The Annual Business and Leadership Predictions

    

Every year around this time, thousands of so-called experts publish their predictions about the 2020-business-predictionsupcoming year.  Since I have yet to meet anyone with mystical powers nor visitors from the future (well at least I don’t think I have), the ideas and predictions of my annual blog predicting trends for the upcoming year are as valid as anyone else’s. Except, I’d like to think the 235,000+ miles traveled, the 42 difference global clients I’ve worked with, the research I’ve conducted, and the observations I’ve made working with thousands of business leaders and sales professionals provides a practical perspective that others can’t match. But who knows?  Let’s revisit this next December.

Preface and Perspective

The last three years have been the icing on the cake of the unprecedented post-2008 financial crisis business metamorphosis.  We now have an entire new generation of workers who are aged 21 – 34 who have never known tough times.  They’ve never known fighting, scratching, and clawing to do whatever it takes to keep the lights on. They’ve only known tremendous prosperity and for the coming year, the global engine is going to remain fueled by consumer spending and usage of disposable income of “enjoying life” and living for experiences.  If there is one sure thing we know from the study of macroeconomics is that nothing lasts for ever and everything will balance over time.  With that as a backdrop, below are my Business and Leadership predictions for 2020:

Sustainability strategies are moving into deep execution

Greta Thunberg. There’s a reason why she was one of the most recognized people on the planet in 2019. Her voice and message are (pun intended) the tip of the iceberg.  Business leaders have been talking sustainability and strategies for providing products and services that are beneficial to the planet for years.  What’s different now is that many of those companies who have been planning to address water, food, air, climate, and health are now into the deep execution phases of their strategies. There are thousands of companies that are reorganizing themselves to create cultures, products, and services that are finding new innovations to solve the most critical challenges that planet faces.  Finding new, clean energy sources, finding ways of saving and creating new water sources, and finding new ways to feed the planet have gone from just a lot of good ideas to the new normal in terms of investment of R&D and the reconfiguration of Marketing and Sales functions.

In my opinion, the true challenge isn’t just going to be the massive focus and development and game-changing new innovations, but also developing the skills and tools needed for this new day and age.  Years ago, I came to realize that at the end of the day, leadership was equal to the execution of your business strategy through people. Today’s employees are severely missing the business acumen, business leadership, and strategic selling skills needed to fulfill the new visions.

Digital disruption becomes real (more than just some buzzwords)

We’ve been living in the digital revolution for decades, but something feels different as we enter 2020.  It feels to me that all the fancy buzzwords, tools, and strategies have finally overtaken the traditional methodologies.  For example, “digital marketing” is now more prevalent and more effective than traditional marketing. In addition, the changes have transcended traditional boundaries. It feels very clear that in the business world of 2020, digital marketing has become more important that personal selling.  Better educated customers know what they want and can find what they want without the friction of other human beings getting in their way and more importantly without their hand out taking a slice of the pie without providing any real value in the ecosystem.  Everything has been disrupted from the supply chain to marketing and for the first time since the digital revolution companies that haven’t adapted quick enough have true terror that it may be too late.

Think about the way people receive new skills and tools. In the $100 billion world of corporate training and development what used to take 5 days of stand-up lecture and discussion can now be delivered using digital tools cheaper faster, and better. Simulations, virtual platforms, and AI-based learning tools can provide powerful and impactful ways of learning that weren’t that good during the first wave of the revolution in the late 1990s.

Focus on Profit

My next prediction has to do with a key business metric of performance.  Business organizations traditionally have chosen their financial metrics based on their strategy. For example, start-ups focus on revenue, market share, and proving they can survive.  Large companies focus operational efficiencies and things like cash flow. They may also focus on EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes). Companies trying to grow focus on both revenue and margin.  But rarely has most global businesses focused on profit. One of the reasons is that profit (Net Income) is boring. It’s traditional. It’s old fashioned. It’s really not very sexy.  But it is the ultimate measure of success.  Think about the basic construct of business.  Revenue less expenses equals profit. At the end of the day, that’s what business is all about.

I think that profit is going to make a big comeback in 2020. I also think that too many business professionals don’t really understand the levers and drivers that create increased profit. It’s going to be one of the most important skills in business so my recommendation is to find ways of creating a culture of enhanced Business Acumen within your organization and focus on helping people understand how to drive profit.

Ethics and governance will become the ultimate equalizer in the business environment

Doing the right things and being ethical shouldn’t be this hard.  I predict that great companies with great leadership will step it up even further and pull ahead of those companies that are run poorly and have unsafe cultures and work environments. It will be much clearer for current and future employees to know which companies are good companies and do the right things and the companies that are bad companies and try to cover up data that says planes shouldn’t fly or have a long-term history of predatory practices. Part of the reason I feel strongly things will change in 2020 is because ethics and governance will play a much more important and serious role in many more organizations. And when this happens, it basically becomes the ultimate equalizer between working in a “cool” industry that isn’t an upstanding industry and less glamourous industries that have great missions and do the right things.

Artificial Intelligence is still in the toddler phase

Guess what?  If you haven’t heard by now, Artificial Intelligence is hard. And it’s going to be long time before the intelligent robots that you see in Science Fiction movies becomes a reality.  Right now, most “real” AI systems are basically still in the toddler phase.  A toddler is about 5 or 6 years old in terms of emotional maturity. My prediction is that it’s going to take a long time for AI t grow up so be very careful around your expectations and investments this upcoming year.

I have learned firsthand with the growth of our SimBot technology that it will take much more nurturing to develop the bots and I am very grateful to have clients that are willing to invest the time to teach the Bots how to sell, negotiate, and coach.

I’m happy to share more ideas and perspectives. Just leave a note on our web page and I will respond as soon as possible.

Why Business Acumen Matters

Robert Brodo

About The Author

Robert Brodo is co-founder of Advantexe. He has more than 20 years of training and business simulation experience.