The end of a year is a time for both reflection and planning forward. 2024 was another volatile year from a business perspective as many organizations dealt with a bumpy economy and other issues that included:

• What to do with AI?
• Spin-offs, mergers, and restructurings
• Sustainability
• Remote Work
• Cybersecurity
• Supply chain issues
• Labor force issues

It’s important for everyone to take inventory of the things that worked and the things that didn’t and move forward with your strategy, the setting of goals, and the execution that must occur to be successful in the coming year.

In any year, having an organization that has a culture of Business Acumen is important and I believe given all the challenges we are going to face in 2025, they are going to be more important than ever.

To help you start thinking about the challenges and ways to solve them through having better Business Acumen skills, I put together three of the most foundational skills needed by every organization going into a new year:

It’s spin-off season again! According to Inside Arbitrage, there were 29 major corporate spin-offs in 2024 and we can see many more on the 2025 horizon including major ones from Comcast, Honeywell, Unilever, DuPont, Calloway Golf who is spinning off Topgolf as its own business

Many employees rightfully view spin-offs with trepidation due to the uncertainties of having new leadership, a new strategy, and the general fear of change. I propose that an organizational spin-off can be a great opportunity for career growth and advancement if you are prepared and have the right skills and mindset.

In terms of skills, having strong business acumen skills going into a spin-off can be the foundation for future success. Here are five business acumen skills that can help you turn chaos into clarity:

I believe there has been a major shift in the culture that drives and supports everyday business decision-making.

The big old pile of nasty issues that have presented to business professionals during the past 5 years have included the pandemic, all of the geopolitical issues, the economic issues, the global warming issues, and the evolution of defining “what is work” has created a business environment where developing new skills and learning capabilities through traditional trial and error, curiosity, exploration, and learning from mistakes has been replaced by making decisions with intention. And most of the time intention without a lot of runway for errors.

To support this opening statement, let me explain by sharing a recent quote from a senior-level talent development professional who shared some insights into her mindset when discussing the implementation of a simulation-centric business acumen learning program for a group of high-potential leaders.

I was sitting in on a session with a team of senior leaders as they went through a pilot of one of our new business leadership simulations, "Leaders in Action." Despite being just a 4-hour workshop, it packs a lot of business acumen and leadership activities throughout the experience.

Is it better to be truthful or authentic as a leader?

Is there a difference between the two?

Should one be a priority over the other?

Is one a function of the other?

Before today, I don’t think I would ever have given these questions a moment’s thought. However, after a rich and deep discussion as part of a business leadership workshop, I discovered some great material to share in this blog.

Origin of Conversation

In debriefing a scenario of Accountability in one of our digital Business Leadership simulations, one of our participants disagreed with the feedback we had provided that suggested one of the most important behaviors of a leader is to be authentic. In the context of holding others accountable, being authentic means being natural, engaging in proactive coaching and feedforward, and having an unparalleled sense of realism. Our participant argued that while that is nice and helpful, a good leader must start with a foundation of truthfulness before anything else. She suggested that being truthful is different than being authentic.