The top 3 challenges facing leaders of business leaders in 2016

As 2016 kicks off, the challenges leaders will face this year have a distinct flavour. As the power of digital continues to dominate, standing out in a crowded market place remains critical and the importance of team heats up.

1. All things digital

In 2014, more people spent time accessing the internet via their mobile phone than their PC, making it the biggest revolution of the internet, since the internet began. While industries in the B2C space have been quicker to adapt to new technologies that support this change, those working in the B2B space have lagged behind.

As the rate of change in the digital landscape escalates, in 2016 business leaders will need to face the hard questions about what involvement they will have in the digital world and how it coexists with their real world operations before they get left behind entirely. For today the customer journey doesn’t begin at the front door, it begins on the mobile phone of people you haven’t met yet.

The best strategy to face this challenge is for leaders to get educated. Those who haven’t wanted to understand the digital landscape simply just need to; the alternative is highly  risky as you won’t be able to make the right decisions about what tools to use, how much to spend, who can help you deliver and how you can ensure a consistent brand experience from the internet through to your bricks and mortar.

2. How are you different?

As a wordsmith I know first-hand that there is a distinct lack of words we have in use in a whole range of industries. This matched with pages of stock photos that consist of grey and blue boardrooms and you have a sea of ‘same’.

From a consumer’s perspective, this makes choosing the right supplier hard; ultimately settling for what they know as they can’t make sense of unique offerings.

Understanding what truly makes you different, and the need to be known for something unique, has never been more important than in 2016 as marketplaces crowd, the start-up revolution hits and clients demand more.

Being unique is not a luxury it is a business imperative.

Searching for your point of difference is not always easy and leaders will need to invest time and resources into strategic thinking to ensure the answer is found. Then they need to ensure that that golden nugget of uniqueness is confidently and consistently communicated to market, choosing words, images, concepts and messages that really stand out.

3. Who do you have around you?

Every good leader knows that the key to success is the team around them and their most important asset is their organisational culture. All sectors – either people-focused or technology-based, face ruthless competition and change occurring at neck-breaking speed, meaning your team are more important to your success than ever before – you just simply can’t keep up to date with everything yourself.

Most employers are now looking for people who have an ‘ultimate’ skillset that includes being tech-savvy, detail-oriented, sales-focused and creative – all at once. I don’t need to tell leaders that the search and retention of people who fit that criteria is becoming harder and more expensive.

That is why in 2016 leaders, and especially those in small and medium-sized businesses who traditionally haven’t formally looked at these issues, need to get serious about staff engagement, internal culture, employee branding, developing team goals, strong recognition systems, transitioning the ‘technician to team leader’ and creating a work environment that people want to be part of.

All the best for 2016!

Zadro specialises in organisation change and strategic communication management in small to medium enterprises. For more information visit www.zadroagency.com.au