Leadership Lessons From Disruption

Due to the shortage of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic prices are experiencing an increase by 15% and 40% depending on material type according to Malaymail.

With shortages now disrupting supply chains across industries, manufacturers are switching packaging to deal with the current disruption. How long will the disruption last? No idea.

One thing we can be sure is that disruptions are constant in business, how leaders respond to it is key. This is where effective leadership comes into play.

In this article I like to highlight 3 lessons that can be learned from the current situation and some questions for you to think about in each of the lessons that I share.

3 leadership lesson that we can take from this current situation

1.Being prepared beats being surprised

Most disruptions feel sudden but the thing is, there are signals or alerts given way before the disruptions actually takes place.

When we miss the signs, the disruptions causes a lot of damage if not prepared well.

How do we prepare in advance? Before a disruption takes place?

There are certain structured question frameworks that you can use to prepare in advance.

One of such example is asking the scenario questions.

a) what if supplier is not able to deliver on time?

b) what if there are no raw materials in stock ?

c) what if price plummets below margin price?

There are other different types of question that can be asked to help businesses and leaders to respond better to disruptions. Usually in trainings, I help participants to think outside the box by giving them a set of questions to think on.

With the answers that are given, I usually ask them to come up with a plan that helps them to put into practically with the solutions that they came up with.

2. Innovation should be constant, not reactive

Innovation is not something you do only during a crisis. I believe innovation is a lifeline for the business.

Businesses that spend resources on innovation will lead and capture greater market share.

One such great example will be Apple and the various products that they have developed over the years because of innovation.

In order for innovations to be taking place in businesses or offices, the right questions should be asked such as

a) How can we improve this further?

b) What is a better way of doing this?

c) Can we make this simpler or more efficient?

When we ask the right questions, we get the right answers!

3. Adaptability determines survival

Plans will fail, situations will change and the key will remain on how adaptable you are to the disruption.

If you look at the disruption as something negative, you might not see the opportunity behind it. Therefore it is important to look at the positive side of it.

Here a few questions to help you see the opportunity behind disruptions.

a) What can I learn from this?

b) What do I need to learn so that I can overcome this?

c) How is it helping me or my business?

An example of being adaptable is to be willing to let go of old ways of doing things and being open to learning new things and new skills.

It could be even using AI as part of your business risk analysis.

End of the day disruptions are bound to happen, leadership plays an important role as to whether the disruption is used as a springboard for the business or the business struggles with the impact of disruption.

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About The Author

I help individuals, teams, and organizations unlock their full potential by helping them develop the right mindset, build stronger leaders, and become better communicators — equipped with the skills and NLP-based strategies needed to succeed in today’s world. For training enquiries or consultation please connect with me on Linkedin

Connect on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/jobthecoach

Job Manikkam (jobthecoach@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!

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