Today’s businesses are dynamic; they live amidst uncertainties and high levels of competition. They need their employees and partners to be agile to address the stated as well as the latent needs of the customers. At the same time, they have to discover new segments and virgin territories altogether. It is quite a challenge to gear up all the time! Else, one has to give in and be amongst the cohort of also-ran and insignificant-many.
People are ambitious and aspiring to make progress in their lives in terms of their position in society, financial wealth and social impact they create. Besides the efforts of an organisation to keep its workforce relevant and ahead of many others in the race, an individual has to consciously put the efforts to make things work for him or her. If one chooses to be laid-back, one misses the opportunities of taking on new challenges and sharpening one’s saws, one has to give in and lead a life on the sideline away from the spotlight. How can we get the best out of ourselves?
Love the purpose
All of us have an inner voice that draws us to a certain kind of work and life. We have to tune into the inner voice or the preference that stems from within. More often than not, one is unclear about it or has not thought about it adequately and hence, stays in an exploratory mode until that clarity emerges. Once this is clear in our mind, the sense of purpose is established and everything we do appears to be a song rather than a burden of duty. We do not get a sense of giving in to work, yielding or conceding to someone because he or she is the boss.
As we have a clear purpose, we start gearing up all the time to excel. We seek opportunities to learn, adapt well, raise the bar and achieve more than what we would have otherwise.
Owner Mindset
Business owners are looking for greener pastures always and seeking avenues for enhancing efficiencies. They can scale up their business when they create a sense of ownership among their employees who can demonstrate high levels of passion and commitment towards the tasks at hand. Ultimately, the business benefits. This is easier said than done.
Owners and leaders have to be genuinely caring for their people rather than treating them as instruments to generate output or gains. Secondly, they need to provide an environment of transparency, trust and empowerment. A professional approach to managing the business creates accountability so that customers are well-taken care of and all other stakeholders of the business experience a sense of positivism and hope.
Similarly, the employees have to come forward by stepping outside their silo and knowing about the significant developments concerning their business. They have to think of the overall organisation, the opportunities before it, the threats that can derail it and come up with solutions. They have to present these possibilities in a meaningful manner to the stakeholders and influence the thinking process to arrive at the right solutions.
Organisations need their employees to have a holistic perspective, collaboratively work with others, celebrate the success of everyone else as much as one does for oneself and be proactive to come forward to lead new initiatives or changes. Employees have to understand this and to get the best out of them, they have to align their behaviours along these expectations.
Everything matters
Sometimes, employees know that they need to adopt some changes in their behaviours such as collaboration, external focus, proactive participation, generating new ideas, developing solutions, updating others about their insights and experiences and so on. However, they cannot convert the intent into real action either due to inertia, lack of drive or inability to prioritise. These cases need to be called out by their managers and the necessary push is needed to make progress for the employee and the organisation at the same time. Everything matters!
