Two major shifts are happening right now:
Both are very real and both, to many, unsettling. For me, I’ve been through the first two evolutions of the web and one major recession. Business and economies go through cycles and if you understand that, and lean into it, these moments create incredible opportunity.
The first step in leaning in is to get hardcore about examining your direct executive leadership team. There is truth to the saying that only the fittest survive and examining the fitness of your executive leadership team – and yourself – should be your top priority right now. It is time to ask the question, does my executive team have the experience, grit, curiosity, and creativity to plow through the unknown hurdles we will face in months to come? Have I surrounded myself with the right people who have the tenacity and skills to pull this company, and our team members, through the competitive war that a recession brings, while properly managing investment for innovation in the new and unchartered waters of the metaverse, NFTs, crypto and more while meeting the demands of our investors? Do you, as their leader, have the right tools to evaluate their skills for these conflicting times and do you, personally, have the right advisors to help you navigate?
If you have not been through enough of an emotional rollercoaster with the pandemic, wait until you see new and nimble companies eat away at your market share, as they charge into Web3, while you are working to defend your core business through an economic downturn.
Executive leadership is HARD and it demands constant attention and analysis. The person who was right for your company yesterday or today may not be right for your company tomorrow. Great executives are continuously examining themselves and their teams. This work is difficult to do when you have spent years building a business with trusted colleagues and weathered together a global pandemic that changed just about everything, but it is essential. The opportunity of Web3 is not something to be complacent with and the reality of the downturn is here. Find a way to do the critical exercise of assessing yourself and your direct executive team. Hire a third party to help if you are too close to it. Be critical and non-emotional and make this a priority.
The headwinds, and the opportunities, are here. It may be time to rethink your executive leadership team if you are to properly face them.
