Business in 2022

 

Perhaps 2022 seems like a moment of decision for you. 

Congratulations on arriving here. Tony Robbins always says, “It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.”

The fact is we make decisions all the time. Everything we do is a destiny-shaping moment. People always say that where you are now is just the result of the decisions you have made up to this point. 

When I am in a great place, this feels empowering but when I am in a stressful time, this statement can feel overwhelming if I let it. The reason it can feel this way is what comes along with it. If you don’t love where you are at in your life and leadership, perhaps you have made some decisions that haven’t best supported you thus far. 

I know many leaders who were at the top of their game, when COVID happened and things that seemed out of their control spiraled them or their businesses into places they didn’t ever foresee happening. 

Many leaders and businesses are thriving during this time. They chose to make some quick, forward-thinking decisions for their businesses that put them in front of opportunity and gain. 

The goal of this isn’t to determine if you made good or bad decisions. The goal is to empower you that you ultimately get to decide. You get to be self-aware, in control of your emotions, and ultimately empowered to choose what you focus on. You can look at the lack and loss of the last few years or you can look at the possibilities, opportunities, and gains. It truly is a matter of focus. 

Look back at why you decided to lead, what was your passion, purpose, and motive. Is that still true for you today? If it is, how can you accomplish that despite the controllable and uncontrollable situations in your life? There is always a way for the determined business leader. 

I believe in you and know business will be better with you engaged, focused, and hungry for success this year. 

Go get it!

Best, 

Manal

Leaders Are Readers

 

As I think of 2021, I think of growth and a new era of leadership. The world has grown, shifted and adapted to what is. 

Leaders had to decide how to make themselves different from their competitors. They had to be innovative and quick in order to set themselves apart from others. Today’s leader has had to learn a new skill this year - virtual management. Running a team virtually requires increased communication, trust and the art of delegation and inspecting what was expected.

In 2022, I foresee an increase in the ability to show empathy, compassion and foresee a new trend in mastering video communication and a new genre of leaders that are excellent at disruptive change management. 

As we wrap up one year and head into another, you might have some time to read over the next few weeks. 

Here are 10 leadership books that can help you expand your thinking of what will be expected of great leadership in the new year.

1. Ruthless Consistency: How Committed Leaders Execute Strategy, Implement Change, and Build Organizations That Win 

2. Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity

3. The EQ Deficiency: How Emotional Intelligence and Compassion Can Cure an Emotional Pandemic, Solve Our "People Problems" and Be a Catalyst for Positive Change

4. The Gumbo Coalition: 10 Leadership Lessons That Help You Inspire, Unite, and Achieve

5. Humanocracy: Creating Organizations as Amazing as the People Inside Them

6. Around the Corner to Around the World: A Dozen Lessons I Learned Running Dunkin Donuts

7. The Ends Game: How Smart Companies Stop Selling Products and Start Delivering Value 

8. How to Lead: Wisdom from the World's Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers

9. Your Hidden Superpower: The Kindness That Makes You Unbeatable at Work and Connects You with Anyone

10.  Work Disrupted: Opportunity, Resilience, and Growth in the Accelerated Future of Work

Best, 

Manal

The 2022 Leader

When the COVID-19 pandemic first happened, everyone was in a new place of figuring life out. Leaders had to shift quickly to provide a higher level of providing digital or convenient experiences. The new mantra in business was fast, easier, seamless and convenient.   

Consumers were initially forgiving of companies struggling with pandemic related disruptions but people are no longer as tolerant as we move forward.  Just think about you and your own family. You can now get instant access to entertainment, refill prescriptions online and get same day groceries with Amazon Fresh. The era of digital transformation has come and gone. It is now passe and expected.

This expectation will impact both careers and business survivorship. The 2022 focus will be human centered technology initiatives. All this rapid response technology, innovation and mass adoption has replaced and will continue to replace a lot of human workers. Essentially dehumanizing the customer experience and making us all crazy mad and irritated along the way. It is already starting to happen with automated phone voice systems, chat message bots, self-serve checkouts, and the inability to reach a well-trained human being who cares and who is actually empowered to solve your problem.

If you want to be at an advantage in this brave new world ahead, then you need to learn to lead the way and deliver what the automated robots and systems cannot. You need to lead in delivering the essential value of the human touch, the human heart layered on top of these new high tech solutions. 

Let’s look at the future consumer. Consumers rapidly increased their technology adoption and their usage demands and expectations for immediacy and instant gratification will only accelerate in the year ahead. Consumers have much higher expectations that not only will digital experiences work well but they will expect them to be seamless across communication channels. They want a consistent experience across every touchpoint and they expect relevancy, personalization and speed. Speed is the new currency in business. Consumers are now surrounded by speed. The world's information is at our fingertips in nanoseconds. You can bark at Alexa or Siri for anything that you want. You can order any size car you want, with a few clicks of your phone and it will magically pull up in front of you in under three minutes. You've got to be ready to meet these new expectations this new year. 

If you haven’t started thinking about how you can provide your same service faster, easier, seamlessly and conveniently in 2022, start there. 

Leadership will look like it has never before looked as we enter a new year.

Best, 

Manal