Understanding the Shift

The concept of moving goalposts isn’t new and has been discussed extensively in various professional contexts. For instance, Carla Rogg in her LinkedIn article “Don’t Move the Goalpost” illustrates how frequent changes in goals in a business environment can lead to confusion and inefficiency. She explains that when managers continually alter targets, it not only frustrates employees but also hampers productivity by creating unclear expectations.

Similarly, Lizbeth Zaguirre in her blog post “How Moving Goalposts Sabotages your Progress” expands this idea into personal and relational domains. She compares the constant changing of goals to running a marathon with an ever-shifting finish line, highlighting the psychological toll it takes, including demotivation and decreased self-confidence.

The Psychological Impact

The psychological ramifications of moving goalposts are profound. Continuously changing objectives can lead to a psychological phenomenon known as “goal fatigue,” where individuals or teams become exhausted by the never-ending pursuit of success criteria that seem to always move out of reach. This can result in burnout, a significant drop in motivation, and a pervasive sense of inadequacy.

From a behavioural standpoint, this practice can be seen as a real-time demonstration of the “no true Scotsman” fallacy, where definitions are continuously adjusted to exclude undesirable outcomes or to prevent the achievement of a goal, as noted by Zaguirre. This manipulation of criteria can foster an environment of distrust and scepticism, which are hardly conducive to growth or innovation.

Impact on Trust and Communication

Trust is a cornerstone of effective teamwork and leadership. When leaders frequently move goalposts, it can undermine this trust, making employees feel undervalued and misled. This is particularly detrimental in environments that rely heavily on team collaboration and individual initiative. The lack of stable objectives can make it difficult for teams to synergize their efforts towards a common goal.

Communication suffers too. Goals are often used as benchmarks for communication about performance, expectations, and progress. If these benchmarks are constantly in flux, it becomes challenging to have meaningful discussions about progress and areas of improvement, leading to inefficiencies and misalignments.

Is There Ever a Right Time to Shift Goals?

While the drawbacks are significant, there are circumstances where adjusting goals might be necessary. Markets evolve, new technologies emerge, and unforeseen challenges arise. In such cases, the rigidity of sticking to original goals could be equally detrimental. The key lies in the balance and the approach.

Adjusting goals is not inherently negative if done transparently and with the consensus of all stakeholders involved. It requires clear communication about why changes are necessary and how they will help in achieving the broader objectives. It also involves setting realistic, achievable goals that motivate rather than discourage.

Strategies for Effective Goal Adjustment

Transparent Communication: Always explain why goals need to be adjusted and how the new goals will lead to better outcomes.

Inclusive Decision-Making: Involve team members in the goal-setting process. This inclusion boosts morale and ensures that everyone is on the same page.

Set Interim Milestones: Break goals into smaller, manageable milestones. This approach helps in tracking progress and makes the ultimate goals seem more attainable.

Regular Reviews: Set regular intervals to review goals and progress. This setup helps in making necessary adjustments without causing undue disruption.

Celebrate Achievements: Recognize and celebrate when milestones are reached. This recognition fosters a positive atmosphere and encourages continual effort towards achieving redefined goals.

Shifting goalposts can certainly set individuals and teams up for failure if not managed correctly. It disrupts the foundation of trust and communication necessary for any successful endeavour. However, by applying thoughtful strategies and maintaining open lines of communication, it is possible to adjust goals without demoralizing your team. Balancing flexibility with stability is key to navigating the ever-changing landscapes we operate in.

Reference:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dont-move-goalpost-carla-rogg

https://lizbethzaguirre.com/2023/04/29/how-moving-goalposts-sabotages-your-progress/

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/curious-case-moving-goal-posts-productivity-dilemma-rashmi

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The Myth of Singular Focus

The modern adage ‘less is more’ suggests that simplification and focus yield better outcomes. While focusing on key areas is important, an overly narrow focus can lead to imbalances that ultimately harm an organisation. For instance, prioritising customer satisfaction at the expense of employee welfare or financial stability is unsustainable. Similarly, an exclusive emphasis on cost-cutting might boost short-term profits but can undermine product quality and brand reputation over time.

Holistic Leadership: A Lesson from Nature

Nature itself teaches us about balance and diversity. Consider the human body with its five senses, each playing a critical role in how we perceive and interact with the world. Just as the body cannot function optimally by relying on a single sense, a business cannot thrive by focusing on a single aspect of its operation. The Bhagavad Gita emphasizes this holistic view, showing us that true wisdom involves seeing the bigger picture and understanding the interconnections between various elements.

Multi-Faceted Excellence in Business

Drawing parallels from the Gita where Arjuna is taught not to neglect his duties as a warrior despite his reservations, business leaders must also embrace their multifaceted roles. Success in today’s complex business environment requires excelling in multiple domains simultaneously:

Building a strong organisational culture and effective leadership are foundational. Leaders must inspire, guide, and maintain ethical standards while fostering an environment where employees thrive.

Efficiency in operations and production is critical. This involves not only optimising processes but also embracing innovations such as automation that can drive productivity.

Sound financial management ensures sustainability. This includes everything from budgeting and cost management to strategic investments for growth.

These functions drive revenue and market presence. Understanding customer needs and effectively communicating value propositions are crucial.

Balancing the needs of all stakeholders—employees, customers, investors, and the community—ensures long-term success. Each group must feel valued and understood.

Implementing a Balanced Approach

How can leaders implement this balanced approach? It begins with broad awareness and the willingness to acknowledge that all aspects of the business are interconnected and important. Decision-making should involve considering various impacts and seeking inputs from diverse functional experts within the organization.

Leaders should also foster a culture of learning and adaptation, where feedback is actively sought and used to improve every facet of the organization. Regular reviews of business practices, with an openness to change and innovation, are essential in maintaining this balance.

Contrary to the ‘less is more’ philosophy, effective leadership requires a ‘more in balance’ approach. The teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, though ancient, echo this modern requirement for holistic, inclusive leadership. By nurturing multiple areas of expertise and maintaining a balanced focus across all critical aspects of business, leaders can navigate their organizations towards sustainable success and create a positive impact on all stakeholders. Let us take inspiration from Arjuna’s journey, guided by Krishna’s wisdom, to master the art of holistic leadership.

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Vision and Mission: Crafting a Purposeful Identity

A company with a clear and compelling vision is more likely to endure the challenges of time. The vision serves as a North Star, guiding decision-making and providing a sense of purpose for both employees and customers. A well-defined mission statement complements the vision, outlining the company’s core values and the impact it aims to make in the long run. These elements create a strong foundation that withstands the turbulence of market changes.

Adaptability and Innovation: Embracing Change

While a solid vision is crucial, the ability to adapt to changing circumstances is equally important. Successful companies recognize the importance of innovation and stay ahead of the curve by constantly evolving their products, services, and operational strategies. The ability to embrace change allows a company to remain relevant and resilient in the face of evolving customer demands and industry trends.

Exceptional Leadership: Nurturing a Strong Core

Leadership is the backbone of any enduring company. Exceptional leaders not only set the strategic direction but also foster a positive company culture, nurture talent, and prioritize ethical business practices. By creating a strong leadership core that can navigate challenges with resilience and integrity, a company establishes the groundwork for long-term success.

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Building Lasting Relationships with Stakeholders

Companies that focus on stakeholders and their satisfaction in the short term are more likely to face the tough challenges of sustaining over a long time. We must deploy a customer-centric approach that not only delivers high-quality products or services but also seeks customer feedback and takes these voices into account to make further improvements in its products and services. By understanding and adapting to stakeholder needs, a company can cultivate a loyal customer base, a strong employer brand and a thriving ecosystem of partners that contribute to sustained success.

Establish a Strong Brand

One of the first steps in building a company that can stand the test of time is to establish a strong brand. A strong brand is more than just a logo or a catchy slogan. It is the embodiment of your company’s values, mission, and vision. A strong brand not only helps you stand out in a crowded market but also creates a sense of trust and loyalty among your customers. Invest in building a brand that reflects your company’s unique identity and resonates with your target audience.

Employee Engagement and Development: Investing in Human Capital

A company’s success is inherently tied to the skill, motivation, and satisfaction of its workforce. Fostering a positive work environment, providing opportunities for professional growth, and recognizing the contributions of employees are vital for building a resilient organization. Investing in human capital pays dividends over time, as engaged and skilled employees contribute to innovation and overall company success.

Financial Prudence: Building a Stable Foundation

Financial stability is a cornerstone of a company that withstands the test of time. Maintaining a healthy balance between revenue generation and cost management, prudent financial planning, and strategic investment are crucial for long-term viability. By building a stable financial foundation, a company can weather economic downturns and capitalize on growth opportunities.

Building a company that can stand the test of time requires a holistic approach that combines a clear vision, adaptability, exceptional leadership, a customer-centric focus, employee engagement, and financial prudence. By embracing these timeless principles, entrepreneurs can create a resilient and sustainable organization capable of navigating the ever-changing business landscape. As the business world continues to evolve, those rooted in enduring values and practices will find themselves not just surviving, but thriving in the face of challenges.

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Where is the problem?

In 2023, many business leaders feel that we should get back to our old habits because they feel that the productivity hasn’t been what it should be; they think that their employees are not cohering adequately; potential benefits of keeping the flock together are absent; some employees might be moonlighting or working fewer hours or more distracted than what they should be at the office. They need the employees back in the office.

And at the same time, a large number of employees have been of the view that their productivity is high when they are allowed flexibility. They save commuting time, can focus better and can engage with colleagues freely across the organisation rather than being limited to the boundaries of an office in the traditional method of working. They do not think that they are disconnected from the company’s mission and colleagues at work.

We are in a paradoxical situation.

Why are leaders asking for a change?

The reality is, various kinds of work have moved away from the physical workplace to the Internet or a digital workspace. Employees need a computer or a smartphone connected to the internet to carry out what they do to create value for their employer. One might be answering queries of customers, preparing proposals to sell products or services, marketing products digitally, designing stuff, writing content, developing software or searching for information. All these actions do not require an office provided by the employer to be done properly. These can be done as effectively from an office as from home.

However, many leaders look for an altar to perform and find it easy to function when they are among the members of their team. Hybrid work competes with this method and creates a challenge for such leaders to get better organised and function seamlessly in a hybrid work environment. They need to be extremely savvy with the digital tools that can enable them to function. They often undervalue the positives of hybrid work such as gathering members of their team who are spread across multiple offices and engaging with all of them using the tools such as chats, polls and emojis which are not practical for physical work settings.

There have been instances of moonlighting, impersonation and compromises on information security as employees are working in a hybrid or remote fashion. We need to consider the fact that employees violated integrity even when our workplace was limited to the physical infrastructure of company-approved offices. It is hard to say if those instances have increased and the damage potential is higher now if we let remote work be recognised as a legitimate component in our world of work. Even if it is higher, aren’t the benefits significant hence, the solution should be to innovate methods which will either prevent or minimise the misuse? We cannot throw the baby along with the bathwater.

We have to embrace the new reality

We need checks and balances.

All roles in the world of work cannot be performed remotely; we have to choose them pragmatically. Moreover, employees at all levels of expertise cannot work independently and hence, remote work is not a possibility for those employees.

And at the same time, we cannot be impractical to ask every employee to work out of our offices each day of the year. Work which can happen by operating from anywhere need not come to a company-provided workplace. This will not only reduce the company’s costs on infrastructure and utilities but also allow more time and freedom to the employee other than saving them the cost of commuting. Technology has evolved and we must leverage it rather than obstructing it from touching our lives. We have to embrace the new reality!

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Helen Hayes won multiple awards and inspired millions of people with her acting. She was undoubtedly an expert in acting and she reminds all of us that experts keep learning and performing as a continuous process to be an expert over time. Doing just one of them is not going to help. Top leaders of an organisation are experienced and have proven themselves to be better than many others around them in their competencies to play the roles they do. However, given the rapid changes all around, the methods and styles they have found fruitful in the past could be failing now. They need to move paradigms!

Upskilling the leadership team

The business environment is constantly evolving, with new technologies and socio-economic changes, we see expectations and aspirations of the stakeholders in a business emerge regularly. By upskilling, leaders can stay updated on these changes and develop the necessary skills to navigate and respond effectively.

Effective leaders need strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills to make informed decisions. Given the nature of uncertainties and volatilities in the business environment, our leaders are in a stressed situation more often than not. We have to help them sharpen their analytical abilities, develop a strategic mindset, and enhance their ability to address the complexities of today.

Also, we need our employees to stay committed to the cause of their learning and development. There are no two ways about this. When the top leaders aren’t investing energies in their upskilling, how can they inspire and motivate their team members to acquire new skills and apply them? They need to demonstrate a commitment to learn, adapt and grow. The employees in turn are more likely to exhibit greater interest and be in high spirits to deploy the newly acquired skills at work and generate greater productivity.

How to go about it?

Every business has its context. The opportunities available in the market and the challenges faced by them are unique in many ways. Hence, the approach to expanding one’s horizon has to be tailor-made.

Every member of the top-level leadership team has his or her strengths and personality characteristics. Since a top-level leader has a significant influence over the organisation’s present and future, we have to undertake a personalised approach to develop them. It is more important at this level than for the leadership development approaches followed for the other levels of leadership in a firm.

We have to conduct a comprehensive assessment of each person in the top team of his or her current strengths and identify areas where they may need improvement. This involves assessing their beliefs, biases, styles, preferences and abilities; super-imposing these on the organisation’s priorities and future intent. Based on the identified skill gaps, we have to design a development journey that addresses the specific needs of each person in the leadership team. This development journey could include one-on-one coaching, workshops, seminars, online courses, or executive education programs provided by external experts or institutions.

It is a journey rather than a destination

We have to foster a culture of continuous learning within the organisation for the environment is continuously transforming itself. Hence, the development programme is not just a one-time activity, rather it is the beginning of a journey which is never-ending. The members of the top team must appreciate and understand the need of learning continuously.

Leaders must engage in self-directed learning, such as reading industry publications, attending conferences, participating in webinars, or joining professional networks. They have to use the relevant resources and share the knowledge among team members. Executive coaching and mentoring are effective in ongoing development.

Many forward-looking organisations believe in role rotation so that the members can take on different responsibilities and roles within the same organisation. This process might sound disruptive but helps the leaders learn about the diverse challenges and opportunities, enriches their experiences, broadens their horizons and ultimately builds a formidable leadership team.

This is a strategic initiative aimed at enhancing the skills and capabilities of an organisation’s leaders as well as for the long-term sustainability of the organisation. It involves providing them with training, resources, and support to improve their leadership abilities, stay updated with the latest industry trends, and adapt to the evolving business landscape.

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At the root, why do we need to transform?

Markets are constantly evolving, driven by advancements in technology, shifting consumer preferences, and emerging trends. To stay relevant and adapt to these changing dynamics, companies need to transform themselves.

Sometimes, companies have to acquire a competitive edge over their rivals. By embracing innovative strategies, leveraging new technologies, and exploring untapped markets, businesses can differentiate themselves from the competition and capture a larger share of the market.

Often processes need to be optimised or automated, and the operations need to be streamlined. Over time, inefficiencies creep in; they need to be spotted and eliminated. Companies can leverage technology, enhance productivity, reduce costs, and deliver products or services more efficiently, leading to improved profitability.

Business transformation often revolves around the customer: their needs, preferences, and pain points evolve. We have to understand them and tailor our offerings, improve their experiences, and build long-lasting relationships, fostering loyalty and driving revenue growth.

Leadership matters!

Leaders have to be clear about the need for transformation and articulate the drivers for launching such a project. They need to put their weight behind these and lead them from the front.  They have to be clear about the goals of the project. Then only the next steps of planning and allocating the resources can start.

New ideas and innovations may spark a transformation in the way a company carries out its business. It is not easy to embrace change; hence, transformation projects are as hard as fostering creativity, encouraging experimentation, and driving innovation. Done well, it opens doors to new revenue streams, market expansion, and sustained business growth.

In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, companies must be agile and resilient to navigate unforeseen challenges and disruptions. Transformation equips organisations with the ability to quickly adapt, pivot strategies, and seize new opportunities, ensuring they remain robust and capable of withstanding uncertainties. Hence, the role of the leaders is so paramount!

Putting things in place

We cannot put the cart before the horse. Doing a robust plan, defining a project charter, organising the financial resources needed for the project, building a shared understanding among the top leaders of the organisation about the project charter and putting a leader for the project is the foundation of a transformation project.

Employees seek opportunities to work for organizations that embrace innovation and provide a dynamic work environment. However, when they are structured in teams, the dynamics changes and we experience resistance to change. Hence, it is important to choose the right members of the team to lead and implement a project in the organisation. The members of the team not only need to have deep expertise but also high levels of acceptance within the organisation.

At the same time, it is important to build a strong communication programme to share progress and celebrate successes. Sometimes, companies announce such projects publicly and leverage the moment to build a positive sentiment about their organisation, attract top talent, foster employee engagement, and retain valuable team members. Ultimately, these help in boosting the brand and leading organisational success.

Overall, business transformation is vital for companies to remain competitive, adapt to evolving market conditions, drive innovation, and achieve sustained growth in an ever-changing business landscape.

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Companies move forward when their leaders are ambitious and show intent by positive action with the right strategy involving their teams. Every member of the team has to own up to the intent of winning in the market and contributing towards fulfilling the strategic goals set by the top leaders. Leaders must inspire their teams to stay committed to the cause and assign goals to their team members so that the collective achieves the goals. That is why someone says beautifully, “Accountability is the glue that ties commitment to the result.”

Marrying commitment with Results

Often the employees do not have clarity about the purpose of their organisation; they do not know how their organisation is different from the others in the peer group. Thus, they are not sure which key levers they are expected to push to deliver the impact. Even if the targets are clear to them, the methods to achieve those are not clear.

For example, a cement manufacturer aspiring to grow might have set its goals clearly and defined its differentiation from the other cement makers. They might have given clear targets to their employees in every department or function. However, an employee is often unsure how those goals are connected with the strategies of the company. Hence, he or she is unsure how his or her work is making a difference to the company to stand out in its peer group and taking it closer to the strategic ls set by their Board.

Hence, the leaders have to involve their teams in evolving the plans so that everyone is involved in the process of visualising how their offerings stand out and which directions they must take. This builds commitment among the rank and the file. Results follow!

Accountability guides us in what we must do and what we must not do

As soon as the employees are clear about how their company stands out and differentiates from the others in the peer group, they know the focus areas. Their managers focus on the same areas and thus, the alignment stays positive. There will be many obstacles on the way towards the long-term goals of the company. When an organisation has its alignments clear, the managers across the hierarchy can quickly figure out the directions they must take to deal with the challenges on the way. The most efficient paths get chosen and results follow!

The organisation does not have to invest energies in evolving what is right and what is not. Because of the alignment across the levels and functions, everyone acts in the best possible manner. Accountability for the results or targets remains intact. People do not come up with excuses or point fingers at others when results are not achieved.

Governance simplified

Every business normally sees gaps between the results and the plans. How do they reconcile these? Organisations with the culture of accountability and the practice of following it do a better job than those who are not very rigorous on this. It is easy to reward and recognise when someone achieves the plans. Transparent processes always build trust and reliability. Employees experience fairness when the rewards and recognition are anchored on objective goals.

Secondly, organisations can build a culture of fairness, transparency, professionalism and mutual trust by permeating accountability across the organisational hierarchy. They become a magnet for all stakeholders, right from customers, employees and partners to investors and suppliers.

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Taking charge

Many of us rue what they do not have control over. This mindset does not take us far other than wasting our time and energy. Rather, we have to think of the possibilities to address the problem or the obstacle. We talk about the inaction of government bodies, inadequacies in their policies and the fault lines in their execution; sometimes, we discuss the non-performance of our colleagues and other stakeholders in our area of work.

Such criticisms, comments, opinions and perspectives are useful if they are heard and accepted by the other party and some changes take place. More often than not, these fall on deaf ears and hence, our time and efforts in observing the incidents around us, analyzing them and offering our feedback and comments go down the drain. Rather, we must be proactive and changemakers. We have to take charge!

Benefits galore

Being proactive helps us stay optimistic. We develop the habit of looking for solutions and exploring various possibilities. This kind of mindset opens up new vistas of opportunities that could bring unparalleled benefits.

There are several examples before all of us: Amazon, eBay and many more. All of them could stay ahead of the competition and could generate significant value for themselves until the competitors scampered their way up to the playground and win some share of the market.

Albert Einstein has been one of those game-changers who left a deep impact on this world decades after they are gone from this world. He has said something very valuable about proactiveness: “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

Many of us are not proactive; we let things happen first and then choose to take some actions. In this process, we play it safe, do not ride a bicycle and avoid a fall. But, we deny ourselves the opportunity of riding the bicycle and making rapid progress. Why will we not move first and let others play the catch-up?

What about the first-mover disadvantage?

We know, while riding a bicycle, we fall sometimes and get some bruises. We hear people say that they launched an idea ahead of its time, could not find enough takers and hence, had to suffer losses. History has enough stories about revolutionaries across the world who have made bold moves to get their motherland freedom and many of them have faced serious consequences including untimely death at the hands of the oppressors. All these are examples of first-mover disadvantages; people land up in trouble for having moved first. Hence, the question before us is if one should stop taking charge and move first.

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. Every move that one makes would not succeed. Sometimes, the cost of failure is higher than that in the other moves. We have to weigh the costs and benefits before making the move. Risk appetite is not the same for everyone. It is a matter of choice!

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Creating a positive effect for customers

Someone buys or takes food to satiate one’s hunger; sometimes we take food to give company to someone we care for. At times, it could be for the ambience of the restaurant or just a matter of habit. Whatever the reason is, someone has a need and someone fulfils it by delivering a solution that creates value for the customer as well as for the enterprise that delivers the solution.

As long as the enterprise delivers the solution at a cost less than what one earns and enough customers are looking for the product or the service over a fairly long time consistently, the business thrives. One has to understand what the customers need today and what could be valuable for them in the future. Based on this understanding, the solution has to keep evolving. Organisations need systems, processes, technology, equipment, tools, finance and many other resources to create the desired solution and deliver it consistently.

Some flashes in the pan do not create value on a sustained basis. For example, one can target a few competitors to grab a share of their market by lowering the selling price or offering higher value for some time. However, one cannot do this over a very long time because this kind of operational tactic keeps generating losses and destroying the value of the shareholder funds; such a business cannot thrive. Rather one has to innovate new products or services, improve methods of production or introduce new elements in the supply chain to grab market share.

Customers keep fulfilling their needs at a reasonable price, find the value they look for and stay loyal to the organisation. In the process, the company enjoys the value of loyal customers and creates value for itself.

Creating a positive effect for employees and partners

Human relations and the approach to human interactions differentiate an organisation from its peers in a definite way. Sometimes, it is hard to differentiate a company’s offerings in the minds of a customer because of the nature of the product or service. Even in those hard-to-differentiate product categories, companies stand out by their approach to employees, customers, shareholders, business partners, local communities and governments.

Employee productivity not only depends upon the capabilities of their employees but also on the organisation’s internal environment such as the behaviour of the leaders, their systems and processes. When most of the elements remain favourable, employees stay longer and grow within the organisation; partners feel happy to be working with the organisation and look forward to a long-term partnership with the company. In the process, the organisation minimises the cost of replacing employees and partners and creates greater value for itself.

Creating a positive effect for shareholders

A business owner seeks fair returns on his or her equity, growth in the reputation of the business and growth in the value of the enterprise.

The value sought by the business owner can be fulfilled when all stakeholders of the business find value in what they seek. Customers want their needs to be fulfilled at the right price at the right time in a reliable manner. Employees seek a workplace that offers them independence, dignity, and opportunities to learn and grow; they seek fair practices and rewarding compensation. Business partners seek professional and dignified treatment, long-term commitment, transparency and commercial attractiveness in their business engagement. Local communities expect the enterprise to be socially responsible and benevolent behaviours toward them.

We can see a wide array of demands from different quarters. The leaders have to orchestrate various functions in the firm in such a way that the expectations of all the stakeholders are fulfilled simultaneously. Only then, the revenues of the company will keep growing at a faster pace than the costs and the potential for future earnings of the firm will keep growing. Thus, the enterprise value can keep growing.

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India has about 1.4 million companies active and on an average day, 350-400 companies are born in India. How many of these brands are loved by their stakeholders? When brands and their leaders are clear about their purpose, they can certainly get a head start in the direction of earning the love, respect and patronage of their stakeholders.

Why should brands discover their purpose?

Some of us want to go with the flow without knowing where we are headed. Either we do not care to know about it or are too lazy to visualise the future and plan for it. Hence, we consciously decide to live life as it happens and unfolds each day and each moment. That is one way of living and finding peace and joy.

When we live this way, we discover and explore our relationships as and when they happen. Similarly, brands can choose this kind of life; thus, they do not build strong loyalties with their stakeholders and lose the opportunity of reducing the cost of acquiring an order or a customer, hiring an employee, leveraging one’s influence and relationship with society and government.

How do they discover?

Some of us keep wavering about the direction to take along a journey. It is because we have not been able to make up our minds about the direction we take. It is not uncommon to see people changing their goals in life multiple times. Some of them settle down on one path after some time of exploration.

Similarly, brands find new pivots and take new directions. They change their product offerings, target segments and markets. Sometimes, they adopt new principles in their life because they find those to be relevant at that stage of their life. However, the point is that they do make changes in their path and settle down on a path; stay focused on it for a long time to build, mature and leverage their relationships with their stakeholders.

Listen to the stakeholders

Customers hold many expectations of the brands they use; among these, the most important ones are convenience, efficiency, friendly service, value for their money, and reliability. They value innovative offerings from brands. These are the findings from a PwC study;  they merely reconfirm the information already known and highlight the relevance of the major expectations. Brands often do not review the experiences they are delivering to their customers and hence, do not know if they can improve and critically evaluate if they have deviated from the path of their choosing.

Mobile phones started rendering companies making point-and-shoot cameras redundant. Feature phones started losing their significance when smartphones started hitting the markets. Green energy has started catching the attention of policymakers and consumers. Ecommerce channels have started drawing a larger share of the overall spend of the consumers. Cryptocurrency has started making its presence felt. Many such trends affect a company either positively or negatively depending upon its context. If we follow the behaviours of the customers, employees, business partners, suppliers, competitors, society at large and the government, we will be able to get a good sense of the changes happening now as well as those on the horizon.

The owners and leaders of brands have to listen to these changes and ask themselves if their purpose is relevant and if their actions reflect the purpose they are committed to. If they do, the brands live long and run their operations efficiently.

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