BizBites by Ethique Advisory

Effective leadership can seem daunting in today’s dynamic market, with business leaders finding many takers for their time. A survey conducted across 35,000 organizations found that 77% of the participants complained about a lack of leadership at the helm. Day-to-day distractions, resolutions for immediate situations, and challenges get prioritized, taking the leadership’s focus away from the big-picture and long-term goals. Leaders end up with jumbled-up priorities, ineffective communications, lower productivity, higher stress, and a poor work-life balance. Leaders need to halt and look at the situation in the face – do we prioritize daily battles over long-term growth, or is there a better way to get the best of both worlds? How can Business leaders Focus on the Right Priorities?  Tense about having jumbled up priorities?  Want to understand the most important priorities for your business?  Click Here  to learn a few ways a top business growth consultant ...

Have you ever wondered about the secret sauce to the success of seven companies like Amazon, Ikea, Microsoft, or Coca-Cola? The common denominator in achieving their global ambitions is their product strategy. A survey conducted across top organizations shows that nearly 70% factor in their product strategy when making quality business decisions, such as the marketing strategy for a new product, research and development, and customer use cases. Startups and Small and Medium businesses can learn from these organizations to develop a winning product strategy for their products and services. But what is product strategy, and why is it essential for an organization to develop a great product strategy? We discuss this and the best framework to create a successful product strategy. What is A Product Strategy?  A product strategy is a series of steps to help companies bring the envisioned product/service to life. Essentially, the product strategy is a road map that helps em...

A recent survey showed that 67% of the participants believed that leadership coaching increased employee engagement and satisfaction, while 50% said it improved overall productivity. When it comes to coaching practices, leaders have traditionally employed a trust-based approach that focuses on working with employees to come up with solutions to new challenges. However, in a dynamic, ever-changing business environment, there are certain situations where leaders as executive coaches should resort to a direct-coaching process that maximizes goal attainment.  Let us first understand the traditional coaching process and how it differs from a direct approach for understanding the two situations.  The Traditional Coaching Process  Leaders today are expected to have all the answers. Given the dynamic business environment that we operate in today, it is an unrealistic and ill-advised expectation. One way for leaders to manage this expectation is to adopt a new role: that of the co...

It is usual for business owners to feel overwhelmed by tight schedules. Between chasing new leads, attending client meetings, and managing employees, it can be easy to lose track of the number of hours spent in a business. Some business owners work between 16-18 hours a day yet complain that most of their tasks remain pending. A study conducted by Harvard University found that businesses lost $65 billion in revenues after failing to meet their required deadlines. Business owners, especially those running startups, SMEs and MSMEs, must focus on honing their time management skills. It is vital on two accounts, one to transition from working in the business to working on the business, and secondly, to reduce the loss of opportunities because of the inefficiencies of poor time management. Why is Time Management Important Strategy for Business Owners?  As an entrepreneur, you are constantly challenged to do more in less time. Time management skills help you organize, plan, and control t...

A recent survey showed that 71% of businesses still feel that their leaders aren’t ready to guide the company into the future. It is an alarming statistic, given the role effective leaders play in developing an organization’s culture and growth. It is causing many leaders to re-evaluate their current methods to become more effective. But what traits do effective leaders possess that separate them from the rest?  And how can you be an effective leader?   Who is a Leader?  Leaders exude influence over peers and subordinates, enthusing them to achieve a company or a team goal and work cohesively as a team. Regardless of the title, leadership is a mindset in action. Leadership is not a mantle to be handed out. Leaders earn their position because of their competency to inspire those around them, focus on the organization’s objectives and work to maximize the firm’s value.  Who are Effective Leaders?  From Steve Jobs to Jeff Bezos, effective leaders empower their...

Have you ever heard of an entrepreneur starting a company to make ends meet rather than profit? Not! Every entrepreneur aspires to be in the most prosperous phase of the economic cycle. It's a great dream but making it a reality is another story. Businesses begin with BHAG goals and a vision for success. Growing a firm requires the right intellectual assets, strategic partnerships, services, or goods that address unsatisfied customer needs or fulfill a demand gap in the market. A sustainable company model requires a strong operational foundation to decrease long-term risks. Understanding sustainable business growth and how it is measured should come first. What does "sustainable growth" actually mean? Business sustainability is the balancing act between growth and resilience. The kind of growth that a company can achieve practically without running into problems is sustainable growth. A business that grows too quickly can have trouble finding the money to expand. A busine...

What is Your Leadership Style? The Leadership Style of a manager significantly weighs on a firm’s performance. A study conducted across half a million firms showed that the top 10% of high-performing firms had managers and founders that scored in the top 20% in leadership effectiveness. In contrast, the companies that scored in the bottom 10% had leaders score in the bottom 30% of leadership effectiveness. Therefore, a company needs to evaluate its managers’ leadership effectiveness. For that, it is vital to understand the styles of Leadership. While there are several styles often discussed in this blog, we shall focus on two broad types that all leaders can we classified as Reactive Leadership & Creative Leadership. What are Leadership Styles? A leadership style refers to a leader’s approach when managing people/teams reporting to them. Leadership styles determine how managers execute the path to achieving the company objectives while meeting stakeholder expectations a...