You don’t have to be the best keynote speaker, strategic consultant or senior management executive in the world to realize: Change is omnipresent in all aspects of professional life today, and increasingly impacting organizations at a rate that would make yesterday’s business leaders’ heads spin. Markets, best practices, competitive spectrums, even consumer expectations… all are constantly shifting today, right alongside the financial and technology trends that often define them. It’s a challenge for corporate executives and innovation experts, all of whom are constantly working to wrap their heads around problems, even as more continually come racing down the pike. Thankfully, you don’t have to be psychic to see the future coming – just smart enough to keep your eyes open and flexible enough to roll with the challenges it brings.
Interestingly, fear plays a large role in how well organizations, associations and non-profits often adapt to the business and social changes around. What’s not surprising is that it takes time to steer many ships in a different direction, given the sheer number of disparate systems they’re often composed of and captains manning the wheel. But what is shocking is just how often terror drives decision-making, leading to paralysis or poor choices in the face of imperfect information. The phenomenon, which often causes the best-intentioned teams to run in circles, helps explain why so many market-leaders can seem so busy right up until the minute their finances and stock price fall off a cliff.
Even the best business innovators and keynote speakers have long realized: Emotion and social intelligence play huge roles in strategic direction, and the way many firms operate. As we explain in the following speech though, you must now allow fear to guide your actions – for management leaders hoping to navigate the constantly shifting seas of the commercial world, there’s a better way:
