Summary: Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard once said, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
GlobalLinker member and business coach Nanda R shares his insights from coaching numerous entrepreneurs, SMEs, educationists in the past year. His analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of leaders across the spectrum can prove to be most beneficial as we prepare to welcome a new year.

This year has been good for us in terms of increasing our reach. We were able to interact with CEOs, entrepreneurs, CXOs, educationists, students, women leaders, startup founders and NGOs through the course of the year. We were fortunate to help solve problems of our clients through coaching and consulting. In the process we have gained new insights and our learning has only increased.

Some of the insights we have gained in our interactions with SMEs across industries, located mostly in tier-2 cities, are listed below as ‘strengths’ and ‘scope for improvement’.

STRENGTHS

Passion:  We found 90% of business leaders passionate about what they were doing. This differentiated the winners clearly. This passion carried their organisation and brand during the turbulent times.

Vision: As per our analysis, about 60% of our clients have a clear business vision while 40% did not think much about this aspect. Out of the 60%, 10% changed their vision this year. Those who had a clear vision, derived strength from this vision and were able to direct their team members as well.

Risk: We found that everyone was taking risks with some taking more risks and others comparatively less. This was done consciously and unconsciously as for some the market determined the risk factor.

Change: Everybody took a step forward to change their circumstances, be it at business or leadership or as a student. The change happened due to the pressure from the economic activities so that they could navigate better. I foresee this happening more in 2019 and beyond as well.

Execution: 80% of them were good at execution. They were agile and mobilised the resources required. They went out of their comfort zone to execute. This was probably the major reason for their growth.

SCOPE FOR IMPROVEMENT

Team building: We believe that team building is critical to build the brand and growth as an organisation. Although some businesses did focus on this, many struggled as they faced difficulty in getting the right talent. If the available talent is trained and provided with sound direction, organisations would be able to grow and achieve their goals in the coming year.

Learning: Business owners invest limited resources on learning. Even if they invest, they spend more on basics such as communication and product/service delivery. With the market likely to show turbulence due to technological advances, political scenario and world economic activities; the need to invest in learning as an individual and organisation is a must in 2019.

Asking for help: We found that most SMEs were hesitant to ask for help to solve their pain areas. This was probably due to it being a low priority area; being unsure of who is the right person or organisation to connect with; and not being aware of the market impact due to technological advancements. However, about 5% of them whom we contacted were not hesitant and were actively seeking help to overcome their pain areas. This resulted in their growth. We hope to see more people asking for help in 2019.

Collaboration: Collaboration and networking can really boost a business. Although there has been some collaboration to take their respective businesses to a higher level, the percentage of seekers has been low. Our suggestion for 2019 is to have increased collaboration for different activities such as market ***********, procurement, brand building, statutory management, freelance workers, talent management, funding, etc.

Speed of execution: Execution has been good in 2018 when the opportunity came. But in 2019 this is not enough. The speed of execution needs to increase, and business leaders must use multiple avenues such as network forums, messaging apps, email, social media, peer group, industry experts, associations etc.

Do share your learnings and insights from 2018. We hope that 2019 proves to be a fulfilling and happy year, fueled by tremendous business growth.

To explore business opportunities, link with me by clicking on the 'Invite' button on my eBiz Card.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, official policy or position of GlobalLinker.