Executive Coaching: 7 Questions Executives Need to Answer Frequently

As one quarter comes to a close and a new one is about to begin, it's a natural time for evaluation and analyze what is working and what isn't, and to decide what could be done differently or better going forward.

But as we head into the second quarter, in an economy still defined by extreme disruption and uncertainty across many global markets, little has been written about how this process of reflection and planning has changed. While the act of reflection and goal setting remains the same, the scope, context and nature of this analysis and planning has definitely evolved.

There are two major themes:

1. To offset the continual transformation and evolution that exist in the world today, corporations need to think more about their long-term strategy and business development and to effectively communicate these ideas to their customers, investors, and business partners.

2. On the other hand, business leaders need to constantly remind themselves of the fact that business decision-making on practically every plane and area of operations is now happening in real-time.?

These fundamental shifts have practically forced corporate leaders in recent years to rethink how business success is measured. The end of the year accounting has thus become an exercise in changing the way business gets done.?

7 Questions Executive Leaders Need to Ask and Answer in 2022

The following are 7 questions executives should be focused on asking and answering in 2022. Not only do they reflect today's new business realities, but they highlight several important shifts in business mindset:?

1. What is the company's long-term plan for making a profit??

Is the company developing and maintaining a business model that is truly sustainable? Companies are currently being asked by both investors and board members to better articulate their plans for making a profit, including new value propositions and cash flows. These demands are taking on new urgency as disruptive technologies are turning traditional industries on their heads.

Successful corporations may endure for decades, but they tend to communicate in terms of financial quarters and in the limited scope of their yearly profits and losses. This narrow, short-term focus creates a kind of information gap that practically ignores long-term investors, customers and partners in search of a stable company to do business with-- a business that promises to weather the pace of change.?

2. Where is the industry heading??

In 2022,business leaders need to analyze the key risk factors, opportunities and mega trends their business will be facing over the next few years. They then need to explain how these threats and opportunities will influence corporate strategies and plans for growth.?

In particular, business leadership needs to address the following issues:

How the industry is changing in response to new technologies

How local and global changes in regulatory conditions will effect the business model and pricing strategy?

How customers' needs and preferences are evolving

How the competitive landscape is developing

Where the market opportunities are, and how the company is planning to take advantage of them

What the threats are, and the leaders' plans to protect the company from them

3. How does the market feel about the company and its products?

What is the consumer sentiment towards the company right now? Business leaders need to be actively managing their brand in real time by closely monitoring consumer feedback as well as recording and analyzing their interactions with the company-- from their conversations with customer service representatives to their chat bot inquiries and even their behavior when they land on a sales page.?

This big data approach to brand and reputation management allows companies to make real time operational and strategic decisions.?

4. How is the company adopting new technology??

As the Fourth Industrial Revolution picks up steam, it is bringing about major shifts in technology and human capital investments and is ultimately blurring the lines between man and machine. In order to remain competitive and relative in this brave new world, business leaders need to be constantly evaluating the technologies that power their operations.?

But, the goal should not just be about having the most sophisticated cutting edge tools. Of vital importance is the way in which this technology is integrated into the business' systems and how it fits into the company's long-term strategy for growth and development.??

5. Are the company's data and networks protected??

As businesses bring in an increasing array of sophisticated platforms and vamp up their data collection efforts, data security has become a top priority. Executives now must strike a balance between identifying the biggest data security threats that cannot be ignored and allocating finite resources aimed at reducing these threats. As the company grows, business leaders have to continually reassess where the balance should be between the need to protect against a data breech and the need to dedicate its limited resources towards other operational needs.?

6. How will the company manage human capital over the long-term??

As operational paradigms shift, corporations need to transform the way they approach their human resources management in order to remain competitive. This means relying on holistic assessments of talent, skills, and job performance to help ensure that staff are placed in the most suitable roles as well as developing a dynamic path toward skills development and training. It also means rethinking the way professionals collaborate and communicate within teams and across departments.?

7. How will the company assess business partnerships??

As corporations seek to expand their product and service offerings and break into global markets, the role and importance of business partnerships, collaborations, and vendor/supplier relationships have only increased. There is a growing need to evaluate businesses for potential fit and to monitor output quality. Like many other operational areas, the establishment and management of business partners has become a dynamic process that sits at the foundation of a company's business model. So, having a reliable method for performance evaluation, is vital.

In short, as the world continues to evolve, the way business gets done and the measurements of business success have evolved, too, and it's forcing business leaders to ask the questions that make them think outside of the box. At a time when transformation and disruption are the new normal, that's no small thing.??

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. About the Author

Robert Moment is an EQ Expert and ICF Certified Executive Coach and Author of High Emotional Intelligence for Managers , What is Emotional Intelligence and Executive Coaching.?Robert specializes in helping new executives achieve peak performance by identifying and removing their blind spots for business success.??

This success is achieved coaching new executives in the On Boarding Peak Performance Program (90 Day, 6 Month, 12 Month Programs) for rapid results.

Robert is Certified to deliver The Social + Emotional Intelligence Profile-Self (SEIP) ? Assessment, the most comprehensive, scientifically validated, and statistically reliable instrument on the market and review the results with clients and create a comprehensive developmental action plan. This includes the workplace and 360-versions as well as self and adult editions.??

Schedule a 30 Minute Discovery Call and gain , clarity , focus , strategy and direction on how to achieve your executive goals. No selling. No fluff.?

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