Dubai: As if emerging from a downturn was not difficult enough, regional businesses are now left to ponder what to do in a societal landscape that has changed beyond recognition in just over a month. But the one thing that they cannot afford to do is do nothing in reaction to what's happening on the out.
Robin Sharma, bestselling author, motivational speaker and leadership consultant, says passivity on the part of businesses will be nothing less than detrimental. "Any business that adopts the strategy of ‘Let's do what we have always done' to ride out a storm is likely to be a business that's going to be obsolete in the next few years," said Sharma on the phone from Kuwait City.
"When I work with an organisation, I can tell the business is in trouble by how many people say ‘This is the way we always done it here' while chatting next to the water cooler," said Sharma, author of the seminal The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.
Calculated risks
"The best businesses disrupt the way they thought and performed yesterday and bring fresh value. What's innovation is being better today than what you were yesterday.
"Yes, the smart business people are paying attention [to what's happening] and taking a cautious approach. And yet, disruption is an excellent time to gain market share."
It may take time for local and regional businesses to assimilate the do-something message. In recent weeks, they have shied away from even a mention of Egypt or Bahrain in any corporate statements they have. The predominant sentiment among them is of ‘wait and watch'.
Sharma is no fan of such mindsets. "The measure of a leader is not how he responds during times of ease but during times of great disruption," said Sharma, who will be in Dubai next week for the second CEO Forum in du's Leadership Series.
"This time is built for great leadership. And the best organisations are going to pay attention to what's occurring in society and the economy at large.
"At the same time they are going to take calculated risks and going to bring new and unusual forms of value to all their stakeholders."
And if Sharma had his way, businesses — and not just confined to this region — should just do away with the straitjacket that titles can often be on employees. He will be making a strident pitch at the Dubai summit.
"It's no longer valid for companies to say only CEOs or VPs can show leadership," said Sharma, who recently brought out the theme in the book The Leader Who Had No Title.
"Anyone working in any organisation can show leadership within their work. For a company to win, they must make the commitment to grow leaders at all levels faster than the competition.
"For me that's a very powerful idea — for instance, those in accounting can show leadership and so can the ones in sales. You can lead even if you don't have a title, and that has really touched a chord in a lot of people.
"The 1,000-employee company is now the 1,000-leader organisation.
Cult of Apple
"What makes Apple the company it is? The man or woman on the street loves Apple, and there's a reason they call it the cult of Apple. It's the culture of leadership versus the culture of fear."
Businesses may be able to sell the message of change to their stakeholders or employees, but where's the guarantee that it will even register with a wider audience? More so in a post-recession environment where confidence in Big Business is at unprecedented lows.
"Change is always nastiest in the middle," said Sharma. "If you look at the most admired companies in the world right now, it's Nike according to Fortune magazine. How did it become one?
Evolution
"It certainly wasn't because of one grand initiative. It wasn't by revolution, but through evolution. I know Nike had some sweatshop problems, but they have overcome them.
"Look at Berkshire Hathaway, look at Warren Buffett — through all this mess he stayed true to his values and came through it relatively unscathed. One of the secrets of a great business success is small, daily iterations that over time create massive results."
But despite the wider public's rant about fat cats and their six-figure bonuses, isn't it true that there aren't many business leaders who are selling off their Ferraris?
"I am a believer in being paid for performance — if CEOs and positional leaders are making money for their stakeholders, I have no issue with them being paid very, very well," said Sharma.
"They are the ones creating value and they receive money out of it as a by-product. I don't see anything wrong with that whatsoever."