Leaders, Make These 3 Things a Priority This Year

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Here’s a conversation you won’t hear in any workplace:

“Okay everyone, this year, we’re not going to make any changes. Our plan is to stay exactly the same.”

“Sounds perfect! Go, team!”

Quite the opposite, right? Every organization is experiencing massive change right now – between an ongoing pandemic, supply chain issues, evolving customers, and more – and it’s our responsibility as disruptive leaders to navigate that change strategically.?

On Tuesday’s livestream , I shared the top three priorities every leader in every industry should focus on this year to drive disruptive change and future-proof their organization.???

1. Get obsessed with your customers.

Your number one priority in 2022 should be driving customer obsession deep into your organization.

That means every single employee should be clear on who your customer is. If I walk into your office tomorrow, everyone – from sales and marketing to finance and HR – should be in alignment on who you serve, their pain points and needs, and how you engage with them.

Here are a few things you can do to zoom in on your customers:

1. Push knowledge. Make sure everyone in your organization is 100% clear on your customer. Don’t silo information , and prioritize sharing everything you know – from how you listen to customers and what you understand about them to the customer experience and their needs and wants.?
2. Encourage agency. It’s one thing to have information; it’s another to act on it. Create a culture where every employee takes ownership and knows exactly what they can do (and can’t!) to enact change. Clearly define the process for sharing insights to encourage employees to speak up and take action.?
3. Share the knowledge. Too often, organizations create beautiful knowledge-sharing platforms that don’t get used – so the information gets lost. How can you encourage employees to spread information? If you have a collaboration platform, define who has access to the platform and can make updates, and what information is private or easily accessible. And encourage leaders (and yourself!) to model the way and use it regularly.?

2. Redefine your employee relationship.

Let’s be clear: Amazing, happy, satisfied, engaged employees create great customer experiences.

The problem is most organizations haven’t invested in the employee experience. We need to get people engaged and create a better working environment for everyone.

And it’s not just about technology, safety, and a paycheck – it’s about being connected to the mission and purpose of an organization and being able to bring one’s full self to work.

So how do leaders step up and build better relationships with their employees? How do you create engagement? Start by:

1. Redefining the relationship through your employees’ eyes. Instead of asking what kind of relationship you want, flip it. What kind of relationship do your employees want? How can you have more empathy for your employees? And how can you create a safe place for people to show up fully as themselves?
2. Talking about mental health. It’s only taboo if you don’t talk about it! Let your employees know it’s safe to talk about their mental health. Be empathetic to their experiences and challenges. One simple thing leaders can do is set deadlines for Friday at 4 p.m. rather than Monday at 9 a.m. so your team can have the weekend to rest and rejuvenate.
3. Turbocharging HR + IT. We know how to create mind-blowing customer experiences –?how can we do the same for our employees? How can we create amazing digital workspace experiences? Rely on IT and HR (what I call the new dynamic duo) to apply your existing systems in a new way so they’re more employee-centric.?

3. Rethink your relationship with failure.

What’s your relationship to failure? Do you embrace it, or have you adopted NASA’s motto: “Failure is not an option”?

I’ve shared before how leaders are trained not to fail. We tend to stay as far away from failure as possible.?

But if you only set goals that you are 100% confident you can reach, you’ll never stretch yourself. You need to go beyond your current capabilities to see the opportunities, take risks, and capitalize on them if you want to disrupt the status quo and create change.

So how do you redefine your relationship with failure so you’re more comfortable bumping up against your edge? You can:

1. Redefine failure. Try this way of thinking next time something doesn’t work: What can we learn from that? How can we take the next step? How can we flip failure from something negative and disempowering to a learning opportunity? (There’s always something to learn, I promise!)
2. Define the edges of what’s possible. At Altimeter, I empowered employees to do things on their own, but I noticed they kept asking for permission. I realized I hadn’t defined the edges! As soon as I did, my team exercised more agency. So clearly define the safe space for taking action. How far can people go? What does the safety zone look like?
3. Get good at starting new things – and stopping old things. You can’t do everything. If you want to take on new things in this time of change, experimentation, and innovation, you have to stop doing old things that are no longer relevant. You have to shift away from what’s always been done. Design a process for sunsetting products and services so you can take on something new and optimize.??

These three priorities will prepare you for the changes 2022 has in store –?and the tough choices you’ll need to make in order to thrive in another year of uncertainty.

Join me next week as I talk more about setting audacious goals this year – ones that push you to your very edge and challenge your relationship with failure! ?? I’ll see you next Tuesday at 9 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. ET.?

Your Turn

I love January – everything is unfolding in front of us, and we’re optimistic about what the year will bring. I’m curious to hear what you’re looking forward to this year. What expectations do you have for this year? What are you hoping to accomplish? What are your top goals for 2022? I’d love to hear from you!

Thank you to Workplace from Meta for supporting Leading Disruption.