I met Bob Schwelm in the early 1980s when the running community in Philadelphia was small and the Broad Street Run fielded about 2,500 runners.  In 2016, more than 40,000 runners packed the local race.  In the early 1990’s Bob took his passion and opened up a store called the Bryn Mawr Running Company and I have been a loyal customer since moving to the suburbs in 1995.  I went to see my old friend last week to pick up a couple of pairs of new running shoes as I typically do 3 times a year for the past 21 years.  We talked about running, races, and commiserated about our slowing times and even slower recovery times from the long training runs.  As I do with most people, I asked Bob “How’s business?”  I always worry about small business owners like Bob - especially retail owners - and am curious to hear how they are doing in this changing world.  After losses like Robinson Luggage and other proud small family-owned retail stores over the past few years, I expected to hear the worst.  I was pleasantly surprised.

4 Reasons Why It May Not

One of the things that Advantexe facilitators look for when conducting a Business Acumen Simulation Workshop is the alignment of the simulation team’s strategy to execution.  Just like in the “real world,” the executive leadership team sets their strategy and then executes it by making business decisions in the areas of Marketing, Sales, Operations, and Finance.  Inevitably the discussion of revenue targets and growth comes up and the first inclination of most teams is to add more and more sales people to increase revenue and achieve the sales targets.

Driverless cars.

Water shortages.

Digital printing.

New sources of energy.

Donald Trump…

These are just a few of the potential future global trends that could impact the way we live, eat, drink, work, and get to work over the next 3-5 years.  Insightful and evolved business organizations and leaders around the world are struggling with how to assess and build the leadership behaviors, skills and competencies needed to lead in a future world where major disruptions will impact business performance and perhaps even business survivability.

One of the most intriguing and challenging aspects of selling in the global digital world is that according to the Corporate Executive Board, 57% of a potential new customer’s decision is made before they engage with a sales professional or that sales professional’s company.  There are several major reasons for this change including the fact that so much information – from web sites, user groups, and social media – is available that decision makers don’t need a sales professional’s expertise until it’s time to discuss specific details or of course pricing.

“Holding people accountable” has been a leadership rallying cry since the beginning of commerce.  Over the past few years has, it has become even more important in the global economy where work and leadership comes in all different sizes, flavors, and time zones.