Find Your Inner Dimon

When times get really tough, and your organization is in crisis, being a good leader may not be enough; you’ll need to be a strong one too. In my latest Change Bytes newsletter, “Stepping Up: Are You a Strong Leader?” I told you about some of the important characteristics of strong leaders. From well-founded values to knowing when to step away, strong leaders are decisive and firm in fluid, difficult situations.

Arguably the most important characteristic of a strong leader is simply stepping up to the challenge, and having a willingness to make hard decisions and take responsibility for the actions of your company and colleagues. No matter your feelings about large corporate banks and their role in the Great Recession, it is clear that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jaime Dimon is a strong leader. In the wake of the 2008/2009 stock market crash, bank stocks were hammered, and many of Dimon’s fellow CEOs lost their jobs. Not only did Dimon keep his, but his out-spoken and candid television appearances eventually earned him the reputation as the unofficial spokesperson for the entire industry. While other CEOs hid in their offices, issuing written statements about the health of their companies and the Banking Industry, Dimon stood before the United States Congress—not once, but twice!—to answer difficult, sometimes angry, questions about his company’s responsibility for the Recession.

Crisis Leadership and Shock Trauma

If you’ve ever been in one of my Leading Change workshops you know that I believe that business change environments dictate the style of leadership you should adopt. For instance, Business As Usual is best served by 'Champion' leaders, while Crisis situations require a more directive 'Captain' in charge. Traditional leadership models often fall short during intense organizational change.

Some interesting ideas about Crisis leadership have come from researchers at the US Army Research Institute who spent ten months observing the Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Maryland, a world-renowned urban facility that treats more than 7,000 patients each year with severe, often life-threatening injuries. They wanted to find out which leadership strategies fared best for teams working in "highly dynamic and stressful situations". The Shock Trauma Center was the perfect petri dish.

The center's trauma teams are made up of three key leadership roles: the top-ranked position, held by the 'Attending' surgeon; the second-ranked 'Fellow' position, followed by the third-ranked 'Admitting' resident, with the players changing from day to day, week to week and month to month. A trauma team's lifetime is short - about 15 to 60 minutes - with individual leaders coming and going while the leadership positions remain rigid, but flexible.

What People Magazine Knows About Customer Experience Management

When Seal and Heidi Klum called it quits earlier this year, they reported having “grown apart’, a common theme among Hollywood power couples; they come together in a storm of romance, and beat a hasty retreat at the first sign of trouble. They gush about their new beau when things are new, but lose interest once their needs inevitably change.

So, what about your relationship with your customers? Sure, you probably don’t have paparazzi following you to every meeting, luncheon, or conference, but when things change, business relationships can fall prey to the same pitfalls as Hollywood romances do.

How do you know when your customer’s needs have changed? Do you know what’s important to them - now? And on the flip side, how do you let your customers know when your needs have changed?

For starters, not all customers leave suppliers because of price, products or options. Research tells us that most leave because they feel that their current supplier doesn't understand them or their needs. There’s that word again: needs.

So, how are you staying ahead of your customer’s changes? How are you letting them know that you care about them? Here are few tips for making sure that your company doesn’t end up on the cover of People magazine.