Abundance Leadership

Abundance Leadership

Abundance Leadership

James (name changed) is a brilliant CEO. I had the chance to work closely with him years ago. He was a top graduate of an Ivy League university and acknowledged by the investment community as a sharp leader. I learned from James the importance of competitive management. James knew every single figure of his competitors' business results. He benchmarked every business parameter of his company against the competition. He highlighted the importance of gaining market share and getting a better gross profit margin than the competition. If he didn't beat the competitorshe bought them.

It was "the best way" of doing business: competitive strategy, strategic positioning, competitive advantage and core competencies. Wow! All of the buzz words taught in business school. We even practiced the well-known Harvard professor, Michael Porter's five forces strategy. But things got weird when James started monitoring in real time the share price of the company against the competition.

The following year, the electronic industry faced major turmoil. Our company revenue plunged and our bottom line turned as red as blood. While we made enormous efforts to cut costs and stop the drop in our net income, James appeared at the next board meeting more confident than ever. In a dramatic speech followed by a business analysis, he claimed that the company was doing very well compared to the competition. After all, the competition lost a lot of money too. The Board believed him. It was a convenient "truth" they wanted to adopt.

I did not!

There is much more to leadership than following the competition. Competitive leadership is not effective leadership. James is still the CEO. The company has merged with and acquired competitor companies since then. Earnings have never recovered. The shares have continued to sink.

There is infinite abundance in the universe. We don't have to take from others to be successful. If we accept this philosophy, we focus energy away from competition and towards creativity. James has brilliance and ability. If he tunnels his talents toward creating new products, businesses and services instead of taking market share from competitors, he would add much more value to the stake holders.

This is also true in our personal lives. We can get what we want without taking it from someone. By using our unique perception, reasoning, imagination and intuition to enrich, we become a creator of new ideas and profits, rather than a taker of existing ones.

Do you believe Steve Jobs spent most of his time worrying about the competition? Did he waste energy on Apple's insignificant market share? No! He focused on creating new ideas which led to new products.

Do you believe that promotions come from competition with colleagues? Chances to be promoted come by enriching the organization as a whole, not by competing with individuals. I learned from the school of hard knocks that competition in the workplace has far less benefits than creating, advancing and developing new ideas. Promoting the team and organization is THE best strategy of successful leadership.

There is abundance in the universe. Motivate others to create something out of nothing.

This is "Abundance Leadership".

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