Walk into any modern bookstore, find the business section and look up on the shelves. It’s a pretty safe bet you’ll see more than a few books on leadership–charismatic, situational, you name it, it’s there. But when it comes to leadership for increasing revenue, there’s not much out there, and there should be. The key to effective leadership and ultimately success is based on making sure you have the right people surrounding you?
My focus on people isn’t to garner a “feel good” working environment, but to drive business success. I look to find how I can help organizations get to better places. I’m looking for real business achievement–increased revenue, retained earnings, ROI, these are the sorts of things I’m trying to help with. My argument is always that while there are several different ways to do it, the single most efficient way is through people.
You’re Biggest Asset is Right in Front of You
You can buy your way to higher revenue, but then you have the cost of the buying. You can leverage your way, merge, even force your way, but if you want sustainable, increased revenue and earnings, you’re going to have to use your people. Human capital is an asset, a resource that doesn’t require an additional financial capital purchase and they’re right in front of you.
Recognizing the Impact of People
I tell clients we can hit different revenue or earnings targets simply by finding out why we’re not hitting them today. If an organization is looking to increase revenue, I tell them to just go ahead and do it. “Sure”, they say, “It’s not that simple.” Why isn’t it that simple? Why don’t you have access to some of these large clients? What’s keeping you from doing this or that? In almost every case, the answer to all of these questions is never, “Because we need to purchase a different piece of equipment;” it’s always about the people.
Businesses know when they need increased revenue or decreased operating costs. My argument is that it’s through effective leadership that you’re going to get it. Most organizations fail to realize that the key to reaching these tactical objectives isn’t some big mystery–it’s people. I help them understand how to use objectives, like increased revenue, profitability together with leadership, but unless leadership is aligned with long-term goals (or is congruent) it will never work.
