Related Articles:The inner “why” of leadership

Reinvent or Die

When I begin with new clients I always start with questions to find out if they know their “why”. I recently asked a global aviation services company: “What does your company do?” Answer? “We provide aviation services”. I then asked: “What distinguishes you from your competition?” Answer? “We provide excellent service”. Do you think they are clear on their “why”?

Now, compare this to a client in Grand Cayman who operates tours for cruise and stayover visitors. Their answer? “We give customers the experience of a lifetime”. That tour operator certainly knows “why” they are here, and that drives their “what” and “how” in powerful ways. To give an example of “how”, staff who focussed on providing the experience of a lifetime are far more likely to go the extra mile to create those experiences. On the “what” level, the company doesn’t just “offer tours”; they continually look at what “the experience of a lifetime” means with changing customer needs and so change the shape of their business to fit.  

Both companies operate in markets with fierce price competition. The tour operator, though, does not offer low prices, but still has customers come back to them again and again, as well as benefitting from many referrals. They inspire that loyalty because they know their “why”. They also change to meet customer needs so they can thrive over time by staying true to their “why”.

For Cayman as a country, we once had the confidence to go out and establish the foundations of our economic future through the financial services industry. Our leaders knew their “Why” and elected leaders, public servants and private business all pulled together to drive Cayman forwards. Laws were continually introduced or changed to allow new services that were ahead of the competition and these were then delivered with world class practitioners and infrastructure. I could articulate that “why” as: “global leadership and competitiveness through innovation and service delivery”. 

In the last three years of global recession, Cayman has focussed on fixing our “how”, by looking at costs, bureaucracy, revenues, taxes etc. Our cost base is certainly too high and we must address this. Like the tour operator though, when we knew our “why” we inspired loyalty without being the lowest cost option. At least as important, the world came to us when they needed new products, knowing Cayman’s reputation for innovation and leadership. Our “why” then kept us current and competitive as the world changed.

However, as time passed we have lost clarity and focus on our “why”, and as a result have paid too little attention to the “what” that flows from the “why”. The global economy continue to be fundamentally reshaped, but is “what” Cayman offers still positioned to take advantage of opportunities from new industries, new ways of working, new markets? 

Not too long ago we boasted world class telecommunications infrastructure, but have now fallen far behind in both mobile and internet. Why not look to facilitate that area and then capitalise on opportunities in areas such as the many digitally based industries that have exploded worldwide? 

To take only one more area, the emergence of Dr Shetty on the Cayman scene is an example of the booming medical care and wellness industries, fuelled by global demographic trends. However, what has Cayman done to proactively position our country to meet those needs? 

These are but two potential areas, but the summary is that we need to be proactive, not reactive if we are to survive and thrive, and for that we need to recapture our “why”.