Sustainable Business Growth with Claire Chandler

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One of the things I have found myself thinking about quite regularly over the last few years is whether or not it’s possible to find a balance between long-term planning/strategizing and the reality of how fast things are changing these days. 

I’ve spoken to a number of groups over the last few years about the importance of “Readying Your Mindset for The Future Pace of Change” and inevitably we end up in a discussion about how much we cannot currently know about what’s to come in the future – “the future” being a year from now, or sometimes even less. 

Because the reality is that the speed and rate of change continues to increase at a pace that is becoming increasingly difficult to project or even quantify. There is so much happening and changing, at any given point in time, that our brains cannot even begin to understand what is out there and what that really means. 

Because of the work I do and my commitment to increasing leadership capabilities, designing culture, and improving mindset, this often draws my thoughts back to how those changes limit or possibly expand our ability to plan long-term, especially when it comes to business. 

One of the observations I have made over and over again, in the last decade, is that leaders (of all sorts, regardless of the industry) can be frustratingly inept at planning for the future. And as a result, whether they intend to or not, end up planning for things that are a few years out at best. 

We see the results of this unfolding in governments all the time – with wasted time, money, and resources – because the current administration is primarily focused on what they can accomplish in their tenure, rather than what would best serve the public longer term. And, part of the reason is they know that in 4 years someone else will likely take over and change a good portion of what they’ve implemented during their time. 

Something similar unfolds in organizations as well, especially those that are publicly traded. Leaders (again, not necessarily intentionally) are focused on the short-term returns of their decisions, not the long-term effects and possibilities they may not, ultimately, be around to see finished. This often creates a culture that is unfocused, unsustainable, and where people feel disconnected and disengaged. 

As my guest on this week’s podcast, Claire Chandler points out, if a company, leader, or individual is very clear on their mission and their commitment to their purpose, then it becomes much easier to balance the long and short-term decisions with all the unknowns that are part and parcel of the rate of change today. 

Claire maintains, “If you can see a meaningful connection between what you do and the larger purpose, I don’t care who you are, that’s a successful career.” And, a successful legacy.

I hope you’ll listen to the episode and grab a few tips that will help you create purpose and sustainable growth, for yourself and/or your company.

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President and Founder of Talent Boost, Claire Chandler specializes in aligning HR and business leaders so they can deliver strategic outcomes... both today and in the future. She taps into 25+ years of experience in people leadership, human resources, and business ownership to help leadership teams work together more effectively in less time, with less cultural resistance, so they can accelerate their business growth.

She has broad-based expertise in management team due diligence, organizational design, acquisition integration and onboarding strategic planning, executive coaching, and performance acceleration. Claire gets results because she’s insanely easy to work with, cuts through the corporate clutter, and has a simple, proven approach for assessing and accelerating organizations’ growth readiness. 

Claire holds a certificate in strategic HR leadership from Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, a master’s degree from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and a bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University. She has appeared as a guest on over 100 podcasts and is the author of several books on leadership and business strategy.

You can learn more about her work at https://www.clairechandler.net/, on LinkedIn @clairechandlersphr, Twitter @claire_talent, and Facebook @talentboostllc.