Globally competitive- Are you laying the right foundation?

"To play on a local level, you can need the mind of a player.
To play on a global level, you need the mind of a champion."

Kevin Abdulrahman

Recently I was invited to do a Keynote speech at the Pan Arab Organizations Global Competitiveness Strategy Conference which was held in the Burj Al Arab in Dubai. The topic was about leadership and what was required of organisations in order to become globally competitive. To be in business in the 21st century, you need to be playing the game as a globally competitive player. Whether you have it in your mind to compete on a local or a global level, your thoughts, strategy and leadership must be reflective of you being competitive on a global scale. No longer is it an option for you to consider, rather it has become a must to operate with this framework in mind if you wish to thrive today when the majority struggle to survive. This framework applies whether you are an employee, a self employed person, a manager of a department or a CEO of an organisation.

In today's world of economical pressure, smart consumerism and abundant choices, you need to be easily identified as the 'go-to' entity. You need to be head and shoulders above your competition in your particular niche. Doing so will ensure you enjoy a piece of the financial reward pie. Missing it will mean that you will be amongst the millions of entities out there trailing those that command the lead with a smile on their face.

As a leader and a reader of this article, you are representing you, you are representing your organisation, you are representing your network, you are representing your society, with the aim of being globally competitive. And if you already are, then you are striving to ensure you continue to be globally competitive

For any large structure to be constructed, solid foundations are required to be laid. Without sound and solid foundations, all your efforts and resources spent that goes on to your large structure (vision) is potentially going to waste or at risk of becoming obsolete. Many individuals and organisations will spend a fortune on IT infrastructure, marketing strategies, office setups, business models to go ahead with and partnerships they choose to form. Yet the most important resource is sadly left on the back burner, usually ending up becoming underdeveloped. Why is it that many organisations having spent millions upon millions of dollars on many frameworks and yet regrettably still failed to thrive in this competitive world? It is because they find it hard to pull their team together even though they have good people at the top.

I can hear you say, the answer lies in good leadership.

Indeed leadership is mandatory.

Any organisation is in the place that it is today because of leadership from the people at the helm. But moving forward, this will need to be built on. More will be needed. Not leadership by way of title. Not leadership by way of telling others what to do. Not leadership in the change we want to see in others but more so, leadership by of leading from within, across the board and at every level. Leading from within is something that is rarely seen especially at a time when people are affected by economical and environmental factors. Leaders will tend to be unaffected because they have trained themselves to withstand adversities and continue with their vision. But how true does that hold of the people working within many organisations? Are the people that constitute the actual business as strong as the guys at the top? Have they developed have the mind of a champion? Or are they gripped by fear, only ever wondering if they still have a job to turn up to the next morning, doing enough not to get fired, but not nearly enough to grow the organisation towards it's vision.

The focus of leading from within is not just for those at the helm. It is not enough for the people at the helm who already possess a winning mind and lead the way. It will be similar to having to push a car all on their own. They may have the energy and motivation at the start but after a while, they will burn out and exhaust themselves without making significant progress. It is important for all the individuals within any organisation to develop a winning mind, a mind of a champion and a leader's way of thinking. Doing this will equate to your whole team helping you push that car. Just picture how much easier the work load would be if an organisation went from having one leader with a solid vision to five hundred leaders all with the same vision and mission in mind?

Just imagine if your people seek in before they seek out. Imagine if your people would actually take the initiative to bring you a set of solutions when facing a problem. Imagine if your people worked on the basis of ownership, accountability responsibility instead of blame, excuses and denial. Imagine if your people did not need to be constantly motivated to do what they are supposed to do? Imagine if the people in your organisation did not stand there waiting for a command to be given to them rather they would take the initiative and ownership by making decisions favourable to your growth. This comes by correctly investing, nourishing and empowering the minds of your people.

Now, more than ever, this form of leadership is needed. We need to not exert our efforts on only picking leaders rather work on developing and nourishing the pool of talent that already exists. Remember, to be on the right direction and become globally competitive you will need the people that constitute your organisations, that constitute your networks and that constitute your partnerships to develop a leader's way of thinking. This will take you and your organisation to The Next Level.