Leaders lead numbers, not led by them.

Adopting a mindset to lead numbers in an organisation is not simple. A recent scenario where businesses were struggling to lead numbers is through the COVID-19 pandemic. Industries, especially the tourism sector, experienced an unprecedented shock worldwide.

A European study by De Vet et al. (2021) report that the HORECA industry used to employ 4.82 million people and generated a value added of Eur266 billion in 2019. Recent evidence on the vulnerability and dependency of the economies of the EU member states on tourism ranked Malta fourth overall (Bulin et al., 2021).

The above illustrates that there are instances where it is challenging to lead numbers, and external circumstances dictate the way forward.

However, most of the businesses nowadays are back to regular activity. Locally, we are experiencing business volumes reach or exceed those registered pre-pandemic. However, profits might fall short due to inflation. The fact that activity is normalised and, most importantly, stabilised gives us, leaders, the benefit of planning and, yet again, lead numbers.

How?

1 - Know your cost base, referred to as potential cost—a proactive approach to managing costs and negotiating the most beneficial contracts with business partners. You cannot lead revenues and profits if you do not have explicit, planned, and controlled costs.

2 - Avoid complacency. “It’s been like this for ages” or “Why are you even asking about it?” An approach usually adopted by a disengaged or demotivated decision-maker. Even if present tools and services give positive results, always ask, research and benchmark. It can only strengthen or reconfirm the decision taken in the past or expose you to new opportunities.

3 - Analyse and Adapt. Humans make decisions, at least in most cases, and we are all subject to mistakes or bad judgements. It is imperative to have clear key indicators of the business performance. Analysing performance is not boring. It is a proactive tool to adopt, intending to drive the numbers.

4 - Be sensitive. Avoid having a mindset that is us against business partners. On the contrary, have business partners in collaboration. A win-win scenario. It is only by having mutual respect with all parties which can lead to long-term success.

5 - Do not fear making difficult decisions. Certain decisions might be unpopular. If you have a well-thought-out plan, make the decisions needed. Do not think about the short-term repercussions but on the long-term success of the business.

Use the numbers as indicators to plan the future; do not make decisions haphazardly to influence numbers in the short term.