the biggest crisis of our careers. Watching leaders perform in these conditions is an opportunity – an opportunity to learn from each other.

I made a list of some of the top-of-mind things I’ve observed from leaders who are successfully guiding their organizations through this environment:

Protect what you have. Today, strong leaders are focused on taking care of loyal customers. It’s their number one priority. Leaders are bending over backwards to protect their existing base, and ratcheting back on expenses that are not directly related to customer retention.

I was recently reading a Business Week article about John Donahoe, the CEO at eBay. He calls customer focus, “servant leadership.” He always thinks of eBay’s customers first. The companies and entrepreneurs who sell goods on the site are the lifeblood of eBay. Donahoe talks about a chain of command where the CEO must deliver what customers need. He has tied manager compensation to customer loyalty. He expects the leaders of his organization to be focused on serving the customer each and every day.

Be great at the basics. Prioritization and focus are not the business skills that grab the headlines, but they’re getting leadership attention right now.  Leaders are focusing on the fundamentals:  deliver a solid, core product offering—the products that provide the greatest value to the customer and give the organization the greatest opportunity for retention and growth. They’re backing products with a great service experience – and they’re getting rid of or scaling back anything that falls outside of these priorities.

Set the tone – Be proactive and decisive.  I’ve been watching this one for years, but it’s never been more important. The leader who brings discipline and a sense of urgency to the business each day, sets the path, sets a tempo, that everyone will follow.

Have “leadership nerve.” I understand that, for a leader who is dealing with a cash-strapped organization and bleak forecasts, it’s easy to be paralyzed by what is happening. But I think some leaders just have a different mindset. They have “leadership nerve.” There’s an extra dose of competitiveness, confidence, and knowledge embedded in their DNA. They have the ability to quickly analyze a situation, connect the dots and come up with a few new ideas – ideas that bring new potential to the business, ideas that separate their organizations from the competition and build advantage that is sustainable, for the long term.

The best example that immediately comes to mind actually goes back beyond the current recession, but if you’re an Apple Evangelist, you will love this one: How ‘bout Steve Jobs? Apple launched the iPod six weeks after the September 11th terrorist attacks. Now that took major leadership nerve. It wasn’t exactly the ideal time to be launching a segment-creating, nice-to- have, new technology.

Rock the boat. Everything is on the table right now. Nothing is “off limits.” Strong leaders are willing to consider a different approach, and they’re less concerned with internal sensitivities. It’s not a popularity contest. They’re doing what they think is right for the business, and they’re resisting attacks from those who prefer the status quo. If ever there was a time when key stakeholders are willing to consider significant changes, now is that time.

Several of our clients are “rocking the boat” – and I’ve been impressed. They’re pushing hard for new and bigger ideas or small “wrinkles” that could be game changers. They’re looking for fresh perspectives that will help them make waves in the market place – in a smart, strategic way.

Establish a cohesive culture. There’s less tolerance for silos in organizations today. You may have people who are focused on their individual business units and their own regions in your organization, but I sense that more leaders are having none of that. The goal is to “think as one.”

Make time for your personal health and perspective. It’s easy to write this, not as easy to do it. But, I think the leaders who have been doing fine over the past year are the ones who have perspective. They talk to colleagues about life, about work, about careers. They haven’t lost touch with what’s happening beyond work, and they have relationships outside of work. I think this is more important now than it has been in the past. Just look around. When a leader begins to unravel, employees feel it. They sense it, and it creates a spiral that leads to more fear and more stress across the entire organization.

The challenge – and opportunity – for all of us as leaders is to help our organizations emerge from the recession with a stronger connection to our customers, with more passion and creativity from our employees and with greater space between our organization and our competitors.

Are you seeing these leadership attributes in play? Can you share some examples? Have you observed other leadership skills that are enabling success during the recession?