Do you want to lead more effectively, especially during difficult times? Consider your leveraging these strategies as you work to nimbly navigate the unexpected, and sometimes thorny, pace of change.

Whatever the size, most businesses face many of the same challenges. There are the tasks of maximizing profits, minimizing expenses and finding talented staff to keep things moving seem to be top challenges.

What is different is how these challenges are prioritized.  Here are five challenges facing businesses of all sizes.

1. Growing revenue.

Growing revenue is deemed a top challenge for businesses. Organizations face relentless pressure to think of growing revenue as causal to expanding their customer bases and dealing with HR issues.

2. Hiring employees.

Hiring is the biggest challenge. Acquiring and retaining top talent is difficult. Developing underperformers is equally important. Concerns are employees who would not recommend their organizations as a top place to work. There are real concerns that higher performers will choose to start their own business instead of working for a competitor. 

3. Increasing profit.

Small organizations with less than fifty employees struggle most to increase profit and sustain a viable cash flow. Businesses of all sizes appear to struggle with profitability. With easy entrant competitors, the urgency to increase profitability and market share do not cease. In fact, the pace has only quickened. This is why more than ever, the human element is more important than merely the abdication to policies.  

4. Government regulations.

This challenge is prevalent with leaders frequently expected to adjust their behaviors to ensure regulatory compliance. This includes laws related to securing customer data and worrying about the impact of a minimum wage increase on their operations. As businesses grow, governmental compliance occupies a greater share of their leaders’ time.

Each business has its own challenges. Change i.e. competitive advantage demands the cultivation of the human element.

The Center for Creative Leadership arrived at several ways to successfully confront these challenges. 

1. Improving Effectiveness: the challenge of developing relevant skills such as time-management, prioritization, strategic thinking, decision-making, and getting up to speed with the job — to be more effective at work. 

2. Motivating Others: the challenge of inspiring or motivating others to ensure they’re satisfied with their jobs and working smarter. 

3. Developing Employees: the challenge of developing others, including mentoring and coaching. 

4. Leading a Team: the challenge of team-building, team development, and team management. Specific leadership challenges include how to instill pride, how to provide support, how to lead a big team, and what to do when taking over a new team. 

5. Guiding Change: the challenge of managing, mobilizing, understanding, and leading change. Guiding change includes knowing how to mitigate consequences, overcome resistance to change, and deal with employees’ reactions to change. 

6. Managing Stakeholders: the challenge of managing relationships, politics, and image. These leadership challenges include gaining managerial support, managing up, and getting buy-in from other departments, groups, or individuals.

We believe building a high-performance company can’t be the involvement of leaders alone. It takes the collaboration, innovation, and trust of employees everywhere. Just like you, we are husbands and wives, significant others, passionate employees and underperformers thirsting to do more. Will you join us?

About Jim Woods

Jim is President of Woods Kovalova Group located in Denver, CO. Working globally on every continent, Jim and his team have advised and trained Fortune 1000 companies, U.S. Military, Government, small businesses and individuals seeking performance improvement. Jim is a former U.S. Navy Seabee and earned a master’s degree in organizational development and human resources. He has taught leadership and human resources at Villanova, Colorado Technical University and Dickinson University. To have Jim work with your organization schedule an appointment here.