Tag: business growth

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Are You Really Comfortable with Difference?

Discovering the power of cognitive diversity

In both our personal and professional lives we would all passionately argue for the value of diversity. What we are really referring to here is equality, diversity and inclusion. Increasingly there is a craving for simplicity in a complex world where all opinions are polarised as either wholly right or totally wrong. Complexity is the reality and combinations of ideas are those that are the most creative and transformational in this complexity. The evidence is rich about the business and social benefits for our organisations and teams being made up of people from diverse backgrounds. Did you know that 60% of CEO’s fail to get the right sort of team together initially in their business? Failing to encourage the flexibility of cognitive diversity can lead to catastrophic failure (Harvard Business Review 2017). Have you considered the huge benefits for a much broader form of diversity, cognitive diversity ?

Bringing together diverse thinkers supercharges teams

Diverse Thinking is a Leadership Responsibility

For teams and organisations to truly benefit in a complex and competitive business environment they should aim to employ and build teams made up of people who are intellectually different and who regularly challenge each other. This cuts through EDI considerations in so much as many organisations and businesses find themselves made up of people who are cognitively very similar to each other. This can be because selection processes may be full of confirmation bias where those recruiting are drawn to candidates who have a similar outlook to them, who feel more like birds of a feather. In essence in a place where great and new ideas should be being created, conforming and being the same essentially become an echo chamber. This may be a socially jolly environment but does it really create innovation and growth in a team or business? The answer is a resounding no, cognitive difference creates a multiplier effect leading to massive strides. It creates a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset.

Spotting diverse thinkers in recruitment can be achieved

Cognitive Diversity is Challenging

So what are the challenges of bringing cognitively diverse people together? People will say ‘no’ or ‘but what about…’ much more and as leaders if we are only looking for people to agree and to say ‘yes’ to us, then what will really occur is that only one idea will be nurtured rather than multiple ideas becoming conjoined to create game changing innovation. Learning to disagree and dissent in a professional way that does not create personal upset and injury is key to making this dynamic work. This type of idea generation is also likely to be ‘recombinant’. Complex and interconnected problems are brought together and worked upon by people who see outcomes differently and can evolve their thinking to create inspiring change. Recruitment and selection can be designed in such a way to be able to identify cognitively diverse candidates more easily and for existing teams then the way that teams are managed. Similarly, the way that meetings are conducted and the predominant culture of challengingly different ideas being brought together require leaders to act differently and to promote debate.

Talking through different thinking constructively

Practical Ways to Lead Diverse Thinking

Great examples of this is discussed by Matthew Syed in his book ‘Rebel Ideas’ where companies like Amazon and Dyson are identified as making simple practical changes to encourage cognitive diversity. These range from ensuring that the chairperson of meetings is not always the most senior person and also ensuring that the leader does not give their idea first in a meeting or to an agenda item as this creates conformity which does not challenge or grow the notion under discussion. Business and team growth can be a complex entity and creating a culture of cognitive diversity will create the nurturing fertile territory for exponential advancement of ideas. Consequently, this means that its implementation not only leads to success but also to an environment where learning is mutual and ideas are respected.

Finding difference and recombinant ideas

How to Introduce Cognitive Diversity

I believe that there is a nature and nurture aspect to cognitive diversity and this means that we are able to develop and evolve to recognise this skill and to create an environment where this thinking radically drives innovation. This also means that leaders and business owners can be encouraged and coached to take practical and active steps to develop this in their teams and businesses and watch the exciting progress that this will create.

If you wish to read more about this the following article covers some eye opening aspects of cognitive thinking. If you want to introduce this more as a business owner or leader and would like coaching support on it then get in touch.

https://blogs.bath.ac.uk/business-and-society/2021/10/21/what-is-cognitive-diversity-and-why-is-it-so-important-to-have-it-on-boards/

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Do you want to know more about how coaching can support you to create cognitively diverse teams and how your skills and attributes will assist you in this valuable quest? Get in touch for a free chat on this. You can click on the discovery photo or you can use the old fashioned way and ring me… Mobile 07494890802

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‘Getting an Edge’ in 2023 as an SME – Part I

Part I – Growing the business when facing a storm

Navigating to a successful 2023

This is Part I in a series of four blogs detailing how Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) should be planning to meet the challenges of 2023. Rather than setting a course for ‘survival’ following a detailed plan will enable a growth mindset that will pay dividends throughout the challenges of 2023.

These are difficult times and they are going to require careful navigation in 2023. The single most impactive thing an SME owner can do when looking forward is to create a plan for this next 12 months that tests and challenges both themselves and their business. Planning can mitigate risks and create options to ease the pain points that will be experienced in the next year. SME business owners will need to look to their strengths and make the most of those so that the challenge can also become an opportunity.

Larger organisations are also finding these times as difficult. Only Apple Inc. have grown profits in line with expectations of the big tech giants in the last 12 months with such stalwart companies as Amazon and Microsoft experiencing huge turbulence in profits.  As in life, confidence, certainty, planning and self-belief can go a very long way in an SME. Here in the UK in a recent Institute of Directors survey members reported that despite the challenges they remain optimistic about the future, with 60% expecting continued revenue growth this year. There is an understanding that profit margins are going to be affected and that increasing costs cannot all be passed on to the customer if the SME is to stay competitive. The approach to pricing and marketing is key this next year above all others.

The challenges for SME owners are never-ending. They will always have to find innovative ways within their 12 month plan to stay afloat, but also to gain a competitive edge by addressing the core problems that they are able to anticipate. In 2023, the challenges for business owners are even greater as the economy has only made an anaemic recovery from the pandemic and is experiencing increased costs created by the disruption of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These times require not just innovation and boldness but they also require transformative thinking.

The core elements for the SME plan in 2023 must be about growth, upscaling and about creating significant transformation by shaking off their ‘survival’ mode. There are some opportunities to create change in this adversity that will support business growth in the long-term.

Emotionally intelligent business ownership is a must.

Leading the business with emotional intelligence and empathy

There have been times when leading with compassion and emotional intelligence may have been considered as faddism or as an optional extra. To be competitive in 2023 emotional intelligence in business is absolutely essential. This will enable the business owner to perform at a higher level and similarly allow development for the people that work for the SME. Many are describing the ‘great resignation’ following the pandemic in which individuals are considering their careers and their futures. This is leading to difficulties for all organisations, including SME’s. It is vital that leaders understand that part of the reflection for their people is that they want to feel safe and more cared for and that this need for care in their work, if met by reciprocated compassion, empathy and bravery by business owners, not only will they keep the loyalty of their best people, it will also cement greater team spirit and encourage ever greater levels of discretionary effort to be given.

The use of emotional intelligence, the demonstration of compassion as a leader must start with the way that the leader of the SME looks after themselves. Even in an organisation working frequent long hours there are ways for the leader to manage their own wellbeing in a way that encourages others to do so. This breaks an increasing ‘presenteeism’ culture that can prevail when leaders feel threatened by the sort of challenges that are being faced now and will continue into 2023.

The following article published on LinkedIn by Professor Amanda Kirby contains a really useful 10 point plan for each business owner to practice what they preach and think about how to show self-compassion and to lead others with compassion.

Compassionate leadership could limit the ‘great resignation’ (linkedin.com) Prof. Amanda Kirby

This takes the qualities of emotional intelligence and empathy a stage further in that it is about what is provided for the employees of an SME. This is the fuel in the tank that will power the growth of the SME through 2023 and energise the ability to meet the challenges faced. It will certainly avoid one of the biggest challenges facing businesses, burnout of staff. There are practical benefits of successful wellness and wellbeing plans for employees but also having such an approach is saleable in the job market and can guarantee getting better quality recruits and retaining the best and most skilled staff when businesses are battling to keep their people.

Research from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) shows that offering health and wellbeing benefits to staff can play a valuable role in also boosting productivity. Three in five SME’s state that providing health and wellbeing benefits has significant impact on supporting the productivity of their company. This increases to 7 out of 10 in medium size businesses. Worryingly, only one in five are aware of their legal requirement to provide information on benefits to new employees by their first day of work. It may seem like a luxury for an SME in 2023 to engage with staff and consider what can be done to enhance wellness and wellbeing. Yet, in thinking about the clear and demonstrable link between such programmes and increased productivity, increased performance and reduced absenteeism they are a must. This equates to a reduction in overheads and an increase in profits to the business. The programmes need not necessarily involve huge investment and can be made up of healthy snacks, great hygiene, workplace access to mental health support and fitness plans from local gymnasiums as examples.  

In Part II of this series look forward to pointers for how the SME can plan to counter the economic headwinds that are predicted in 2023…

  

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