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This post was originally published in Linkedin by Doug Wilson - Chief Solution Design Officer at 9By9Solutions on August 15, 2014. You can reach through the above link to read the article.

What are the Core Leadership and Management Skills?

Today many organizations are failing to achieve their full potential due to the managerial shortcomings and a lack of strategic thinking and implementation.

It is clear that we have to overcome these weaknesses and improve our leadership and management capabilities. This is increasingly necessary to create a culture where companies have the ambition, confidence, resilience and skills to respond to the current economical challenges and compete successfully both locally and globally.

We are living in a highly competitive business world. The local and global competition is increasing.

Some companies are failing and some others are generating profit and growth. If we look at the Fortune 500 list, we can see that some of them failed and some of them survived and grew. There are also new companies that are listed in over 1955 due to the changes in technology, products, services, lifestyle, culture, customer needs and urbanization.

When I look at the business world, innovation opportunities in growth and profitability for companies will come from the fields of climate/energy, health/nutrition, mobility, security and communication by using high technologies.

These high technologies, successful leadership and good education and training are the drivers of strategic marketing and innovation and also new products, processes and services in the global business world to have high competition power. Of course service and technological innovations should be linked to create success.

I have worked in pharmaceutical and food industries more than 28 years. During this period I worked with different leaders/managers. I have effectively managed factory start ups, organizational structuring, marketing, sales, production operations, supply, controlled agricultural production, quality, R&D, new product development, regulatory management, exporting, importing, and communication with external companies, government agencies, associations and others. All of these provided my achieving strong experience, know-how and excellent skills to creating excellence in business.

In today’s business world people want their leaders to be visible, consistent, inspiring, authentic, clear, engaging, communicating regularly and freely, and managing performance in a fair and balanced manner, human, demonstrating humility, understanding and strength in their endeavours to lead a high-achieving and competent business.

I know that the core leadership and management skills are crucial for achieving a high performance and competent business. These are;

1- Providing effective leadership
2- Strategy and planning
3- People management
4- Budgeting and financial planning
5- Risk management
6- Fostering innovation and creativity
7- Partnership working with other organizations and networking

Now I want to share top leadership competencies and what they do to create growth, profitability, competitive advantage and high customer value in the company with you according to my experience and know-how. These are;

1- Strong experience, knowledge and personal skills including high emotional intelligence.

2- The ability to create a high candor effect in the organization, collaborators, and customers.

3- Strong authentic leadership skills.

4- Making competitive intelligence on the regular basis.

5- Making long-term sector analysis and if necessary making healthy disengagements.

6- Creating operational excellence and organizational agility and also implementing alignment within the organization.

7- Removing shoddy leaders/managers from the organization and hiring and working with the top skilled people.

8- Managing a true talent policy. Training and developing people on the regular basis.

9- Applying long-termism as a business policy.

10- Developing and implementing a marketing and innovation strategy. It contains short and long-term competitive and systematic marketing and innovation development and implementation strategy.

11- Establishing an innovation department, strong R&D and customer immersion lab and encouraging and nurturing disruptive individuals also.

12- Effectively financing innovation activities. For example top 20 spenders for innovation are spending 8.3% (average value) of their annual sales to R&D. Global innovation 1000 companies had $17.7 trillion in sales in 2013.

13- Creating openness to new ideas from competitors, customers, collaborators, suppliers, other industries and their company.

14- Applying effective quality management and regulatory policy.

15- Considering social and environmental impacts of their products and services.

16- Being faster than competitors.

17- Having high level qualities such as inspiring, integrity, thoughtful, supportive, resilience, collaborative, effective communication, and courage.

18- Building a committed, enthusiastic and proud workforce.

19- Developing and implementing right marketing strategy with tactics. Focusing on product, service, brand, price, incentives, communication and distribution.

20- Defining the ways of changing the playing field through an acquisition, a new product, a new service and/or globalization.

Finally I want to say that hiring and working with truly effective leaders/managers will create a dynamic, aligned and innovative organization that looks at business through a customer’s eyes to achieve a competitive value, sustainable growth, profitability and competitive advantage.

Read in Linkedin: What are the Core Leadership and Management Skills?

Manufacturing Industry and Innovation

I know that customer needs are changing due to the changes in technology, services and culture.

Now we have a hypercompetitive business world. Big corporations, companies, small businesses and countries are competing locally and globally. Therefore manufacturing industry needs new strategies and skills to generate a sustainable growth and profitability to have a continuous competitive advantage. It is clear that our manufacturing capability in a global hypercompetitive business world requires a well planned long-term strategic marketing and innovation policy, competitive intelligence, long-term sector analysis, managing talent, collaborative approach and coordinated response.

Manufacturing industry plays an important role in the economy and provides direct and downstream benefits. It supports the services based economy.

What should companies do to create competitive advantage in manufacturing industry?

1- Bring research investment and industry together.

2- Make a long-term sector analysis.

3- Have a true talent management policy.

4- Have true innovative leadership.

5- Make competitive intelligence.

6- Perform intelligent risk management.

7- Foster new collaborative partnerships that build trust, lead to innovation and deliver commercial benefits and highest customer value.

8- Establish a stronger culture of innovation and collaboration.

9- Establish new trade and innovation relationships, enhance and forge new international networks and collaborations.

10- Foresight on industrial sector disruptions.

11- Understand the paradigm shift in the global manufacturing industry and be in responding a pre-emptive and proactive way to ensure they are at the cutting edge of advanced global manufacturing.

12- Search and invest on technologies and capabilities that are more agile and beneficial to maximise the productivity and customer needs.

13- Search and perform rapid productisation and new processes to bring new products faster to market to drive demand locally and globally.

14- Consider always the social and environmental impact of manufacturing industry on healthy living and a healthy planet.

15- Drive sector sustainability by developing and implementing long-term strategic marketing and innovation policy.

The share of employment in the manufacturing industry will remain under pressure due to the ongoing technological developments and productivity improvements. There will be faster growth in services.

There should be highly customised goods and services within multiple supply chains and they should be agile, low in volume and high value in manufacturing. This brings more innovation, productivity and trade opportunities for companies in manufacturing industry.

It is clear that manufacturing industry should invest in research, competitive intelligence, customer demands, long-term sector analysis, productivity, quality, true leadership, more skills, strategic marketing, innovation, organizational knowledge, improving processes, social and environmental impact of products faster than competitors to create a transient competitive advantage. Leaders and her/his team should have good experience, know-how and skills (including high EQ) in systematic innovation management.

Therefore manufacturing companies should work with innovative and market oriented true leaders and skilled employees to compete in a hypercompetitive business world. They have to produce more, consume less material, use less energy and create less waste in manufacturing industry.

I am confident that innovative manufacturing companies can enjoy a bright and competitive future.

Read in Manufacturing Industry and Innovation

The Secrets of Business Growth and Profitability! Lessons from FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil for Business Leaders!

I am watching FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brasil. It is really fantastic! There are many lessons for manufacturing industries from the World Cup!

I remember well! Raks Music was one of the best company in Turkey and abroad in the music industry. They were producing records for Turkish and export markets. But they failed in time.

There was a famous food brand and it does not exist in Turkey now.

Kodak created and dominated in the photographic film market in the world for a century. They have been the first to invent in digital camera but they failed in commercializing the digital camera successfully.

Other best example is Xerox (pioneer of copy machines). They invented in the desktop PC, email, Ethernet, printer, mouse, etc. but failed to commercialize any of these inventions

Both, Kodak and Xerox failed to focus new markets and technologies because they committed to existing markets and technologies.

When I look at Fortune 500 after 1955, many of them failed.

All of these companies had well-known leaders, organizations, business, brands and products. But the result was not good for them.

Of course, country, geographic location, economy, the number of population, education, the culture of business, culture of innovation, applying short-termism and/or long-termism, sources, climate, skilled people and talent management policy etc. are very important parameters in business success today.

What are the reasons for these failures? I know this issue and focused on how we can create sustainable growth and profitability in a hypercompetitive business world. I provide a master blueprint for companies to design the organization of the future.

True Leadership and highly skilled people:

I see that many companies are failing to find the right person as a leader and skilled talents.There are many reasons for this!

The world economic forum had a survey in 22 countries and 12 industries in 2013. The survey revealed that more than 35% of nearly 40,000 employers are experiencing difficulties in filling vacancies. One of the three employers in the USA has talent shortage.

This shows that American and European companies are facing serious skills shortages. At the same time; there is a high unemployment in many industries in these countries. Talent shortage will be a problem of the next decade.

Many countries are failing to produce enough people with the level of education and skills that companies and organizations need to remain competitive.

I have to say that business and jobs are becoming more complex and companies are increasingly looking for people with different range of abilities, special experience in services or technology or broader functional area or different geographic markets.

I know that competition will increase for skilled staff and there will be hypercompetition between companies to find right leaders and talents for their business.

The success of the business will become increasingly dependent on the ability and skills of its staff and company knowledge in strategic agility and innovation management.

They have to develop and implement a new talent management strategy to be outside of the war for talent.

I am sure that you are watching football matches in FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brasil. It contains amazing and fantastic business lessons for companies!

When I look at to the business of football, we can see the war for managers (leaders) and players to become competitive and create highest customer value. I say this as ’’ the business of being perfect”. When I look at top soccer clubs they have true football managers and players and highest number of supporters (customers). They are in war of managers (leaders) and players (skilled talents).

Therefore companies should find the people with the right degree of experience, know-how and skills (including high EQ) to fill the necessary positions. Otherwise they will fail to create excellence in long-term. Because human capital is creating the success.

Developing and Implementing a Winning Business Strategy:

I know that business strategy is applied to create greater growth and profitability. Therefore the resources are devoted to the customers to retain their loyalty and get them to buy the company’s products and/or services. We have to note that if a strategy is not providing benefits to customers, this strategy will not be successful and drive company out of business.

A well planned, developed and implemented business strategy is crucial for a company to create growth and profitability. This requires leadership, employee engagement and avoiding common pitfalls.

Therefore companies should have the capability to make successful strategic decisions. These can be achieved by ;

1- Managing knowledge and information from internal and external sources.

2- Creating a right company culture.

3- Fostering continuous creativity and systematic innovation through internal and external sources.

4- Continuous reconfiguration or improvement.

5- Recognizing and empowering people.

6- Changing or reconfiguration of business strategy if there is a need and fitting operational decisions with the business strategy.

7- Understanding the nature of competition.

8- Building competitiveness using practical techniques.

9- Developing customer focused assessments.

10- True pricing strategies.

11- True sales force and policy.

12- True marketing people and write strategic marketing policy.

13- True power branding policy.

14- Managing effectively finance and risks.

15- Establishing a business in multi-geographical locations.

Developing and implementing a Sustainable Innovation Strategy and Performing Strategic Marketing & Innovation Management:

Innovation is an important parameter for company strategies to move to a new better position in growth, profitability and creating high customer value.

I know that we can identify individuals as a key component of the innovation process.Their experience, knowledge and skills are very crucial to manage innovation. Firms should effectively manage innovation. Bill Gates confirmed this in 2008:

“The share price is not something we control. We control innovation, sales and profits.”

I have to note that the purpose of a business is to create and retain a customer.

Peter Drucker defined this well:

“Business has only two functions -- marketing and innovation. All the rest are costs.

“Customers pay only for what is of use to them and gives them value”

“Who will do strategic long-term marketing and innovation?”

“People with good experience, know-how and high EQ!”

“Who will have the highest contribution with these products or services?”

Consumers!”

Therefore business should invest in people at first. These people will create a long-term sustainable growth, profitability, transient competitive advantage, and high customer value through systematic marketing and innovation.

Companies should create an innovative culture. They have to be super agile, make continuous reconfiguration, systematic innovation and perform extraordinary closeness to customers.

Excellence in the hypercompetitive business world requires an organization and its customers. It is the intersection of marketing, innovation and the power of human resources and their culture.

When I read the books; “The End of Competitive Advantage - Harvard Business Review Press” by Prof Dr. Rita Gunther McGrath and “Innovation Management - Oxford University Press" by Mark Dodgson, David M. Cann, Nelson Phillips; I found their approaches very effective and correct for innovation management and business success in a hypercompetitive business world for now and future. Therefore companies should have dynamism and it has to be linked to stability. They have to apply innovation as a continuous systematic process.They have to have the capability to make healthy disengagements on time. So that companies can create a transient competitive advantage. Therefore they have to reconfigure their technologies, services, leaders and employees in a high speed or faster than competitors to create growth, profitability and high customer value. Firms have to build a separate innovation management team from business as usual.

Companies should also make a long-term sector analysis and competitive intelligence to plan, develop and implement strategic decisions faster than others.

FIFA World Cup 2014 shows that the most important driving force in business success is the presence of right people having strong experience, know-how and high level skills and capabilities in multi-culture and multi-industry and also applying long-term marketing and innovation strategy, agility and change management in alignment faster than others in a global hypercompetitive business world.

How do you evaluate FIFA World Cup 2014 as a business leader? What are the lessons for your business success?

Read in The Secrets of Business Growth and Profitability! Lessons from FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil for Business Leaders!

How to Succeed in Business? Strategic Leadership and Winning Questions!

When I look at local and global business markets, I see that there is an increasing hypercompetition. Therefore companies should have the right people in their organizations to create a transient competitive advantage. Now it is clear that companies cannot have the permanent competitive advantage.

What is Strategic Leadership in a Hypercompetitive Business World? The answer is not easy. There are a lot of factors!

I think that the following key questions can be valuable for business leaders to create excellence;

Are you effectively managing your company’s strategy-making process?
Do you create a transient competitive advantage? Is it continuous?
Do you make systematic innovations?
Do your leaders/managers select and implement a set of strategies that aim to create growth and profitability?
Do you formulate your short-term and long-term marketing and innovation strategies?
Do you implement your strategies into action? Are they faster than your competitors?
Do you design, deliver, support your products or services? Do you make necessary reconfigurations or improvements?
Do you improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations; and designing your company’s organization structure, talent management policy, control systems and culture?
Do you make regular competitive intelligence?
Do you make market analysis?
Do you have long-term sector analysis and improve your long-term marketing and innovation strategy development and implementation?
Do you have a power branding strategy and communication with your customers?
Do you have right people and talent management policy?
Do you visit your customers?
Do your employees purchase your products? Do you have quality failures?
Do you follow changes in technology, service and culture in short-term and long-term and its global effects?
Do you apply regulatory compliance and respect to your customers?
Do you have social and environmental respect?

I have to define that general and functional managers should use their knowledge, energy and enthusiasm to provide strategic leadership for their subordinates and develop and implement a high-performing organization.

What are the key characteristics of good strategic leaders that do lead to higher performance in the hypercompetitive business world?

These are;
1- Vision, eloquence, and consistency.
2- Articulation of a business model.
3- Commitment.
4- Being well informed.
5- Willingness to delegate and empower.
6- Astute use of power.
7- Emotional Intelligence (EQ).

Strategic leaders have a clear and compelling vision of where the organization should go. They have to energize people in terms of their vision and create an innovative and customer needs focused organizational culture.
They have to identify and articulate the business model of the company in accordance with the main purpose or its vision. They have to create a business model innovation regarding short and long-term growth and profitability.
They have to create a strong commitment to their vision and business model by actions and words and also examples. Strong leaders or managers should create a respect for people in organization and made them more willing to work hard to create excellence in business.
Strong strategic leaders develop a network of formal and informal sources. So that they should take regular and correct information about what is going on within their organization. They have to be careful about gatekeepers. High-performance leaders are skilled at delegation and empowering. They must often play the power game with their skills and attempts to build consensus for their ideas rather than use of their authority to force ideas. They should act as a member of a team.

Strong strategic leaders should have enough emotional intelligence. It is a bundle of psychological attributes that many strong and effective leaders exhibit. 

Read in How to Succeed in Business? Strategic Leadership and Winning Questions!