Leaders today need to use a figurative machete in their organizations …

… not in a slashing cost campaign (sort of, yes, but not the priority) …

… definitely not in their staff ranks …

… but wielding it in a way that will make their organization perform better, increase inefficiencies, decrease costs (of course), and enable their people to work and make decisions more freely.

Leaders need to use their machete to cut through the processes that bog down progress and make the jungle of systems dense and impenetrable.

So many companies – large corporations to small enterprises – have such overgrowth in their workplace that it makes it virtually impossible to service customers, navigate markets, and build up a fully engaged staff.

Leaders from all levels of each organization can hack away at the following:

• Procedures and policies that do not favor the customer (those areas where the customer receives the “I’m sorry that’s our policy” line for not solving their legitimate problem)
• Practices that waste time and productivity
• Meetings that do not inform, inspire, open communication, or produce any lasting actions
• Communication that never addresses the real issues or becomes politicized
• Agendas that are self-serving and do not benefit the client, staff, or organization as a whole
• Processes and systems that slow down response times or are essentially layers upon layers of systems that needs to be stripped down to their bare functions
• Reports that waste more time on analysis and fail to either bring as much revenue or save as much money as it does to generate (ie – the 3 cent debit memo or 10-cent credit adjustment)

Leaders can wield their machetes to speak up, bring facts to the table, rally support, propose solutions, and promote better ways to carry out business.

In business, it definitely is a “jungle out there”. But that does not mean your company needs to have an internal jungle. Be a trailblazer. Cut a path. Clear the way. Watch everything move forward more smoothly.

(image courtesy of discovery.com)