Quick hits or measured longer-term view?

I work for an organization built by a Founder who’s guiding principle was that “business exists fundamentally to serve people”. Not shareholders only, not solely customers or just our employees, but all people. His vision was to turn home grown ventures to contribute meaningfully to the region’s economy, society and the broader environment.

This takes work, over years! And I am committed to it.

That said, this has presented a major professional shift for me. As a consultant, I led many projects, solving for a very specific problem at a time, with one set of stakeholders and many times, a somewhat limited view on much longer term or wider (social and economic) impact of the work. Work moved uber fast, with materials expected overnight, strategies formulated, iterated on and finalized within days. And, the main bit, we weren’t always there to see what happened of it eventually — positive or negative. This was not going to work when I moved.

As a CEO, you have your skin in the game! Every action you take, every decision you make is going to impact you, the people you lead and potentially the wider community. High stakes! And this is where the dilemma started to appear for me — could I still go on the same way, expecting my teams to convert ideas into action overnight and just go with them? A scary thought when you consider what is involved.

I reckon most CEOs face the dilemma about balancing speed with patience, as they push themselves hard to maintain a long-term view whilst responding to fast changing markets. We feel the need to move fast with a laser like focus, but we can’t take our eyes off the commitment to our stakeholders — a commitment of long term and sustainable growth.

As we grow our existing businesses and set up new ventures, how do we create the right balance? Do we choose speed and fulfill my innate need to deliver results fast (and be ready to fail!) or do we choose to take a relatively more patient and low risk approach, all for the long term gain (someday, sooner rather than later, we will get there!).

I have chosen to juggle both. I want my businesses to be agile, respond fast, but not take eyes off the long-term ball. Yes, the pressure is on for my teams, but we make sure to take measured decisions considering the vision our organization thrives on. And everything we do must in some shape or form serve the longer-term purpose. Even if that means short term ‘hits’ knowing it will pay off in the longer run. By the same token, if short term opportunistic ideas present themselves, they need to serve the longer-term purpose. The long-term plan in place, all rapid actions in between are monitored continuously to make sure we tweak and course correct as we go.