Lead, follow, or get out of the way!

Quote of the week: “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”―?Thomas Paine

What's the backup plan if it all fails?

Rogers Communication in Canada, their systems crashed on Friday. That really proved that we are tethered to our technology and vulnerable. I don't think we can never decouple from technology, we are in the cloud of mercy to the digital technologists who control the internet and our life line. Read more here One person told me that they were in a bank line up and heard a few people asking to take out large sums of money up to $5,000. This sort of thing can send shockwaves.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”―?Arthur C. Clarke

Technology, our dependence on cell phones, the internet, purchasing transactions online and mobile payments have all become the stuff of magic. Most consumers have no idea how it all works or is even connected to other activities. It simply and magically works. And yet we are very vulnerable to technological problems. Canadians pay some of the highest connections rates for data in the world See VisualCapitalist We should expect more from our providers especially when families can pay the cost of car loan for all their data capabilities on their mobiles and homes.

There are two important questions about our connectivity. What is the social and economic fallout if the systems (all of them) were to be disrupted by either a foreign enemy, act of God or someone hacks the systems? What is the fall back plan? How do we pay for things? How do we order anything? Communicate or even conduct business? Someone might say that it will never happen. Well that was also said about the pandemic, 9/11, and the blackout in 2004. Not to forget the banks believed that they were too big to fail in 2007!

As a board director and chair of a utility I need to know what the risk mitigation plans are to manage for potential risks? It's my job. But who is looking after society when it comes to this? What are the risk mitigation plans? Think of the disruption to business. Should all of us sleep with our few savings stowed under our mattresses? How does society adjust and how long can they last without all of this technology? It is an important question that needs to be asked and I believe that it is government's job to answer it before any of this happens!

Economic Confusion - Inflation went from transitory to nightmare! What did economists get wrong?

In 2019 the Canadian inflation rate was 1.95% The inflation rate for May of this year was 7.7%. Similar situation in the US. 1.81% in 2019 and 8.6% recently. What a difference a pandemic can make. Basically inflation ballooned out of control with no one really acting on it. How did they get this all so wrong when many of my colleagues and I saw it coming? Were they hopeful or just not in touch with the real world.

But what was really the cause? Well we have to take a few steps back and this is only part of the story. If I were to write about all of the issues we encountered from the beginning of the pandemic to the first quarter of 2022. It would be book length. However today we are faced with full employment and unemployment at lows. That should mean consumers are spending in an inflationary marketplace. Which means they all have a lot of money to spare or borrowing to have a good time. Something isn't right!

Economic data is always a lag indicator…central banks are making decisions for what happened in the past. And those decisions are punishing consumers and ultimately businesses. In the months a head it is expected that higher interest rates, the war in Ukraine (which is insane), continuing supply chain issues and the pandemic is still lurking with its offspring variants, all of these will purportedly push global economies into a recession. What kind? No one knows! What is certain for businesses, this isn’t welcomed news, because it means lower volumes and layoffs which will mean a very slow or negative growth economy. As I have said a few times higher rates mean the central banks want consumers to slow down their spending and go back to savings. And even more recently Commercial banks are elated that consumers are spending as they are. That's because there is still easy borrowing in the marketplace and that may be the straw that breaks the camels back.

The customer experience model is broken

Are consumers impressed with their customer experience or has the pandemic and their switch to e-commerce made a customer physical experience less important? Well we ran a poll and asked consumers what they thought. 40.7% said that it is all about convenience and faster service and 33.4% said that it's neither it is about price. The gap between what customers think about service and their related experience versus what the retailer or brand may think can be considerably wide. When you consider the lack of staffing available in the service industry particularly consumer facing businesses, that would suggest that the employee experience is broken and therefore so is the customer experience. Equally important as I share in presentations there is no cycle of improvement with many of the Cx initiatives in the marketplace today. In fact, most programs lack any updates or real development. Others even fail to conduct additional training to keep their programs relevant. This cycle or lack of one will lead to a deterioration in sales and customer satisfaction. And its critical that retailers get their game right on this one because what doesn't happen in the front-lines with customers, can make supply chains issues look minor.

The real test comes when a recession does hit. Great customer service is important at all times. But when you are fighting for sales you can multiple that by a factor of 10! Needless to say if the employee experience isn't being inspired and engaged by your customer experience the need for change is likely that much higher.

News This Week

Mario Toneguzzi from Retail Insider interviewed me about Canadian Consumers Spending Despite Inflation Pinch, with Challenges to Come read here

Sean Tarry and I discussed what Canadian retailers need to do and drive growth. Read here

Benno Duenkelsbuehler?from reAlign and I talked about my career and some hard and fast lessons you learn as a leader. Listen here

Up coming Key Note presentation to over 300 Optometrists in the America's. They, like all business people, want to know how to future proof their business in this current and future marketplace.

You all know my principles. "Dismiss Nothing, Expect the Unexpected, Plan for the Improbable."

If you have an interest in a strong leadership presentation on managing through change, please reach out. [email protected]

Personal Log: The hunt for 21st century leaders?

I am a very engaging individual and I always challenge the process or championing a cause that I believe in. I read a lot of books and articles, I love business, technology, science, economics, politics and social issues. I get high off of business ambiguity and unprecedented events. Because they spell opportunity. I am constantly learning because I view life as one continuous movie that you can either be the lead actor or a spectator in it. As a result I only trust leaders who have the courage and ethics to stand for something through their actions not their words.

The movie we are in is called "The Hunt for 21st Century Leaders." It needs leaders (actors) willing to fail or fall on their swords because they believe intellectually and emotionally about their cause, strategies or values that drive them. In our movie we can't afford risk adverse people who take good judgement and governance principles and turn them into a crutch for not making decisions. Or push a cause then declare a conflict of interest. Where is the credibility. We should leave that to incapable politicians. Society and businesses are inspired by risk takers and those that have paid the price of success. They need leaders who are engaged and arrive to the discussion with solutions. We care little over what school they went to, their degrees or who they know. It is all meaningless. Heroes don't show up with their diplomas or degrees, they show up and lead. What the CEO, board, a recruitment company or even your constituents (if you are a politician), really care about is what will you do for them that will make you the best leader they have ever hired, promoted or elected?

35% of executives promoted are failures. 47% of executives hired are bad hires. As for politicians like executives, the best are those with a high level of integrity basically they can be trusted. They are not wrapped up in their own egos or just show up for photo ops, they care about why they have been appointed or elected. They answer the phone, return calls, lead by example, have an open door and don't have another full-time job! They lead the fight for causes, they are not told or asked what to do, they are in touch with the world they are responsible for and act on it. They bring solutions. Politicians who have full-time jobs and work part-time in their political roles don't really care to serve the public. The same goes for business leaders, if they are caught up on their own ego's they will fail to lead and manage a business. And in all cases never should have been appointed or elected in the first place. At the end of this movie the spectators realize that the protagonist had a choice to lead, follow, or get out of the way. In the 21st century we only have room for leaders and followers willing to take a stand, we have no interest in anyone that simply wants the title and is in the way!

Thank you for reading this weeks issue of The Business Brief.

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