Innovation key to making it in business

14 Dec, 2018 - 00:12 0 Views
Innovation key to making it in business

eBusiness Weekly

Robert Gonye
The Gregorian calendar year draws to its end. We not only celebrate our businesses surviving quite a turbulent calendar year, but we raise our glasses to the teams that made the year a success. As a business owner, take time to thank the team that held fort in various capacities to make this year happen. It is a mark of a true leader to acknowledge and reward team efforts.

As we prepare to loosen our ties and take well deserved breaks, this week’s article will also take a break from sales and will instead give attention to the bosses. Sales have been made, bonuses might or might not have been paid out, and now we look forward to a new year. What sort of leader ought you be in the coming year? We take a look at a few traits you might want to work on in preparation for the coming calendar year. Think of it as your year-end retreat course.

Assertiveness is a trait associated with the most successful leaders. It is a skill that allows one to talk his way into getting a supplier to deliver a product after hours, negotiate with the purchasing department of a client to accept a certain bargain or literally talk yourself into a mega deal. Assertiveness is not in one’s genes. It is a trait that is cultivated. And the good thing is it has nothing to do with your economic class, race, tribe, or anything inherently notable. Assertive leaders know what to say to whom, when to say it, and how to say it for maximum effect.

How to cultivate assertiveness? Practice. The fact that you are where you are as a leader speaks something of the levels of assertiveness in you. Keep on cultivating it. There still is more climbing room. Assertive leaders shift the balance of power and are not intimidated by authorities higher than them.

Thinking outside the proverbial box. Narrow minded people limit their chances and levels of success. We all have our comfort zones, in business as in our personal lives. But success is more often than not found outside of these comfort zones. And the world and markets often zip by while we are cooped up in our comfort zones.

Innovation is key to making it in any business. Ponder on this: Fiber optics, the key to current-day telecommunications were originally used in the aerospace industry. Suffice to say that somebody did away with the proverbial box and saw the possibilities of fiber optics in a different field. In a similar manner, learn to look at possibilities where there might seem to be none. For instance, could your sales team use a technique which has not been used in your field before?

Innovation is the reason such services as mobile money transfers are in existence today. And they keep evolving, adding more facets to the existing ones. A mere two decades ago we would have marvelled at the thought of not having bank books, or managing our moneys from hand held phones.

How to be innovative? Learn to juxtapose situations. What if questions are important to ask oneself. As you enjoy your holidays, look at how other businesses which might not be remotely related to yours do things. Seek new ways, new technologies. Borrowing may be the start of innovation. Remember, innovation is not inventing. It is simply doing things differently.

Read widely. We are living in a fast paced world. Knowledge becomes obsolete faster than goods on a shelf reach their “sell by” dates. With the life span of knowledge being so short, reading aids in keeping one updated on current trends. Reading also aids in opening one’s mind to possibilities, a trait necessary for innovation. As much as one may have tacit knowledge, reading contextualises that knowledge. Readers are dynamic and always have their fingers on the appropriate information.

Gone are the days when running a successful business was a matter of having start up capital and an itch for success. In an increasingly globalising world, a paradigm shift has been necessitated and readers know that there is always something new to be learned.

How to read? If you are not naturally inclined to read, do not panic. Start small. The fact that you are reading this article means something. Keep on. From short articles like this one to longer ones. Discipline yourself and make a schedule. This will flow into a habit. Like eating olives, a taste for reading can be acquired. And remember to read widely, not wildly.

Define what you seek. The ancestor to every action is thought. Attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson, this statement is an attestation of the need for objectives in all we do. What are your objectives? What do you seek? A leader knows what needs to be achieved before setting it out to the team. It is not enough to merely want to sell.

To what end? Neither is it enough to want to make profits. What you seek should be quantifiable. Set out your goals. And these should be within reasonable parameters. This is not to say one should not dream big. By all means, do dream big. But remember to align your dreams to what you seek. As with reading, dreaming should not be wild. Focus your energies, resources, and mental powers to that which you have defined and actively seek.

How to do it? We all have many different ideas running through our heads at any given time. Sift through these and set your mind on one or another reasonable number depending on your ability to execute and the size of the idea and of your resources. Ask yourself what is important to you for now, and later. While “carpe diem” is widely accepted and popular, think too of the future. What impact will what you seek now have on what you want for your future. Define your value system. This will help put your business goals in tandem.

This list is in no way exhaustive. Another instalment of this article will add more.

The views given herein are solely for information purposes; they are guidelines and suggestions and are  not guaranteed to work in any particular way.

Robert Gonye is a Business Growth Expert and Influencer. He writes in his personal capacity. Comments and views: [email protected] twitter@robert_gonye.

 

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