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Business Solutions to SMEs, 15 Harvey Brown Road, Milton Park, Harare (2026)

Name: Business Solutions to SMEs
Address: 15 Harvey Brown Road, Milton Park, Harare, 00263, ZW

Corporate Governance, Good governance, Ethics, Acceptable Business Practices, Synergies, Partnerships, Venture Capital, Funding ..

28/05/2019

10 Characteristics of a Compelling Vision

A compelling vision is essential for leading in turbulent times. The fast-paced world of today demands rapid decision making and independent action. You can no longer have teams waiting for direction from an executive whenever a decision is required. Vision is an essential part of great leadership.

“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” — Jack Welch, Former Chairman, General Electric

Vision is a much broader concept than the stodgy vision statements you find on the walls of a corporate head office. Let’s be clear, a vision statement is not vision. At best it’s a way to communicate a vision.

Ask any organisation to tell you their vision and the response you’re most likely to get is a corporate one liner slogan. These one liners usually are something along the lines of “one company, one vision” or “we strive to be the number one [insert your industry, product or organisation name here] in the world” or “we aim to provide world class [place your industry, product or organisation name here] service to our customers”. You get the idea.

The problem with these vision slogans is that they fail to achieve the aim of a vision, which is to inspire, challenge and provide direction. It’s not enough to say “climb the mountain”. People need to understand which mountain to climb. They also need to know why the mountain is worth climbing in the first place.

The Power of a Compelling Vision
A compelling vision is a much broader and deeper concept than what can be communicated in a simple vision statement. A compelling vision is the artful combination of ideas that express the following:
• The organisation’s purpose and reason for existence.
• The organisation’s core values, who they are and what they’re striving to become.
• The organisation’s value proposition, what makes them unique, what they are good at and why it matters.
• The organisation’s strategic intent, goal and future aspirations.

WHY A COMPELLING VISION?
• A compelling vision provides the clarity of direction needed to lead us into the future.
• A compelling vision provides direction and helps the organisation prepare for the future.
• A compelling vision provides guidance for decision-making.
• A compelling vision shapes the organisation’s strategy.
• A compelling vision guides the types of people you hire and promote.
• A compelling vision defines what you will and what you will not do.
• A compelling vision helps set priorities and guides planning.
• A compelling vision aligns people and activities across the organisation.
• A compelling vision provides purpose and a source of inspiration.
• A compelling vision reflects an organisation’s core values and beliefs.
• A compelling vision empowers people and helps focus their efforts.
• A compelling vision brings change and hope for the future.

Not all visions are created equal. You don’t get the benefits of a vision with a simple vision statement. These benefits are only experienced if you have a compelling vision.

What Makes a Vision Compelling?
Most visions suck! They’re boring, they re-enforce the status quo, they are full of corporate jargon, bureaucratic mambo jumbo and far too bland to drive any real change.

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

If a leader is to inspire and enlist others to their cause, they need a compelling vision. This raises the question, “What makes a vision compelling?”

Listed below are the 10 characteristics that make a vision compelling. If you take into consideration these 10 characteristics you’ll end up creating a compelling vision. They’ll prevent you from creating a crappy vision. A crappy vision is one that’s vague, lacks ambition, void of meaning and one that tries to be all things to all people.

1. A Compelling Vision is Future Focused
• A compelling vision answers the question “what will our business look like in 5 to 10 years time?” It describes the organisation’s desired future. A compelling vision makes your direction clear. It provides a vivid picture of what you desire things to look like in 5 − 10 years time. A compelling vision describes the “big picture”. It makes clear the “north star” by which everyone will navigate. It sets the context for action.

2. A Compelling Vision is Directional
• A compelling vision provides direction. It makes clear where the organisation is going. This means a compelling vision must be specific enough to shape decision-making and appropriately broad to allow for innovative strategies in support of achieving the vision. This is best accomplished by making clear the principles and guardrails that will guide you on your journey into the future.
3. A Compelling Vision is Clear
• One of the aims of a compelling vision is to provide guidance for decision-making and independent action. Therefore, it’s important for a vision to be clearly articulated and easily understood. The vision must clarify focus, direction and constraints, to ensure that scarce resources are focused on the most strategic initiatives. A vision that is clear enables the allocation of scarce resources. Clarity allows individuals across the organisation to have a shared sense of what’s important and what’s not, to ensure that they are free to act within those constraints.
4. A Compelling Vision is Relevant
• A compelling vision is grounded in and is an extension of the organisation’s past. A compelling vision doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It exists within a current reality. To be compelling it must be relevant to the context in which the organisation exists. A compelling vision is relevant for the organisation and the time in which it exists. It must make clear the organisation’s response to the challenges of the day. A compelling vision is a good fit with the organisation’s history, current reality, culture and values. It is the golden thread that connects the past to the desired future. Relevance is what gives a compelling vision credibility.
5. A Compelling Vision is Purposeful
• An effective vision provides a sense of purpose for the organisation and its people. A purpose more meaningful than simply getting bigger or beating the competition. A Purpose is about why we exist and why anyone should care. Vision connects people to a meaningful purpose, to something bigger than themselves. As Steve Jobs said, “We’re here to put a dent in the universe, otherwise why else even be here?”
6. A Compelling Vision is Value Based
• A compelling vision connects people to the organisation’s core values. Values are the beliefs or ideas that the organisation shares about what’s good or bad behaviour. Values influence the behaviour and attitude of people which are critical as it’s the behaviour and attitudes of people which shape today and gives rise to tomorrow. As such values are deeply intertwined with an organisation’s vision. A compelling vision demands that a set of values and beliefs become a lived experience if the vision has any chance of being realised.
7. A Compelling Vision is Challenging
• A compelling vision challenges us. It pushes us forward. It’s an invitation to greatness. A compelling vision must stretch us to become more. It must set a high standard. It represents a future beyond what’s possible today. It’s the highest level goal that challenges us to grow and change if it’s to become a reality.
8. A Compelling Vision is Unique
• A compelling vision reflects what’s unique about our organisation. It makes clear what makes us different. A compelling vision is unique. It declares what makes the organisation different and why that matters. This is important as it helps leaders decide what activities you should or should not be doing. A compelling vision makes clear what market position the organisation will occupy.
9. A Compelling Vision is Vivid
• A compelling vision provides a vivid description of what the organisation will be like in the future. It describes the future in a way that’s easy to imagine and see in the mind’s eye. It answers questions like, “what would it feel like to work in this kind of organisation?”, “what would it be like for customers to engage with this kind of organisation?” And “what would the press write about this kind of organisation?”
10. A Compelling Vision is Inspiring
• A compelling vision inspires people to commit to a cause. A compelling vision captures the hearts and minds of people. A compelling vision is inspiring when it stops you in your tracks, grabs your heart and causes you to pay attention. It moves you emotionally. It stirs within you a desire to enrol in the pursuit of a cause bigger than yourself.

“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision; you can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.” - Theodore M. Hesburgh, President, Notre Dam

Crafting a compelling vision is a uniquely challenging leadership task. Sadly, over the years the concept of vision has been watered down to a slogan and a simple statement. But, without a compelling vision:
• Leaders will find it difficult to navigate today’s rapidly changing times.
• Leaders will find it difficult to inspire and recruit talented individuals to their cause.
• Leaders will find it difficult to empower talented individuals to initiate and drive change.

When you are next challenged to craft a vision, use the 10 characteristics of a compelling vision to guide and assess the quality of your vision. If you already have a vision, assess the quality of your vision against these 10 characteristics. Then ask yourself:
• Do you have a compelling vision?
• What changes do you need to make to ensure your vision is more compelling

20/01/2018

BEST PRACTICES OF CASH FLOW MANAGEMENT

CASH FLOW STRATEGY
Cash is the lifeblood of your business. If you have a good business model and you’re great at
managing cash, your company will be wildly successful. But if you’re not skilled at managing cash
then even if you have a good business model, you will likely wind up being a statistic.

Many small to medium size business owners focus on profits. However, that’s not enough to truly be successful. Your profit is just the amount that your income exceeds the expenses you incurred to earn that revenue.

You also need to understand your cash flow: the net amount of money flowing in and out of your business. Your cash flow should cover the cost of your operations-including payroll and other expenses, including paying yourself and investing in future growth.

There are three main sources of cash. You can get cash from operating activities, investing activities, and financing activities. If you want to understand your cash flow, you need to keep great records of the cash coming in and going out of your business.

MANAGING CASH FLOW
For many business owners, one big obstacle to business success is how they think about money.
When it comes to cash, ask yourself, do you start from a position of scarcity and fear or one of
abundance?

Why is this so important? Well, if you operate from a position of fear, you will tend to avoid dealing with critical financial issues until you absolutely have to. Most successful CEOs deal with money issues up front, early, and often. They are upfront with clients and suppliers about what it takes to separate money from their wallets-before doing any work. That mindset is critical to being great at managing cash flow.

You also need to know whether you’re a “big spender” or frugal. A big spender can’t keep money in the bank. When cash comes in, you’re going to spend it. A big spender can implement all cash flow management techniques but, you won’t overcome your cash flow problems if money always goes out faster than it’s coming in. If you stop to think about how much gross revenue you need to get the cash to buy something-it will make you think twice.

UNDERSTANDING CASH FLOW
Let us begin by understanding the difference between profits and cash. Profits are what show up on the bottom line of your income statement. That shows whether you sold services or products for more than it cost to deliver them.

Cash flow focuses on the timing of when your company gets paid and when it has to pay someone else. Your operating cash flow is the cash generated by your company’s normal operations. A really successful business will have positive operating cash flow that is greater than its profits. Your free cash flow represents the amount of cash your business generates minus any capital expenditures. You use free cash flow to repay debt, reinvest in your company, or pay out
distributions to the owners. The goal of your business is to generate free cash flow because it creates wealth for you-the owner-and generates money so you can grow your business.

Your cash flow-the timing of when cash comes in and goes out of your company-is usually on a
different timing than your earned income or paid expenses. It’s important to understand: Your business can be making a profit but still have a negative cash flow. Why? Because regardless of the amount of profit you made, if the amount of cash you received is less than or equal to what you spend, then you’re eating into your cash reserves. In the long run, it negatively impacts your ability to pay your bills, which in turn impacts your ability to operate

The reasons for a negative cash flow can always be found in your sources and uses of cash report. For example, the sources and uses of cash report will show if you have an increase in receivables because you made sales “on account” but didn’t receive cash. Or you might have used cash to pay down some debts, like paying off your credit card balance. On the flip side, you might receive cash from upfront deposit payments from your clients and get paid before you have incurred expenses. We’ll show you how to use your clients as a funding source instead of them using you as one, (which is what happens when you provide services first and bill
clients later).

Some business owners believe they can sell their way out of cash flow problems. When they try to, they often make poor operational decisions like taking on low-profit, demanding, or even “bad” clients just to get money in the door. There are several big bucket ways to improve your cash flow. In this guide, we’ll show how to optimize your collection and pricing strategies, manage your expenses and make smart hiring and firing decisions.

We will show the impact of accepting only “good money” clients, and how you can adopt smart and timely billing policies that minimize the amount of time between providing services and receiving payment. By making better, more strategic decisions about how you run your business, you can begin to improve your cash flow

How do you keep from getting into a cash flow crunch so deep that you worry about making
payroll? The answer is to have effective pricing, billing methods, sales policies, collections processes, and expense management that all improve your cash flow
SOME OF THE BEST PRACTICES IN CASH FLOW MANAGEMENT

Some of the best practices in cash flow management are highlighted as below:

(a) Calculate Gross Profit Margin
Gross profit margin is your gross profits shown as a percent of revenue. You need to really
understand gross profit margins so you will know when to increase prices on which products and services. Increasing your prices, at the right time on the right things, is the best ways to impact cash flow, and as a result, your gross profit margin. Looking at gross margin percentage is the best way to track the profitability of a customer or job. Tracking gross margin every month and comparing it to your target gross margin, gives a business owner leading indicators of cash flow problems. A change in gross margins can provide insight into issues with a job, client or the company. This kind of actionable intelligence will help with pricing decisions.

(b) Implement Job Costing
The best way to monitor gross profit $ (or any other currency used in the economy) and % is to
implement some form of job costing. A well-designed job costing system tracks the true costs to deliver a service or product so you can charge prices that help achieve target gross profit margins and improve cash flow. If you make money on your people’s time, you need to implement a simple time tracking system to see if you’re allocating the right fees for the time spent on the job. The biggest benefit of true job costing works is knowing that nothing slipped through the cracks and you're getting paid for all the value that you delivered.

(c) Understand Fully Loaded Labour Costs
Understanding your true fully loaded labour cost will help make sure your proposals and price quotes achieve your target gross profit percentage. This will help you get your pricing right and solve most of your cash flow problems. You can cover all your costs and bill for all your value if you know, and can explain, what it really takes to deliver on each job. Having visibility into real costs allows you to include details of all your value and time spent in your proposals, which will help you sell a higher dollar amount on every job. (Visibility into time leakage helps eliminate waste) Compare your gross profit percentage on every job against what you expected it would be and your industry averages. That will help you increase the accuracy and value pricing in future proposals. Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) is an important number to help with your pricing because it’s used to calculate gross profit on a job. Make sure you know what your fully loaded hourly labour cost (with full true fringe benefits) is costing you. Do you understand how COGS relates to your organization's gross profits?

(d) Measure DSO
You Cannot Manage What You Cannot Measure What management monitors gets done. You can’t manage what you don’t measure. To measure your cash flow, you need to keep track of Days Sales Outstanding (DSO). You want to reduce your DSO to the smallest number possible. Why? Because every day you’re doing work that you haven’t been paid for. Unless you’re in the business of lending people money-you should reduce your DSO. Every day that you're doing work that your client hasn't paid for upfront, you're essentially giving that client a loan. DSO measures the number of days it takes to collect a dollar of sales. It’s the average age of your accounts receivable-if your average is trending higher, then your business is more likely to struggle with cash flow. Knowing your DSO can also help determine whether or not you need to improve your current processes and policies or outsource collections. The easiest way to reduce DSO is with timely billing through lightning fast invoicing, and fast payment incentives like keeping a credit card on file or shortening net terms for payments.

(e) Get Paid in Advance (If Possible)
When you start a new job knowing you won’t have a negative cash balance, you’re already on the
right track. Getting paid in advance is the way to avoid situations where you need to chase clients
that delay payments. Is it likely? It depends on how much trust you have with your client. In some cases, it may help to offer a small discount for advance payment as an incentive. Advanced payment gives you peace of mind by reducing risk of nonpayment. It allows you to reinvest the money and lets you do better budgeting. Ask for the largest amount you can get before you start work when they are in love with the idea of working with you. 50% is standard in many industries.

(f) Get a Deposit Upfront Before Work Begins
Get 50% upfront on every job and you will immediately change from a mindset of scarcity to one of abundance. Why? Because, since many jobs target 50% gross profit percentage, you will have covered all your costs at the start of the job. If you manage the job right, you don’t have to worry about getting the next check to make payroll. There’s a big difference between 33% and 50% - Shoot for 50% if you can. Get 50% upfront on every job and you will immediately change from a mindset of scarcity to one of abundance. Deposits are intended to cover your costs, so you minimize your risks. Remember: A deposit upfront ensures trust and relieves some of the risk of non-payment. You need to establish trust with the prospect to get money up front.

(g) Bill Immediately at Project Completion
If you finish a job on the fifth of the month but you don’t send out the invoice until the end of the month, and the client pays you 30 days later, you’re not going to get paid for 55 days. You probably have payroll at least three - four times during those 55 days. You should invoice the client as soon as possible, weekly, at milestones, or as soon as the job is done. As soon as you finish a job, bill the client the same or next day if you want to get your money faster. If you have service people working in the field, get them an account so you can get paid before they leave the job site. If you focus on getting your money faster, you’ll be well on your way to improving your cash flow. You should invoice the client as soon as possible, weekly, at milestones, or as soon as the job is done.

(h) Assign a Collections Owner
Don’t assign collections to a receptionist or office manager unless you’ve made it clear where it fits on the priority list and given them sufficient time to do it right. A receptionist can’t make collection calls if he or she also has to answer the phone. This is a cash flow mistake a lot of businesses make simply because the person making the call doesn’t want to do it, hasn’t been trained in conducting effective collections calls; and isn't given sufficient time for this time consuming, stressful task. As a result, collections becomes a low-priority job. One option is to have the sales person be accountable for the collection process. If they get paid when the company gets paid, you’ll have someone incented to make sure you get your money. A bad collections process will lead to unnecessary cash flow problems. Collections are often the last
thing anyone wants to do, so oftentimes it rarely gets done well.
(i) Call Clients 5 Days before Bills are due
Most people wait until the invoice is 30 days past due to make the first call. That’s a big mistake.
Your first call to a client should occur between three and five days before the invoice is due.
Frame it as a client service call to check on the client's level of satisfaction while also checking to
ensure that the invoice was received and understood. And get a commitment as to when you can
expect payment. Be ready to respond to any client service issues. People will tell you what’s wrong with your service delivery model when you are trying to separate them from their cash.

(j) Sort A/R Aging by Amount not alphabetically
When you start the collection process, the first step is to create the aged A/R report. Sort the aged A/R report by largest amount, not by account name. Most accounting systems default their accounts receivable aging to an alphabetical listing. This puts the A’s up front. Instead, sort your A/R aging reports by the highest amount owed. Focus on the largest balances, and you'll get the greatest returns.

(k) Follow the 3 F's of Collections: Be Firm, Focused, & Friendly
Be Firm
If you get a pay date commitment, you can call the day before and say, “We have you in our system for payment tomorrow. Can we count on that payment?”
Be Focused
If the client gives you any feedback about your service, make sure you’re listening carefully and
address any concerns immediately. These actions will show that you’re serious about high quality
service-and getting paid.
Be Friendly
Always be friendly and provide the highest-level customer service you can to help them through the process and make it minimally stressful for them as possible. This will help the customer feel
comfortable and eager to help resolve the late payment issue.

(l) Establish a Written Credit Policy
In addition to checking credit worthiness, make sure you have a written credit policy. This credit
policy should be included in the terms and conditions of your proposal or contract and referenced in your invoices. Make sure everyone, including the client, knows the details regarding the rules of your company’s billing and collection practices, before you start doing any work. At the very minimum, the written policy should include:
Payment Terms
• When is the balance due? • Who is the person paying the bills? • When does the lient/company pay invoices?
Late Fees
• What are they, and when are they going to be charged? • We recommend between 1.5% (18% annually) and 1.8% (21.6% annually) per month once a payment is late. • “Don’t let your clients’ cash flow problems become your cash flow problems.
Legal Fees
• In the fine print, spell out who will pay attorney fees if you have to go to court to collect your
payment.

(m) Implement Pay Slow Rule
Make sure the person paying the bills doesn’t have a “clean desk” rule. You should pay the bills
when they are due and no sooner. If there are any discounts available, make sure you take all
discounts that anyone offers you. Stretching payables to their due date can improve cash flow by
simple timing, especially in the long run.

(n) Experiment with Your Pricing Model
The number one reason businesses fail, is they’re not pricing their jobs or services right. How well you price your products or services, and the margin that pricing produces, is key to maximizing cash flow. You should put more thought into optimizing your pricing model, as this will have the biggest impact on cash flow. Consider the pricing model that fits best for your business: Value-Based, Fixed Fee, Time & Material, or Milestone Driven. You have to have your prices cover your direct costs. They have to recapture your overhead, and give you a profit. So how do you optimize your pricing model to increase your company's profitability? You turn to your management reports and look at the data. Management reports help you figure out if you are pricing your jobs right, and also to help you to really understand who your most profitable clients are, and what makes them profitable.

11/01/2018

WINNING Business Plans, Company Registrations, Shelf Companies, Company Secretarial Services, Tax Accounting (including ITF263 (Tax Clearances)), Project Proposals, Cashflows & Budgets, Financial Statements, Annual Returns, Business Coaching. TEAM BUILDING. Printed stationery ~ Business cards & Letterheads, Fast typing and Printing. Phone: 0775 604 762 / 0772 853 402 / 04 - 701386 .. Email: [email protected] / [email protected]. Skype: christopher.matinanga .. Address: 19 Van Praagh Avenue, Milton Park, Harare, Zimbabwe

14/09/2017

Your Most Powerful Competitive Advantage

We tend to think that our competitive advantages are based on our products’ performance, or our low costs of production.

Sure, these are important, but they are not your biggest sources of competitive advantage.

Your biggest source of competitive advantage: Knowledge of your customers!!!

Consider what happens if you know more about your customer than your competitor knows:
• You will know what your customer cares about in ways that your competitor can’t know.
• You will be able to customise your product or service delivery for your customer in ways that your competitor can’t.
• You will be able to personalise your communication with this customer in a way your competitor can’t.
• You will be able to address any problems or disappointments your customer has in ways that your competitor can’t.

Additionally, if you not only know your customer really well, but ensure your customer recognizes that you know them really well, your customer will appreciate you more than the competition. This is due to my differentiation paradox: Customers often think we are different not because we are different, but because we recognize what makes them different.

Now, ask yourself: Is customer knowledge a proficiency and a priority in our company? Do we know a lot about our customers? Do we have good mechanisms for gathering customer knowledge?

If your answers to these questions are “No,” you are missing potential competitive advantage. Here’s what you should do:

• Create a “culture of customer curiosity” in your company. Imagine if everyone in your company had a burning, natural interest in knowing as much about customers as possible.
• Talk to them! Sure you can do surveys, but if you really want to know what customers care about you need to engage in deep, probing conversations with them.
• Watch them! You can learn a lot by observing customers’ behaviour. When do they buy from you? How often? What do they buy? What do they return, and when? When do they contact you? What do they say to you?

10/07/2017

3 Powerful Ways to Find Meaning in Difficult Times
Leadership is tough. Without a deep sense of meaning you’re probably going to give up long before you’ve reach your destination.
You should never embark on the challenging task of leadership without a deep sense of meaning. Meaning is at the very foundation of great leadership.
“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
The drive to find meaning is the “primary motivational force in man”, meaning is what gives people the resilience necessary to overcome painful experiences. Life is not the quest for pleasure, power and riches, life is a quest for meaning.
Let’s explore the three most important sources of meaning, Doing Purposeful Work, Belonging and Courage in difficult times.
1. Doing Purposeful Work
Meaning comes from doing purposeful work. Purposeful work is not about the kind of work you do, rather it’s about why you do the work you do. It’s not about what you do, it’s how you see what you do.
“Purpose is a stable and generalised intention to accomplish something that is at once meaningful to the self and of consequence to the world beyond the self.” – William Damon, Jenni Menon, and Kendall Cotton Bronk, “The Development of Purpose During Adolescence”
The above definition highlights two important factors concerning purpose. Firstly, purpose is a kind of goal, the researchers describe purposeful goals as being “more stable and far-reaching than low-level goals such as ‘to get to the movie on time’”. The first part of purpose then is having a big, forward-looking goal you’re working towards. The second dimension of purpose is an external one, the desire to make a difference “of consequence to the world beyond the self”. Making a difference in the world and in the lives of others is the focus of purposeful work. Sadly, many of the jobs of today fail to provide a strong source of meaning.
“What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him.” – Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
2. Belonging
Humans have a deep seated need for belonging. As social beings we need to be understood, to receive affection, to be loved and to feel that we belong. Belonging is one of the most powerful drivers of meaning.
As social beings we crave human interaction, we seek out relationships based on mutual care. It’s these close relationships that increase our sense of meaning. When you’re valued by others, when others treat you as valuable, you believe you’re valuable. It’s this sense of mutual value, community and belonging that provides meaning.
“Having a sense of belonging is to have a relationship with people, or a group of people, that brings about a secure feeling of fitting in. As such, sense of belonging is not the same as simply having social relationships. Nor is it synonymous with having positive, close relationships. Our use of the term belonging is similar to that suggested by Brewer (2008), who proposed that belonging is appropriate for describing group membership, whereas bonding is preferable when discussing close attachments. The current work suggests that belonging, in the sense of fitting in with others, is closely related to finding meaning in life.” – “To Belong Is to Matter Sense of Belonging Enhances Meaning in Life”
Belonging to a social group provides meaning because group membership creates stability, a shared identity and allows us to pursue bigger goals, such as our purposeful work.
3. Your Response to Difficult Times
Leadership happens within a turbulent, hostile and difficult world. It’s recognising we have the power to choose even in the most difficult of circumstances that provides meaning.
Whilst we may not have the power to change a situation, we do have the power to change our attitude towards the situation. This is what Victor Frankl, called the last of the human freedoms. Whilst we cannot choose the forest through which we must walk, we are free to choose our own path, we are free to choose our own way.
“We who lived in concentration camps, can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” – Viktor Frankl, Man’ s Search for Meaning
Every hour of every day you’re faced with a decision, the decision to submit to a set of circumstances that seek to rob from you, your self and your freedom, seeking to make you a victim. How will you respond? What attitude will you choose in life’s difficult situations? Those inmates “who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread”, chose freedom over being a victim, they chose a different response and in so doing they found meaning. The kind of person that a prisoner becomes is the result of an inner choice and not the result of the terrible conditions of the concentration camp.
Even in the most difficult of life circumstances you can decide what will become of you. When the world is pressing against you, seeking to push you around. How do you respond? What is your reaction? What attitude will you choose?
Viktor Frankl’s insight is that we can find meaning in even the most difficult of situations by choosing how you’ll respond. The first step is to be aware that in any situation you have a choice, that how you respond to life is a choice. You can have everything taken from you, except the last freedom, the freedom to choose your attitude in any given situation.
Your Turn
Here are some questions to challenge you to find meaning in the midst life’s difficulties.
• Purposeful Work: Purposeful work is focused on improving the lives of others. Are you leading people by providing purposeful work? Is your leadership work having a positive impact on the lives of others? How can you reframe your job to focus on serving others?
• Belonging: As we spend the majority of our time at work it’s critical for leaders to develop a sense of belonging for their organisations and teams. For leaders this means leading through influence not the exercise of power, caring for the people they lead and building positive team norms and psychological safety. How can you increase the sense of belonging in the groups you’re a member? How can you help others feel that they belong?
• Your Response to Difficult Times: As a leader in this fast changing world you will go through difficult and challenging times, you will experience suffering, to find meaning in these difficult times you will need to learn to suffer well. Leading others through difficult times requires you choose your attitude and that you help others to choose theirs wisely. What attitude do you choose during difficult times? How can you help others choose the right attitude and not become victims of circumstance?

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