Author: Kevin Gaskell
Kevin Gaskell seems to be meeting more and more people in business at the moment who are concerned that the economy is a bumpy ride and unpredictable. You can certainly feel a lot of turbulence in the air; Brexit, Trump, FX rates, inflation, Russia, Middle East, fake news etc. The truth is that if you […]
Kevin Gaskell seems to be meeting more and more people in business at the moment who are concerned that the economy is a bumpy ride and unpredictable. You can certainly feel a lot of turbulence in the air; Brexit, Trump, FX rates, inflation, Russia, Middle East, fake news etc. The truth is that if you could fly up to 100,000ft and look down at the last 50 years you would see that this level of disruption is actually quite normal.
The new normal
Over the last half century there have been over 400 financial crises – 35 of those have been in major economies. At the same time, the level of international trade has grown from $1 trillion to $30 trillion. This level of growth, and the supply chain development needed to feed it, offers a massive range of opportunity no matter what your business does. If we spool forward just 10 years it is forecast that by 2025 The Internet of Things will consist of 1 trillion connections and be a $6 trillion market.
More turbulence, more change – and more growth.
In other words, the current level of turbulence is good news – for those companies and organisations able to think forwards and recognise how lucky they are to be living in a period of such exciting opportunity.
Be an agent of change
This is the opportunity that visionaries, entrepreneurs and inspiring leaders look for. They recognise that they are lucky to be living in a time of change. New markets, new technologies, new opportunities. In this new world, it is not about looking for market share, it is about looking for opportunity share. Scanning for new business prospects, thinking in different ways, inventing new services and processes.
Whatever your role in your business or organisation, you have the opportunity to be an inspiring leader.
To encourage your colleagues or team to consider different possibilities – and to dare to dream about what could be possible; this is about changing the mindset and seeing turbulence as an opportunity and not only as a threat. Recognising, for example, that the European market will still exist in 2 years’ time and, while it may be different, it will still be there. It’s about encouraging new thinking within your organisation to determine how to be fast enough, and flexible enough, to get to the new market before others do.
Think differently, share creatively
The key to new thinking is the creation of a leadership culture which invites every member of the team to bring their ideas to bear. People are incredible. Give your team the permission to dream. Invite them to remove self-imposed limitations and constraints to reach new markets – or to compete more effectively in changed markets – and ideas will begin to flow.
This new world can seem strange and threatening but ignoring it won’t make it less so. Turbulence is energy. Look at major turbulence as freely available energy to drive the game forward. Be grateful that you are living in a period of energy and opportunity.
Do not consider it threatening. Instead consider it exciting.
If there’s one thing you should do today…
So my message is: embrace the change. Don’t think of the current turbulent situation as an opportunity to be a harbinger of doom, think of it instead as a stimulating opportunity to move forward in your business with energy, creativity and enthusiasm. And most importantly, free up the constraints around your team to allow them to bring those fresh and inspiring ideas to the table.
Contact Us at WeSpeak Global and follow us on Twitter
The articles, video and images embedded on these pages are from various speakers and talent.
These remain the property of its owner and are not affiliated with or endorsed by WeSpeak Global.
Know What You Want and Success is actually fairly simple. Firstly, set a goal. Then break it down into actionable activities. Do the activities. Add in some patience, resilience, hard work and discipline, and voila…..Success! Easy, right? Well, if it were that simple, we wouldn’t need an entire industry dedicated to motivation, training and coaching. […]
Technology in the Drivers Seat is in most of the tasks we perform in our day-to-day life, having an assistant to help us can make things much easier. For that reason, one of the latest trends in technology has been the creation of virtual assistants. Usually, these help systems are connected to our phones, and […]
Leading significant organizational change is hard, A Navy SEAL’s 7 Steps for Using Culture to Drive Change. Though well-intentioned, that’s why over half of major transformation efforts fail. Why? Many reasons can include but aren’t limited to a bad strategy, a weak culture lacking trust and accountability, poor communication, low levels of buy-in, change […]
One morning when I was on my way to school, my life changed for the better with The Power of a Vision. I was 14 years old and an eighth grader at the time, and my school was on the other side of Matlala River in Limpopo. It was quite a long walk through the […]
Our internal reward system drives us to do what we like to do for Use purpose-driven routines. What we need to do to fulfill our chosen purpose is however not always what we like to do. That’s why it’s so important to plug our “purpose fulfilling activities” into routines; behaviors driven by habit, not by […]
Last week I got to spend five and a half hours of Beyond Strategy with one of the most influential strategic thinkers alive today, Gary Hamel. He has written five global best-selling books, published 17 papers in Harvard Business Review, and has taught at London Business School for 30 years. But most importantly, Gary has […]
Unfolding everywhere around us to Disrupt or die as Duncan Wardle was featured in an article and video on NBR a couple years back. I made a prediction then, and we’re already seeing evidence of that prediction Duncan Wardle likes the Walt Disney quote: “It’s kinda fun to do the impossible.” He knows more than […]
Do you remember what life was like right before you received the message of biggest trap in business that confirmed your appointment as executive? Or before you started your own business? Or before you took over the family business? Opportunities lay ahead like an orchard of fruit trees ripe for the picking and everything that […]
Our Mission
© All rights reserved 2025. Created using VOXEL THEME
