How Leaders can drive Business Improvement.

How business leaders can drive improvement and change in today’s tough environment

 

The UK's productivity has been dragging its heels for some years. Despite pockets of brilliance, we’re still trailing behind many other developed economies. This isn’t just a problem for the government to solve, it’s a business problem. More specifically, I see it as a leadership problem.

In today’s uncertain and competitive environment, leaders can no longer afford to sit back, make minor tweaks, and hope things improve. If you want your business to grow, your KPIs to improve, and your people to thrive, you need to lead intentionally, decisively and boldly. Half hearted leadership won’t cut it any more. The good news is – and I strongly believe this - the opportunities to improve business performance are there for the taking if you focus on the right areas and avoid the usual traps.

One of the first areas business leaders really must focus on is clarity. Too many businesses drift because the leadership has failed to articulate a clear and compelling purpose which the teams understand and align behind. Employees can't deliver results if they don't understand what the business stands for, where it’s going and what their part is in it. Leaders need to nail down their vision, turn it into simple, actionable objectives and communicate it clearly and consistently. Your workforce must understand not only what they’re doing but why it matters. As I’ve written many times, strategy shouldn’t be something that stays locked in the boardroom, discussed in hushed tones, it should be lived and breathed by everyone in the organisation, from the top down and bottom up.

Alongside clarity, culture and attitude are crucial for success. Productivity isn’t only about the systems or technology, it’s about how people think and behave, how they truly feel. If your business culture tolerates mediocrity, avoids addressing problems or lacks accountability, then your productivity is more likely to stagnate, no matter how smart your strategy is. Leaders must be intentional about shaping and nurturing the culture. That means rewarding the right behaviours, challenging poor ones and fostering an environment where people feel empowered to take ownership, speak up and continually improve. High performance cultures aren’t accidental, sadly, they tend to be crafted deliberately and maintained robustly and specifically.

Another key focus area I’d like to bring to the fore is operational excellence and simplification. Far too many businesses get tangled up in unnecessary complexity such as endless processes, red tape, bloated reporting structures (not just talking about NHS England!) and silos that slow everything down. I believe leaders need to be obsessed with focus and simplification. You should be asking: where can we cut waste and reduce loss? How do we streamline decision making? What unnecessary barriers are holding people back from adding real value? Productivity gains are often not about doing more but about removing the friction that’s slowing people down. In my experience, there is far more potential that exists in people and business, than is being accessed and employed, this represents both an unacceptable high waste and tremendous opportunity for success. 

One of the main reasons productivity lags in the UK – not just the UK - is because companies underinvest in their people. Training budgets as we know are often the first to be slashed when finance looks for simple savings. Leadership development gets pushed down the priority list. Then leaders wonder why their people aren’t stepping up, bringing fresh ideas to the table or leading change. At best this is short sighted, at worst its catastrophic. Leaders need to invest consistently in developing skills and capabilities, not just technical skills but also leadership skills, emotional intelligence, decision making ability and adaptability. You need teams who are future ready and confident to navigate and lead (constant) change.

Crucially, leaders must maintain a consistent focus on customers and agility. Let’s remember your business doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Customer needs, market conditions and competitor actions are changing all the time. Leaders must stay close to customers, stay curious, stay flexible and stay relevant. Complacency and internal focus can be very dangerous indeed. The most successful businesses tend to be the ones where leadership genuinely encourages a mindset of experimentation, learning and responsiveness.

However, while it’s clear where leaders should focus, it’s just as important to recognise the traps they should avoid if they want sustained improvement. One of the most common pitfalls that we see working with clients is dodging difficult conversations. Whether it's about underperformance, toxic behaviour, misalignment or missed targets, many leaders (its thought some 70+%) shy away from addressing issues head-on. They fear upsetting people, rocking the boat or creating more, leaders hope it will become some else’s problem. But avoiding these conversations never solves the problem and it just allows it to fester, demoralise others, erodes trust and can drag the business down. Strong leaders don’t shy away from discomfort of having difficult conversations, they tackle issues early, constructively and consistently, seeking to engage with individuals and seek improvement.

Another damaging habit is micromanagement or simply too much management. It’s tempting, especially in tough times, for leaders to tighten control, sink back into the ‘doing’ and try to oversee every decision. But micromanagement is proven to stifle creativity, it slows progress and sends a message of distrust. Instead, leaders should focus on setting clear expectations, giving people the autonomy to deliver, and holding them accountable for results, not tasks.

A third trap is what you might call change fatigue. It’s common for businesses under pressure to launch initiative after initiative, each promising to fix things but most often improving little or nothing. Flooding people with too many disconnected or reactionary programmes creates confusion, frustration and fatigue. It’s better to focus on a few clear and critical initiatives, resource them properly, and ensure they’re embedded before moving on to the next thing.

Another leadership blind spot which I feel needs attention, is ignoring frontline insights. Senior leaders can get insulated, relying too much on filtered information and KPIs. In doing so, they miss out on valuable perspectives from the people closest to customers and day-to-day operations. Frontline teams usually know where the friction points ( hence the expression ‘at the coal face) are and have smart ideas to improve. The best leaders create real channels to listen and engage with their teams—not just tick-box surveys - have genuine dialogue and listen, learn and improve together.

This is where I can step in and serve. Over the years, I’ve worked with leadership teams across various sectors, helping them cut through the noise and focus on what will truly drive business performance.

One of the first ways I help is by working with leaders to gain clarity on vision and priorities. Often, leadership teams feel like they’re pulled in too many directions, trying to please too many stakeholders. I help leaders simplify the picture, pinpointing the few key priorities that will make the biggest difference, engaging and aligning the team around them.

Another area I focus on is leadership behaviour. Culture starts at the top, and too often, leaders aren’t aware of how their behaviours, blind spots or habits are impacting the wider business. I work with and challenge leaders —constructively — to step up where it matters, whether that’s having the tough conversations, holding people accountable or modelling the right behaviours in service of the strategy.

Creating cohesive, high performing teams is another attention point for many clients – especially after covid and the lack of investment teams have had. Many leadership teams are weighed down by friction, lack of trust or poor communication. I work closely with teams to identify and break down these barriers and build cleaner stronger alignment, not just at the top but throughout the organisation.

When it comes to change and improvement programmes, I have helped many leaders plan and deliver them in a way that sticks. No jargon, no ‘off-the-shelf’ fluff, just practical, honest conversations and tools that ensure change isn’t something that’s done to people but with them.

And finally, I bring an outside perspective. Sometimes, you need someone to walk in, ask the ‘silly’ question, spot what's ‘not quite right,’ challenge assumptions and help you see the ‘wood for the trees’. I offer that, grounded in experience and a passion for building better businesses.

Right now, leaders need clarity, courage, capability, challenge and the right support. That’s where I come in—whether through leadership coaching, facilitating strategy days, offering business diagnostics, or simply having straight talking conversations to help businesses find focus and move forward.

The UK desperately needs businesses to raise their game. Productivity, performance and improvement won’t fix themselves. Waiting for government fixes is not a strategy, especially given recent announcements about sick pay and NI changes. It starts with leadership. It starts with me, you, us.

If you’re serious about driving improvements, strengthening your leadership and building a better business, let’s have a conversation. Better businesses don’t happen by accident. Let’s build them—intentionally and boldly – for good.

#buildingbetterbusiness #leadingbusinesschange #leadership #businessimprovement