Earlier this week I wrote a Business Acumen oriented blog called,“How do you Grow KPIs in a Declining Market,” and one of the five recommendations is to diversify the product portfolio and adapt it to the needs of the current market. In that suggestion, I posed the hypothesis that one of the ways you do that is to prioritize the “value” brands (lower price) and deprioritize (for the short term) the premiere brands until there is an economic recovery.

Obviously, that is not going to be the solution for every industry and every company because it does impinge on one of the most sacred pillars of business strategy and that is to choose one value proposition (either product leadership, customer intimacy, or low price) and stick with it. In our business acumen programs that utilize business simulations to build skills, learners are typically “rewarded” with strong performance for taking this path regardless of which value proposition they choose.

The last month of the 3^rd quarter is here and for many business leaders, the 4^th quarter is going to be crunch time. As part of our Business Acumen skill development work, Advantexe conducts 1-hour training sessions called, “Decoding the Earnings Calls” for many of our clients, and after completing the 2^nd quarter calls I can safely share there is a very clear message coming from many large organizations that every business leaders should be aware of: “The headwinds are getting stronger, and we better have the skills to take the right actions to grow our KPI’s in a declining market.”

Much of our Business Acumen training work over the next six months is going to focus on coming back to the basics. I am happy to share some of our content fresh from the classroom that describes the 5 things organizations and leaders can do to grow KPIs in a declining

Summer 2024 is over and it’s the time of year when the whimsical days of sun, fun, and relaxation turn into the harsh realities of finishing Q3 and Q4 with a major strong push. We have one last weekend, so I have prepared this blog with a focus on the things business leaders should be preparing for as we come back from the Labor Day weekend and get ready to achieve the goals and objectives that will take us across the finish line.

The Big Picture

Things are only going to get more complex. Business leaders must continue to build their business acumen and business leadership skills every day. Business leaders today must navigate a complex and rapidly changing environment. Everything changed during the pandemic, and we have started to find an equilibrium in the “new normal.” However, based on the work we are doing and seeing from our clients I want to share three significant business issues business leaders should be preparing for during this home stretch.

It’s only the last week of August and Starbucks is already in full marketing mode with the early launch of its popular menu of Pumpkin Spice Lattes items (apparently the cool folks just call them PSLs so that’s what I will use in this blog).

Think about this: In 2024, people on vacation at the beach can Uber Eats their PSL drinks directly to their portable cabana. Who would have thought it?

The PSLs are a significant part of the Starbucks seasonal line up and given the recent organizational and Wall Street turmoil surrounding the surprise exit of the CEO after less than 2 years, the company is counting on big-time revenues in an attempt to turn around its sagging stock price performance. While Starbucks doesn’t publicly release individual product sales data, there are many analyst reports out there that indicate the PSL portfolio will account for up to $2 billion of the overall $36 billion of top-line revenue.

One of the fist things I share with participants of an immersive high potential leader business acumen program is the following: The reason you are here is because you are very good at your job and your company sees potential in you. However, what got you here will not get you there and as you advance in your careers, you are going to be paid more money to make harder decisions with less data. Don’t get caught up in analysis paralysis!

Inevitably, at the end of the program participants will share that I was right and that one of the hardest things to learn is to not get caught in the weeds.

After one of the programs I delivered this week, one of the participants shared an interesting insight; “I took your advice and I overcame my analysis paralysis habit by being aggressively prepared for the simulation round, our goals and objectives, and making a commitment to take action and make the best decisions quicker and with more confidence…and it worked!

The conversation prompted me to think about some best practices needed to be more productive in the real world of business and the differences between aggressive preparation and being stuck in analysis paralysis.

In thinking about it, aggressive preparation and analysis paralysis represent two distinct and quite opposite approaches to addressing tasks and decision-making processes.