Stagnation or Evolution – Mindset Shifts of Boards when Company sees Stagnated Growth

By MMB Admin

Jul 25 th 2022

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Most successful companies at some point in time face predictable crisis, a sudden drop in the revenue and profits, collapse in shareholders returns and consequently a stagnated growth. These situations usually occur when the growth engine of the company and innovative thought process of the Board stops working. For example, losing touch with the exact customer needs, following processes only on power point presentations, slow or delayed decision making by the management, unresponsive controls, lack of enthusiasm etc. The roots of success or failure increasingly lie in the ability of companies to remain fast, perceptive, innovative and adaptable. Internally companies can respond to such shifts in their competitive environments by identifying and executing strategies that sustain their dominance. However, when we talk about the ‘change’ required to reignite the growth engine of the Company, it must begin with a positive and constructive shift in the mindset of Boards, who are the ultimate drivers or decision makers for the business operations. And certainly, these changes or shifts may have been birthed of necessity, but they carry a great potential which is beyond any crisis.

Interestingly, researches provide that crisis is the best situation that gives birth to best leaders who are open to embrace new learnings in new ways and seize opportunities to consciously evolve themselves as well as the stakeholders of the Company. The determined Boards and leadership at the time of crisis or stagnation will always decide to restart its growth engine by removing junk and complexities that has built up over the years thereby inhibiting clean execution of the strategy as well as new ideas to conquer the market. Therefore, let us understand what these mindset shifts could be that can help companies to evolve and move beyond stagnation:

• Rediscovering the vision and mission of the Company

Over the years the Board and the management have been working in the same monotonous style for conducting business operations. Of course, these styles were unique and fresh at the start however, with the passage of time it is quite possible that the practices adopted by the Board becomes mundane, with no interest left to provide something new. Here is the time when the leadership must try to redefine their vision and mission statements, set new goals for themselves as well as for the Company, adopt simpler strategies, revisit core processes and reduce high costs incurred by the Company. Taking baby steps in these forms will certainly boost the leadership and getting rid of past complexities will help them to think afresh.

• Inculcate an owner’s mindset

It is said that the owner’s mindset has a strong bias towards speed and action. When we talk about the change and plan to implement a mindset shift in the leadership, this bias towards speed and action must take backseat for a while. This does not mean that the processes and decisions are delayed. Yet, considering the long-term stability of the Company, giving reasonable time to understand employees’ and stakeholders’ perspective will make a lot of difference in working.

• Bring connection and motivation to the workforce

The most notable feature of how the Boards and leadership are showing up differently is that they are showing more of their humanity. Boards must remember that their workforce have big expectations from them and in the competition to become perfect, leaders themselves forget their humanitarian sides. At the time of crisis when the Company wants to reignite its growth, Boards must step into a ministerial role by extending support, showing empathy, listening, relating and connecting to the workforce. This will help boards to enormously strengthen the loyalties and bonds with the workforce which will further make them more productive as well as motivated to work towards the pre-determined objectives of the Company.

• Boards must decide what they really believe in   

As a leader, you will get multiple factors influencing your decisions. But a true leadership will only be showcased when the decisions taken by Boards are unbiased and are taken on the basis of their true beliefs. Tough decisions with profound human consequences are confronting Boards every day. Therefore, making the right choices for the greater good of the stakeholders will always help Boards to regenerate trust and loyalty for the long-term stability.

• Focus on quality over quantity

Quality has more to do with depth, such as ensuring a task or goal is entirely completed, which usually leads to better results. By being thoughtful about what projects to undertake and focusing on the areas of expertise will naturally help the Company to thrive and excel. Thus, there is a better chance of not only standing out for the exceptional work but also building reputation and continuing to propel business as a whole.

Using the aforementioned mindset shifts, Boards can certainly turn the stagnated growth of the Company to its evolution and reignite the powerful engine of success.

How Can MentorMyBoard help you adapt mindset shifts if your Company sees stagnated growth?

MentorMyBoard is on a mission to set up effective and efficient Boards in India with great Board members. With an expert team of mentors and a capability to handhold Boards and leadership, MentorMyBoard shall guide how to rediscover roles and innovate processes to achieve desired results in case if the Company’s growth has stagnated.

For more details connect with us on info@mentormyboard.com.