The United States Congress is proving to be a great example of how poor leadership and strategy can inhibit brand excellence, maximum performance, and stakeholder satisfaction or profit.
You may have heard a thing or two about sequestration in the past few months. Sequestration impacts business. Whether you have been affected by sequestration or not, the impacts are present, inside and outside the D.C area. When government refused to budge on sequestration – by choosing to go on recess rather than staying to continue to work toward a budget compromise, and a resolution that would benefit the American people – they demonstrated poor leadership and lack of engagement and commitment to their stakeholders. It’s still uncertain whether or not they have a clear strategy and direction for resolution.
Yes, Congress is made up of politicians; however, they are playing politics more than usual. And it shows, too. Their approval rating is at an all time low – a rating that would get most “job creators” fired. Congress, on both sides of the aisle, is a prime example of how bad leadership, poor communication, and ineffective team performance can cause a trickle down affect – in this case not just on employees of a business but on a much larger scale – economic stability and job growth. The stock market may be up, but job growth is only gradually increasing and unemployment is still stagnant in many parts of the country.
Many small business owners (you know, those people the politicians keep using as talking points…) have had to put new hires on hold and reduce investments in employee development and product development. We ourselves have had to reduce and postpone future work with vendors that could have allowed their businesses to become “job creators” – a trickle down affect. We’re not alone: more than several other entrepreneurs’ and business owners we know have also been negatively impacted – both government contractors and commercial businesses. Sequestration is real, folks. Not whining, stating facts. It has a direct impact on small and emerging businesses, not just large “defense contractors.” However, we’re not going to discuss how inept Congress is, or the merits behind sequestration.
We will, however, discuss how such poor leadership can damage your brand, hinder your organizational performance, and eventually impact your stakeholder engagement and your profits.
Brand: With such a low approval rating, the road is long for Congress to regain the respect of a majority of Americans. The same is true in business. Once consumers have seen poor leadership and the direct impacts on them, they choose to no longer do business with you – plain and simple. Once you’ve lost consumer confidence it’s very difficult to regain. JC Penney is an example of this. Trying to get customers to come back requires an overhaul – true change. The consumer needs to see, and often feel, a radical change in how you operate. They need to understand what you will do to earn their trust again. You can have the best marketing and sales strategy in the world, but if you aren’t paying attention to how you’re perceived – none of it will work.
Leadership: Congress sucks from a leadership point of view. They’re awful at communication, amongst each other and to their constituents. They aren’t really listening to each other or offering constructive criticism and ideas for improvement. Not good for business. Great leaders are expert communicators and are transparent and accountable. Congress has placed personal agendas above the greater good. This attitude is not doing much to create a feeling of trust in government. Trust can’t happen if people don’t feel you have their best interests in mind and if they are unsure of your strategic direction. Trust is a fundamental behavior for any relationship, both personal and professional. According to a study by the Hay Group, a global management consultancy, there are 75 key components of employee satisfaction. They found that trust and confidence in top leadership was the single most reliable predictor of employee and stakeholder satisfaction and high performance. Trust must be earned. Leaders can earn trust by sharing information and helping those they lead or represent to understand the overall strategy and decision making process. This is not something Congress is currently doing well, if at all.
Performance: If you take care of your people, your performance (or approval rating) only increases. If you want your people to support you and the goals you’re trying to achieve, even in times of great demand or uncertainty, they need to know you are listening to them and you value and appreciate their ideas and positions. As a leader, compassion is imperative to gain support and commitment. Without support and commitment from those you lead or represent, good luck achieving your goals and becoming successful! If you want high performance, then respect, recognize, and appreciate your people. A valued and appreciated workforce is a more engaged workforce; a more engaged workforce is a higher performing workforce. The higher performing they are, the more innovation and revenue are likely to increase – or the more likely you are to get reelected.
Profit: Congress may not be focused on profit – but for most businesses it is a top priority. Profit, or on-going revenue growth, is a requirement for long-term sustainability. Increased profit is dependent on a multitude of factors. Many of these factors are related to your strategy and your people and their performance. Increasing profits requires being focused on a sound marketing and sales strategy; however, it also requires a focus on the people. To achieve innovation and long term sustainability, a business requires the right people and the right culture. If your organization’s executives and managers lead with an authentic, open and honest, and accountable style, you are more likely to inspire the best in your people and gain the support needed for success.
So when it comes to your business – don’t follow Congress’s lead. Their leadership – or lack thereof – has failed small businesses and many people throughout the country.
Authors:
Scott Span, MSOD: is CEO & Lead Consultant of Tolero Solutions – an Organizational Improvement & Strategy firm. He helps clients in facilitating sustainable growth by connecting and maximizing people –> performance –> profit™, creating organizations that are more responsive, productive and profitable.
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Ron Romanski: is CEO & Chief Strategist of Preactive Marketing – a full service digital marketing firm. Ron’s job is more than to lead the organization, he works directly with the team to reach client goals, carefully crafting campaigns accordingly yielding desired results and increasing brand recognition and revenues.
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