MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL, INC.
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Why Choose Us
    • Our Partners
  • Business Learning
    • Ready-Now Learning
    • Content Partner Programs
  • Contact Us
Picture

Learning MORE About the Business Reduces Uncertainty

11/17/2020

0 Comments

 
Education is not the answer to the question.  Education is the means to the answer to all questions. 
​Bill Allin

A Strategy for Managing Workplace Anxiety

Picture
I knew the session was going to be a challenge.  A major challenge.  The program was happening anyway, even though the company had just gotten horrible news.  Economic downturn.  Stock value was down 90%.  The shareholders were losing confidence that this 210-year-old firm could weather the storm.  It was 2009.  We had a global financial crisis. 

Our subject that day was leadership business acumen.  We were learning how to do insurance business analysis and decisions when you are a non-financial insurance professional.  We thought nobody would show up.  We were wrong.  Everyone showed up.  And more.

We had over 45 people in attendance that day. We had planned on 25.  We scrambled to accommodate everyone.  We had one of the best learning programs I have ever been a part of.

The company still is a blue-chip insurance and financial services firm.  They made it.  Upon reflection, I think I know why.  

When change is chaotic, and there is no clear history or precedent to follow, smart people look to understand the bigger picture.  When we provided these super smart people essential business acumen, along with tools to deal with their own uncertainty, well, the uncertainty subsided.  More precisely, their stress around the uncertainty subsided.  Every one of these 45 professionals left the session with a better understanding their business, what to do, when to do it, and how aggressive to be.  They were called to action.

Business acumen reduced the negative impact of uncertainty.

We have known for some time that we ought to pay more attention to the human side of change.  We are more alike than we are different.  People will respond to the uncertainty in predictable ways.  We have seen models like the Adoption Curve and the Stages of Grief to help us understand how people respond to disruption.

Business acumen helps you move through the stages to higher performance.

Here is why I think it works.  It works because:
  1. If everyone sees the candid reality of what the top leadership sees and can put it in its proper context, they can do things to help.  Sometimes you need to “go up in the helicopter” to see the whole picture:  how it fits together, the trade-offs, and the opportunities.

  2. The learning and communication processes build trust and commitment, along with engagement.  The metamessage is, “we’re in this together.”  Your people appreciate being in the know.
    ​

  3. Business acumen development in times of significant change gives everyone a chance to reset their goals and objectives to increase the likelihood of success.  People want to do a good job. They’ll do a good job if we trust them with the information they need to do a good job.

Daryl Connor, change author and consultant, says the rate of change and uncertainty is only accelerating. He says we will refer to today as “the good old days,” since more change is coming.  More disruption.  More uncertainty. 
 
The good news is that business acumen gives you the tools to minimize the stress, sense of powerlessness, and the negative impact of uncertainty.
​
Learn the bigger picture.   Everyone will show up!

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    "The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the unanimous views of all parts of my mind."
    - Malcolm McMahon

    Author

    Dan Topf, CPT is Sr. Vice President at MDI, Inc.

    Picture
    Follow @Dan_Topf

    Business Learning by Dan: Primers for Trainers

    PDF versions of short articles on how to integrate business acumen into all training and development:

    The Income Statement
    Cash Flow
    Price and Volume
    The Circulation of Capital
    The Cost of Capital
    Market Differentiation

    Industry-specific:
    Financial Services -- Life Insurance/Annuities
    Retailing

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    July 2020
    February 2020
    May 2019
    December 2018
    December 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    February 2017
    November 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    August 2015
    June 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    September 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    RSS Feed

Management Development International, Inc. | 860-478-3180 | 515-292-2602 | Windsor Locks, CT | Ames IA 
Photos used under Creative Commons from xamogelo, tim geers, kenteegardin, KellBailey, One Planet Living in Sutton, rodaniel, stavros karabinas, One Way Stock, dan taylor, Binder.donedat, KLGreenNYC, mynameisharsha, fontplaydotcom, fortes
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Why Choose Us
    • Our Partners
  • Business Learning
    • Ready-Now Learning
    • Content Partner Programs
  • Contact Us