Dr. Subhajit Bose’s Post

'Stay alive in 2025': For mid-sized #agencies, maintaining #sales pipeline visibility beyond three months is crucial, but not always achievable. It underpins hiring strategies, salary growth, and cash flow. However, when faced with prolonged sales dips, the impact can be felt long-term, leading to tough short-term decisions that have a cascading effect across the broader business. Experienced leaders are resilient. They know that quarterly metrics often yield better #strategic insights than monthly reports. Yet, when even quarterly trends soften, the urgency for revenue recovery increases. This may lead to a cycle of chasing smaller, low-margin projects to meet immediate pressures, leading to a long-term strain on resources and cash flow: Extracting critical team members away to other projects can be difficult, it can be hard to exit those clients from the portfolio, day rate reduction as an incentive can easily become a lazy default position. To avoid this cycle, it's essential to balance short-term needs with long-term strategy. The compounding effect of multiple low-margin projects in the portfolio at once is significant, as the underlying team behaviours get entrenched in a fire-fighting mindset. Gradually shifting from low-value, high-touch projects to those that better align with your agency’s profitability goals is a strategic pursuit that has to be driven aggressively. Take on the low-margin wins because they serve an important purpose, but don’t make it the default behaviour over an extended period because it may take up to 12 months to return to a strong mindset and sustainable performance. The good news is that it is recoverable using repeatable tactics and adjusting key behaviours. Strategic foresight and resilience are key. Form the forthcoming Agency Series: Must-win vs can-win - Why it takes months to recover from pipeline depression. Struggling with a depressed pipeline or low confidence in the short term, DM me and let's work it through. #AgencyGrowth #SalesStrategy #Leadership #BusinessResilience

70% of senior executives are on the brink of resignation due to burnout. It's a startling statistic. But you're not alone if you're part of this 70%. Burnout is real. It's draining. And it's pushing talented leaders like you to the edge. But here's the thing. You've built a wealth of expertise. You've climbed the corporate ladder. You've led teams and driven results. Now, it's time to leverage that expertise. You need an exit strategy. One that not only gives you freedom but also opens doors. A strategy that allows you to build a 7-figure thought leadership business. Imagine that. Being your OWN boss. Setting your OWN hours. Sharing your insights and experiences with others. And earning a 7-figure income while doing it. It's not a pipe dream. It's a reality that's within your reach. So, if you're feeling burnt out, don't just quit. Plan your exit. Leverage your expertise. Create a thought leadership business that brings financial rewards and the freedom and fulfillment you seek. Because you're not just a senior executive. You're a thought leader. And the world needs your expertise. So, take THAT leap. You've got this. #B2B #thoughtleadership #executives #professionaldevelopment #growth

“Mediocrity is the enemy of excellence.” I heard this statement from a client yesterday and it’s really stuck me me. 🫶🏻 Mediocrity is being sucked in to just settling with “average”. It’s giving up and not challenging. It’s accepting that nothing is going to change. It’s being ok with poor performance. It’s shrugging shoulders and saying “meh”. It’s having no ambition or drive. It’s complacency. ❌ That’s not me. Improving performance is in my DNA, that’s who I am and I’m grateful to work in a company with so many likeminded people - starting from the top. 🙌🏼 Leadership who settle for just meeting targets, or achieving the bare minimum, fosters a culture of mediocrity. This stifles innovation, creativity, and the drive to constantly improve. As a consequence, staff in such an environment become accustomed to mediocrity, and their performance stagnates. The company performs poorly, falls behind competitors and declines in market share. 📉 In contrast, leadership who inspire employees to pursue excellence, sets challenging goals and creates an environment where striving for better is the norm - unleashes the full potential of the workforce and propels the company towards success. 🚀 What sayings stick with you Jason Smith, Rajiv Jayaraman, Saood Kidwai, Nandita Das, Promit Sanyal, Manu Nanda, Dr. Ritwik Mishra? #Leadership #Ambition #Growth #Performance

🔥 Unpopular Opinion: Your Top Performer Might Be Your Biggest Problem Everyone loves the high achievers—the ones smashing targets and carrying the team’s numbers. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: if your “star” is toxic, they’re not an asset— they’re a liability. ❗Stop promoting the people who destroy team morale just because they deliver. ❗Stop excusing bad behavior because it’s "good for business." It's NOT! ❗Stop turning a blind eye to the damage they cause, or you’ll lose your culture. And if you lose that… well, you already know what comes next. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” – Peter Drucker had it right. Your best strategy is worthless if your culture is eroding from the inside. You can have all the top performers in the world, but here’s what happens when you let one toxic person stay too long: 🚨 Your top talent starts leaving. 🚨 The team loses trust. 🚨 Your results will suffer long-term. Sure, the toxic star might deliver today, but once your culture cracks, the foundation of your success falls apart. Brave Leaders protect the people by protecting the culture — not by sacrificing them for short-term wins. 💥 Don't just protect your high performers—protect your team, protect your values, protect your culture. That’s where lasting success comes from. 💥 #Leadership #CultureOverEverything #Accountability

“I was already planning to resign. I felt I am not valued and I am not making an impact with what I am doing.” I was surprised to hear this from a client not too long ago. That day, we just finished a ‘blockbuster’ workshop, judging by the overwhelmingly positive response and the impressive workshop output of the management team. “But I gave myself one more chance. I proposed several strategic initiatives. But they were either disapproved or given a cold shoulder.” “I had to wait for the right time to pitch again. Good thing there was an upcoming company event. I was able to connect my proposed initiatives with upcoming event. And I came prepared with everything they need to know. I came into the board room to assert and convince them, not to ask for permission.” The proposal was approved and implemented much to the delight of the management team. I said, “Congratulations, you did what an ideal business partner should!” Business Partner Mindset: When others say ‘no’, I know I can change their minds. Business Partnering whether in HR, IT, Finance requires leadership & influence skills. #leader #leadership #businesspartnering

High performers are game-changers! 🚀 They're 3X more productive and 50% more effective. 🤯 Their premium services yield extraordinary returns. Ready to elevate your business? Let's connect! #changemanagement #digitaltransformation #productivity #efficiency #ROI #valuedelivery #consultancy

The Leadership Gap No One Sees Coming Until It’s Too Late A few years ago, I faced one of the toughest challenges in my career. A top executive resigned without warning. The fallout was immediate: • Teams scrambled to manage workloads. • Critical projects stalled. • Morale took a nosedive. What hurt the most wasn’t the resignation itself but seeing talented individuals lose confidence. Not because we didn’t care, but because we weren’t ready. I’ll never forget the questions that surfaced during a team meeting: “How can we trust the next steps if no one saw this coming?” “What happens to us now? are we safe in the business with this person gone?” These questions stuck with me long after that day. It was a hard lesson, but it shaped my view on leadership. Succession planning isn’t just about replacing key roles. It’s about creating a system where teams feel secure, and businesses remain steady no matter what. After that experience, we took a proactive approach to avoid being caught off guard again: • Identifying potential leadership gaps early. • Capturing critical knowledge to ensure continuity. • Developing clear growth paths for internal talent. • Building a reliable bench of successors to reduce uncertainty. The difference? Smooth transitions. Resilient teams. Continuity, even in uncertain times. The truth is, waiting for stability is a risk. Growth comes with preparing for change, not avoiding it. So, let me ask you: What’s one lesson you’ve learned about staying ready for the unexpected?

Succession planning is so, so important.

I have a hypothesis... I believe that most people at work (including everyone from the CEO down) - don’t want to feel worried about whether they might be fired for not hitting targets (despite working hard) - don’t want to see the people around them burning out - want to work effectively with other teams but can’t because it will stop them from hitting their own goals - want to speak up when they see things going wrong but fear the consequences of speaking the truth - want to do the right thing for the long-term success of the company and its people Of course, there may be some who genuinely don’t care about humans. But mostly, the people I meet and work with do care, yet they feel they cannot change how work gets done for fear of losing their jobs. We seem unable to create a balance between working in ways that value people AND achieving great results for the organisation. Yet I know it's possible because I’ve experienced it and led teams this way. Many other companies and leaders are already doing this and outperforming and outlasting their more traditional competitors. Did you know that 50% of the FTSE 500 have dropped off the list in the last 20 years? My hypothesis is that when a company’s core focus is on financial targets, leaders are forced to make short-term decisions that improve things for shareholders but destroy longer-term value for the company, its customers, and its employees. I will work tirelessly through #ACT! to create the safety and ability for leaders to make work better so that organisations AND people can thrive! But I need your help! What do you think? Please comment here, or if you don’t feel safe enough to comment directly, message me privately with your thoughts and experiences. Let's Flow #Leadership

Another good read here, I can relate this to the one shift in manufacturing that insists on the highest output often at the expense of the overall weeks line performance and attainment.