No sugar-coating the past month in Washington, DC. It feels like we are stuck in a nightmare and cannot wake up from it.
Executive orders are raining down on business leaders with no end in sight. Nary a moment to process today’s political tumult when news comes of another round of directives tomorrow. Each new week brings more bunker mentality with little time to catch our breaths let alone think about the future. We see and feel the human toll that this upheaval and uncertainty has on our teams, our families and friends, and our colleagues in real time. There is much pain which, in my view, is being inflicted with intent and even some malice as evident by the callous treatment and utter disrespect shown to thousands of government employees and their families impacted by the recent mass firings.
For many leaders, it is easy to go to anger right now. But upon reflection the anger feels an initial reaction to something deeper and more substantial. Candidly, we are experiencing a loss of basic decency and humanity that resurfaced during the COVID pandemic. For nearly 3 years, we collectively relearned one of life’s most important lessons–our genuine need for connection to one another. Not through the always-limiting lenses of economic or social class, race or gender identity, or even political or religious affiliation but rather grounded in the beautifully diverse mosaic we call humanity.
Our shared experience with COVID provided us with another important yet overlooked gift—the heightened societal awareness for more caring, compassion, and empathy in leadership. Yet this awareness is still in its infancy vis-à-vis our capitalist norms and values. And there are no assurances that it will stand the test of time.
In fact, history tells us that we will likely take two steps back before we move forward again. Why? Because some leaders will continue to use fear and intimidation to sow division among groups in pursuit of their own agendas. They do so because blaming others is a winning strategy–in politics, in business, or even in our own communities. And they do so to avoid individual accountability and minimize political fallout. After all, it is far easier and expedient in today’s political discourse to publicly tear people and things down rather than to lift people up and build something meaningful.
Now in this unchartered time and place, it is hard to imagine how this story could improve in the coming weeks. In fact, my head tells me every day that I should emotionally prepare for the possibility that it gets worse before it gets better. Yet my heart speaks a more compelling message that moments like these ultimately define us. This is truly our once-in-a-generation call to action. A call to lead with both head and heart. A call to lead with authenticity and clear intention. A call to create and build the future we want in vibrant partnership with other individuals and organizations. Yet that future cannot be realized by simply resisting or playing defense all the time. Instead, we need to learn how to play offense as much and as often as possible. And that must begin today.
What exactly does playing offense look like?
First and foremost, playing offense is all about having a positive, values-driven strategy to advance an organization’s mission and impact. That strategy must be grounded in a realistic assessment of organizational opportunity and risk as well as an achievable path(s) forward. It must also outline key initiatives, deliverables and timelines, and specific accountabilities that are measurable over time. So far nothing too innovative or sexy here.
Next, playing offense requires leaders and boards of directors to embrace a heightened sense of urgency and adopt even greater discipline in all aspects of our businesses. These are not normal times, and the legal, financial, and operational risk to most organizations is extremely high with some already fighting for their very existence. Indeed, time is our most precious resource followed closely by people and then of course funding. So our first and best action is to allocate the time necessary to assess our organization’s current state and prepare contingency plans accordingly. Think of this body of work being completed within weeks and not months or years as we would do under normal business conditions.
Practically, that means investing a significant amount of governance and leadership time right now to process new developments and to game-theory different contingency scenarios. For example, all standing meetings and their respective agendas should be reexamined to maximize strategic conversations that assess the impact of federal policy and funding changes as well as identify possible paths forward. Beyond this mission-critical work, we will undoubtably need additional time in the coming months to comprehend the downstream impact of such federal changes on state and local governments and their respective budgets. Every minute truly counts now.
Finally and most important, playing offense embraces the practice of adaptive learning and in-game adjustments. The best soccer teams in the world know how and when to adjust their game plan to pursue a new opening or minimize an emerging threat. Such adjustments usually take three basic forms: (1) changing the players on the pitch aka making in-game substitutions; (2) altering the actual structure of our team on the pitch aka repositioning our players to exploit a weakness in the opponent’s defense; and/or (3) redirecting our point of attack to gain an advantage in ball possession and field position.
These same basic concepts are available to most leaders who are trying to navigate this period of political upheaval and uncertainty. Individual members of our leadership teams are the players on the pitch and, when and where appropriate, can be substituted at different times. The overall structure of our management team represents how we position players on the pitch to compete against our opponent. That structure can be adjusted if and when our team is not achieving specific goals and objectives. And major expansions or reductions to our organization’s service delivery or financial model illustrate how we can redirect our point of attack to achieve a desired outcome. Remember each individual concept can add value under certain conditions and, when combined, may create the potential for a great game plan.
How will your organization play offense in 2025? And what in-game adjustments will you make to further your organization’s mission?
Here are a few business planning suggestions that can help individual leaders and organizations answer these pressing questions:
- For businesses with approved strategic plans, individual leaders and boards of directors should reassess major planning assumptions within the next 60 days and make adjustments as needed. This strategic reassessment should ideally focus on improving cash flow and liquidity, ensuring business and operational continuity in the face of current and/or future funding cuts and program closings, and actively supporting leadership teams through this period of heightened stress and uncertainty.
- For businesses without approved strategic plans, individual leaders and boards of directors should pursue a two-part business planning initiative over the next 3 months whereby (1) management prepares an actionable contingency plan within the next 60 days for the remainder of the current fiscal year and (2) the board of directors completes an abbreviated strategic planning process in the next 90 days that encompasses a 2-year planning horizon and helps inform management’s operational and budget planning for the following fiscal year.