Leading and succeeding in a downturn – Best Guide

A downturn is the time where the true leaders are identified. One of the main things that a leader should focus on during leading in a downturn is that the leader should never look like he or she is worried. It makes your employees worried also. You have to stay confident.

WHAT’S IN IT

Major Mistakes While Leading in the Downturn

Focusing only on one Problem

Mostly whenever a problem comes into any person’s life, it is observed that most of the people just focus on the problem and complain to god, blaming someone else for their conditions. 

Leaders are also human. If a downturn comes in the company, the leader focuses on fixing one thing and the rest of the things are also ruined because they lack focus on those things. Great leaders should continue the operations which are running in the company while leading in a downturn. 

Behaviour with the employees

Another mistake while leading in a downturn is not focusing on our employees. This is one of the main mistakes that almost every leader makes while leading in a downturn. Employees also know there is a downturn coming in the company.

So, they are trying to work hard. In such cases, the leaders should not increase their work too much. Maybe in the initial days it brings you good results but eventually, the employees will start burning out. Employees understand if some day you give them extra work but, it should not be the routine for them.

Otherwise, they will leave the company and manpower will also start decreasing. And remember that you are leading in a downturn, so the companies will not be able to find equally skilled employees immediately.

You should not increase employees’ work too much. If you will stop paying the bonus to them while leading in a downturn, then it is ok. They can understand this. Just be nice to your employees. They will stand by you in the crises.

Not taking experts to advise

You must know how expensive business consultancy charges are. Still, most of the businessmen are ok with spending that much money on that. Why? Because a true leader knows the value of the expert’s advice. Every single coin you spend on the experts’ advice will help you for leading in a downturn.

I would recommend that the leader must hire an expert business consultant, no matter you are leading in a downturn or upturn. And if you are not okay with it, then you should read books and articles on the internet which have explained how the leader should act in the crises.

Read about some famous businessmen, and notice how they lead their company in crises. And if you’re reading this article that means you have done the right things.

Becoming problem-oriented

You must have heard the terms problem-oriented and solution-oriented. Problem-oriented are those people who just keep complaining to god about their problem, always thinking why this problem came into my life.

Being problem-oriented is a bad habit that you should just leave. No matter there is a downturn or an upturn in your organisation but being problem-oriented is always a problem.

A leader should always be solution-oriented no matter you are leading in a downturn or upturn. This means, instead of complaining about the thing crying and asking why me, you should focus on how you can solve the problem.

Leaders’ attitude while leading in the downturn

The leader is the role model of the team members. So, he should focus on his attitude while leading in a downturn, which is inspiring his or her team members.

• First of all, leaders should stay positive and confident, so your team will not panic and feel safe.
• Leaders should make more effective strategic plans and send them to their team. Thus, your team will have a proper direction to work. And they will also notice that the leader is confident that we will overcome this.
• According to your company, you should know when to slow down and when to speed up. But still, i will suggest that not try to speed up too much during a downturn.
• Leaders should re-analyze the operation and projects are running in their company. Find out the flows in the strategy and try to fix it.
• Not only high authorities have good ideas and strategy. If you will ask the employees then they can also suggest a great plan, then it’s on to you whether you want to execute it or not.

Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerburg has allowed the people working under him that they can stop him in between if they are thinking there is something wrong or they want to suggest something.

• Analyze your competition, what they are doing. Find out the good strategy they are applying and try to take out something great from them. And apply this thing to your strategy.
• Filter the employees who are not working properly and also break the team’s motivation. After you will start firing the lazy people, the rest of your employees will start working sincerely.

Points to remember while  leading in a downturn as well as an upturn

1. As mentioned in the above passage, leaders should always be solution-oriented.
2. Try to understand everyone’s point of view and respect your employees’ suggestions. At Least listen to them, and if it is not appropriate then the leader should explain to the employee why his idea is not considerable.
3. A leader should have the skill to identify the talent, Giving a person the work in what he is good at, then the person will work with his heart. And a leader can get maximum output from his employee this way.
4. The leader should work harder than the employees. This way the employees will also keep motivated and most importantly, they will respect you and obey your orders.
5. There should be common dreams between the team to achieve the goals. If employees are not treating the goal of the team as their own goal, there will be a gap between your team. So, make sure that your team has a common goal.
6. Be polite with everyone and accept their way of living. Don’t suggest them every small thing. otherwise, they will be frustrated. Give a little bit of freedom to them.
7. A leader should not blame anyone else for his own mistake. He or she should accept their own mistake. Everyone can understand that if you are a human you can make mistakes. If you will blame your team for the failure they will start hating you.
8. Maintain a good relationship with your employees. So, whenever a downturn will come they will support you.
9. A leader has been given a great responsibility. Always keep in your mind that your team is influenced by you. So, keep working hard so your team will also understand the value of the goal.

Conclusion

In this blog post, we discussed how to lead and succeed in a downturn? using some point like Major mistakes while leading in the downturn, Leaders’ attitude while leading in the downturn and another thing.

This is the responsibility of a leader that he should take care of the team members and train them to face all the ups and downs. Real leaders always look forward and keep walking irrespective of the adverse conditions.

They also inspire others and appreciate everybody for their genuine efforts, no matter if the results are not promising. They give them a chance to improve. If you like this post so shear and read our other blog post.

Also, you can read our blog on Albrecht’s four types of stress-managing common pressures

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