“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves” William Shakespeare
I was in a meeting earlier this week and what the speaker – the CEO of a large IT company in Africa spoke on, was instructive. She had narrated her experience on how she imbibed the philosophy of “Taking Control of Her Destiny’ to turnaround the fortunes of a previous company she was leading. External market conditions had turned their revenue projections upside down – exchange rates nose-dived, the political situation was in a turmoil.
Interestingly, as I reflected on this, it is often so easy to blame external factors and conditions for not enabling us to achieve our personal and business goals. At some point along the journey, she decided “enough was enough”! She and her team were going to take control of their destiny. That singular decision marked a turning point in the history of the company. The revenues for that year was the highest it had ever been. Guess what? The external market conditions had not improved!
During the question and answer session, I asked her what were the three critical actions she took to take control of their destiny. These were the actions she took, and I will like to share them with you:
- Work together as a team and towards a common goal – It was either she and her team sank or swam. She had to rally her team together and get everyone to believe they could pull through this major challenge together. Other personal goals were secondary to the primary goal of turning around the fortunes of the company. It is important for the leader to clearly communicate the primary objective and why everyone must be aligned to this goal. It is also important to communicate how achieving the primary goal will help you achieve your personal goals. For example, if the company makes or exceeds budget, employees will receive bonuses and go for desired training to improve their skills.
- Focus on the Priorities that you have some control over – In her case, she decided that moving forward, the company will no longer make a particular sector a priority. The company had little or no control over the outcome of the business transactions they were working on. As I thought about this point, I thought about times when I have focused on what I had no control over and as a result, I was static in the area. What about you? What areas in your personal or business life are you focusing on, that you may not be able to influence the outcome? It is much wiser to focus on areas where your efforts can determine a desired outcome.
- Make difficult decisions – During that challenging season, some difficult decisions had to be made. In her case, she had to let go of some employees until the situation changed. This point is an area I need to improve on. There are seasons where it is critical to be decisive in making a difficult decision to enable you keep growing and move forward. This is of course after a comprehensive review of the situation has been conducted. This may involve prune your loss-making business units, cut ties with unhealthy relationships etc.
While you cannot change some conditions around you, you really can take the needed steps and have control of your destiny!!
Which of these actions do you need to work on to take control of your destiny?