The turmoil of volatile economies, technology disruption, convergence, automation, greater globalisation, the Trump/Brexit factors, and the general election outcome have produced previously unimaginable challenges for business leaders, creating an environment in which making long-term decisions looks remarkably different. 

This has many consequences. Firstly, as our fear of losing control compels us to look for order and certainty, businesses end up getting distracted and set themselves up for serving only short-term goals. Secondly, there is a temptation to create behaviours that ultimately don’t serve us, because long-term priorities can no longer be determined.

Disruption is, however, inevitable and as such cannot be resisted. In order to embrace it, businesses will need to master fear to ignite business ideas. So, a new approach is needed in the form of humanly relevant ideas with the precision that technology affords us, to deliver maximum impact at critical moments. To take advantage of a volatile environment during times characterised by uncertainty, there is but one answer: embrace change. 

For that, you may think you need a visionary leader. But that’s not fundamentally true. Recent research by CEB (now Gartner) shows that the people who change organisations do so because they have certain personality traits. These people embrace change within organisations and are able to take others with them on the journey.

Our own research demonstrates that the emotional still precedes the rational when it comes to business decisions. If we are to fully embrace the opportunities brought about in these volatile times, it is not ‘visionary leaders’ but instead ‘change-makers’ that need to be empowered with relevant, emotionally charged messages to help others channel their fears into creativity. 

Turbulent times offer a great opportunity for businesses to transform their fortunes, hurdle the competition and enjoy rapid growth and success. You only have to know how best to connect the dots. 

AUTHORS

Kate Howe, Managing Director, gyro UK
David Harris, Executive Creative Director, gyro UK

Key take outs:

• Uncertainty breeds fear. The business world we operate in is uncertain and volatile. Factors such as a changeable, global political climate and the threat of being ‘Amazoned’ or ‘Ubered’ have created a ‘paralysis of fear’.
• CEOs need to master their fear and ignite their business creativity. To thrive in times of uncertainty, CEOs need to enable change-makers within their organisations and make decisions that are more intuitive and less rational.
• Change agents in businesses should be empowered. CEB (now Gartner), in their work on mobilisers within different organisations, has identified personality types who facilitate change in businesses. By engaging these mobilisers with our sales and marketing campaigns, we can help them ignite business creativity and break the paralysis of fear. Change-makers are driven by their emotional responses.
• We need to rethink marketing in the age of fear. When you don’t know what’s happening next, you need to be smarter, more entrepreneurial, more agile and more reactive to market demands. Collaboration with smart partners is the only way forwards. When we’re riding the wave of fear in turbulent times, we have to optimise our opportunities and find new ways of creatively reaching and influencing our audiences.

MASTERING FEAR TO IGNITE BUSINESS CREATIVITY

Download the report here

CONTACT

Melanie Carey-Yard, New Business & Marketing Director, gyro, [email protected]