Without profit, jobs will be eliminated and companies will fail.
As we wrap-up our series on “what do leaders really want from their staff”, we’ll tackle the topic of profit.
As a reminder, we’re linking the 5 P’s of Leadership with the 5 P’s of Ownership:
- Passion
- People
- Plans
- Persistence
- Profit
As leaders, we make decisions every day that are critical to the success of our organization.
Decisions can be costly and impact the bottom line; decisions can also be brilliant and realize not only savings, but improve customer and employee satisfaction levels. That’s profit on multiple levels!
As everyone begins to understand their organization’s strategy, and has the ability to link behaviors, processes and tools with that strategy, profit will be impacted.
Providing new ideas and fresh thinking, and helping others understand new directions and opportunities also impact profit. We need to know:
- What business are we in?
- Who are our customers?
- What services do we or could we provide?
- What do we want our department/organization to be known for?
- What strategic alliances do we want? How do you find them?
- Where do you want to take your organization in the next 3-5 years?
Sustaining and increasing profit margins requires change. We must accept it, own it, and be an advocate for change. As leaders we need to be aware of the impact the change will have, from both a personal and organizational perspective, and clearly communicate what that impact will be.
Growth and leadership also increases profit. It is important to know that what you’re doing increases the profit for yourself and the company that employs you. We own our careers and must take personal responsibility for the value we provide. There must be financial gains and there must be emotional gains or jobs will be eliminated and companies dissolved.
Emotional profit is another piece; you must take risk, be innovative, and be purposeful. It’s important to invest/experiment/research new approaches for growth in order to add value for your customers, employees, and organization. This requires creativity and the ability to step beyond the barriers and artificial lines that we often create.
We know one courageous leader that has an entire unit looking for innovative ways to increase local revenue; one idea was to add programs that appeal to various segments of their market.
Realizing profit takes patience, persistence, planning, people and passion (and that takes us to 6 P’s for Leadership and Ownership, not 5, since we added patience!)
What are you doing to increase profits?