In their book, Geeks and Geezers: Leading and Learning for a Lifetime, Warren G. Bennis and Robert Thomas refer to defining moments as “crucibles.” These crucibles represent transformative periods of testing from which leaders can emerge either hopelessly broken or powerfully emboldened. It’s been decades since this book on leadership came out but the metaphor of a crucible is fitting for any company and its leaders who emerge stronger and more resilient after enduring severe challenges. Many companies are finding the path to customer-centric organic growth fraught with obstacles, much like the intense heat and pressure within a crucible. In this episode of What’s Your Edge?, we’ll explore how three elements data-driven insights, advantageous excellence, and stellar performance management enable business leaders and boards of directors (BODs) to create something new or bring about change when they emerge from the crucible.

We can use two companies, Microsoft and Maersk, to illustrate this concept. Microsoft, when faced with the challenge of staying relevant in a rapidly evolving tech landscape, shifted its focus to cloud computing, resulting in Azure. Today, Azure is one of top three cloud platforms worldwide with nearly 25% market share and drives 24% of the company’s revenue. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Maersk, the global shipping company, faced severe supply chain disruptions. It made a number of significant investments so it could adapt more quickly to market conditions and customer needs as well as enhance supply chain visibility. While these are both very large companies with extensive resources, leaders and BODs of every company need the ability to come out of the crucible stronger.

Our customers tell us they are being tested on a number of fronts. Below are some of the business challenges most frequently mentioned. Are you as a business leader or BOD member experiencing these same tests?

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• Balancing the adoption of new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), with effective change management
  
• Reskilling current employees or attracting and retaining critical talent
  
• Achieving growth when the supply chains are being impacted by geopolitical tensions
  
• Increasing pressure from customers and regulators to invest in sustainable business practices or rethink your operations and supply chains
  
• Deciding on the right technologies, such as AI, automation, and data analytics, that will drive efficiency and innovation
  
• Making the right level of investment in customer experience to improve customer loyalty, share of wallet, and referral rates
  
• Refining messaging to improve competitive differentiation and accelerate new customer acquisition and new product adoption
  
• Creating customer-centric strategies that deliver customer value and business value
  

Being able to survive and thrive in the face of these challenges tests leaders’ and BODs’ resilience and agility to foster growth. Returning to the metaphor of the crucible, these severe tests can either break an organization or forge it into something stronger and more innovative. Leveraging data-derived insights, focusing on advantageous excellence, and enhancing performance management can help ensure the latter occurs, with businesses withstanding the heat of the crucible and emerging transformed. Let’s examine each element.

Within a crucible, refining agents are a key element since they remove impurities. Data-driven insights act as the refining agents in our metaphorical crucible, guiding companies through their trials and enabling more strategic customer-centric decision-making. We encourage our customers to use these insights to:

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• Pinpoint inefficiencies in processes, such as bottlenecks, redundancies, or waste. By identifying these “impurities,” leaders can streamline operations, reduce costs, achieve advantageous excellence, and improve performance.
  
• Analyze customer data to uncover misalignments between products or services and market demand. This allows for adjusting offerings to better meet customer needs and preferences, removing the “impurities” of ineffective marketing or product development strategies. By identifying and adapting to these trends, companies can innovate proactively, fulfill their brand promise, and maintain a competitive edge in the market.
  
• Identify potential risks and vulnerabilities within the business, such as supply chain disruptions or financial instability. By proactively managing risks, companies can ensure long-term stability and resilience free of “impurities.”
  

Here are five questions we recommend as a starting point to harness the power of data:

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2. If we could learn one thing about our customers that would help us grow faster, what do we need to know?
   
3. How are we performing compared to our competitors?
   
4. How can we optimize our operations to create more customer and business value?
   
5. What are the emerging trends in our industry?
   
6. What are the risks we face?
   

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Heat is the next element. The crucible’s intense heat purifies and strengthens an organization. This relentless pursuit of advantageous excellence creates a high-pressure environment that drives continuous improvement and customer-centric innovation. Companies that embrace this intense heat can withstand the challenges of the crucible and emerge as stronger, more competitive entities. Here’s how we advise our customers to use advantageous excellence to turn up the heat:

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2. Automate routine tasks to increase efficiency: By automating the routine, employees are forced to focus on higher-value activities that drive innovation and growth, enhancing overall productivity.
   
3. Implement lean management to eliminate waste: By constantly pushing to eliminate non-value-added activities and optimize resources, organizations will operate more efficiently and effectively.
   
4. Employ agile practices for rapid adaptation: These practices improve an organization’s ability to respond swiftly to changes in market and customer requirements and pivot as needed.
   
5. Set high-quality standards to maintain excellence: A relentless focus on quality will enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty, facilitating stronger customer value and brand equity.
   
6. Optimize the supply chain, including the data supply chain, to build resilience: By continually refining supply chain processes, businesses can mitigate risks and ensure smooth operations even during crises, maintaining continuity and meeting customer expectations.
   

The third and last element is performance management. By focusing on key performance indicators (KPIs), employee performance, service quality, sales performance, and benchmarking, businesses can drive continuous improvement and innovation, and make quick course adjustments. Here’s how  evolving performance management helps businesses endure the heat:

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2. Select the right KPIs to monitor and drive performance: Identifying and tracking relevant KPIs increases the heat on performance monitoring and improvement. By focusing on measures such as customer retention, employee productivity, and supply chain efficiency, businesses can ensure their initiatives and decisions are aligned with business results.
   
3. Create a culture that encourages employee performance: Culture plays a critical role in ensuring employees remain motivated and focused on achieving organizational objectives.
   
4. Master the basics of service quality: Companies that have quality people providing quality experiences have a competitive advantage. Ensuring high standards of service quality is crucial for organizations that strive to be customer-centric. Service quality enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty, builds a strong reputation and trust, and ensures efficient problem resolution, all of which contribute to a stable and growing customer base. Quality service drives revenue growth through repeat purchases and increased spending. It differentiates a company in a crowded market, attracting customers away from competitors. A commitment to service quality boosts employee morale and productivity, creating a positive work environment that supports overall organizational success. Prioritize service quality to emerge stronger and remain competitive and resilient.
   
5. Prioritize and optimize customer-centric strategies: Customer-centric strategies enable an organization to survive the crucible by delivering exceptional customer experiences that foster satisfaction and loyalty, increasing customer retention and providing valuable insights for tailoring products and services. These strategies help organizations stay ahead of market changes and competitors. They also boost revenue growth through repeat purchases and referrals. Additionally, a strong customer focus builds crisis resilience, as loyal customers continue to support the business during challenging times.
   
6. Identify and quickly remedy areas for improvement: Measures and KPIs provide insight into how companies are performing against targets. Benchmarking, however, provides additional insight by enable comparison of organizational performance against the industry. Benchmarking helps businesses identify gaps and opportunities, ensuring they remain competitive and forward-thinking.
   

Navigating the crucible is challenging but not insurmountable. Business leaders and BODs can forge a stronger, more resilient organization capable of creating something new and driving change by leveraging data-derived insights, focusing on advantageous excellence, and evolving performance management. Book a free consultation to talk about how you can turn challenges into opportunities and emerge stronger in the years to come. Remember, only those who can withstand the pressure and make the right customer-centric strategic decisions will succeed.