Ильдар Хусаинов – The power of freedom (страница 11)

We could have endlessly tried to solve problems at a superficial level, but real change came when we looked deeper. I can confidently say that this is the most important tool in business that one needs to master. I learned it late, I admit. It took me 18–20 years of practice to understand how it works. Minor problems can be very distracting, and it takes effort to see the big picture.

The second tool is planning. On the one hand, it can seem like a necessary evil, but on the other hand, it helps assess situations more accurately. It depends on the degree of planning. I've seen cases where everything is planned down to the smallest detail, including furniture and budgets for it. This approach is bottom-up: first, they count the number of tables and computers, then they form an overall budget.

I'm a proponent of top-down planning. I believe in setting goals and identifying major resources. I enjoy discussing the big picture with people without getting bogged down in details. We say, "Here’s our goal, and here are the necessary resources." Some might ask, "How can we achieve our goals without a detailed plan?" But that's how we all live. We don’t always know how the gearbox in a car works, but that doesn’t stop us from driving. The key is to understand the fundamental principles and keep moving forward. However, when necessary, one should be ready to dive into the details and figure things out. Regularly engaging in detailed analysis isn’t practical; people need to be given autonomy.

The same applies to management: focus on your level, and the details will become clear as you progress. The main thing is to find the boundary of how far to plan. This boundary isn’t as extensive as people think. There’s no need to spend hours on Excel spreadsheets; it’s enough to discuss the task and goals in broad terms, agree on concepts, coordinate resources, and identify the interests of the system before getting to work.

That’s how I’ve built my company. We don’t have extensive developments or documents. Our largest presentations don’t include more than 10 slides. Yet, we produce high-quality products and are the largest company in Europe in our field. Of course, this requires thorough preparation and high intelligence from all employees, but that’s a different issue.

The third tool is the non-optimistic model. A common problem for many managers and entrepreneurs is that they are too optimistic. It’s good to be optimistic, but it’s also essential to acknowledge the possibility of failure. I advise everyone to accept this as a given and not to suffer if things don’t go as planned. Most people, especially managers, can’t handle unexpected situations and can crumble under setbacks. When everything goes according to a plan, there are no problems, and everyone enjoys the process. But true management talent shines when difficulties arise.

When things go wrong, what matters is how the leader handles the situation. True mastery is not shown when you're sliding down a hill but rather when you're climbing it up.

My effectiveness is truly tested when business or the economy are having a hard time. And honestly, I find excitement in that. I’m always engaged; I never lack energy or enthusiasm, no matter how bad things get. Perhaps that’s the key to our company’s success.

I advise everyone to immediately prepare for tough work and see themselves as crisis managers. When everything is going well, you’re not as needed; you play a different role in the business. There’s a function that creates value and a function that materializes it. Always strive to create value rather than just materialize it.

I don’t derive pleasure from high financial results. I understand they are the fruits of efforts made a year ago. What interests me is the value I’m creating now. My work has always focused on this. However, I didn’t come up with this model overnight. I admit that at first, I revelled in early financial success and celebrated significant achievements. Over time, I realized that it’s more important to be at the forefront of value creation and lead my team there. There’s no point in celebrating what has already been achieved; it’s just a comet tail.

Around 2015–2017, I began to understand how each of my decisions impacts the balance of interests in the business. It’s crucial to track how the decisions made affect the company trajectory. I can see what’s happening and make the right decisions when I understand what stage the business is at:

• Growth

• Stable development

• Stagnation

• Decline

This categorization helps me approach management and strategy thoughtfully by directing efforts where they are needed most at the moment. I declare that if I sense that the company is not growing, I’ll stop managing it. This is essential for me. I made this decision long time ago and wrote about it in my first book. I’m convinced that one should always leave at the right time.

I’m familiar with Adizes' methodology, but I strongly disagree with it. I believe that a company's stages of development depend not on its age, but solely on the quality of management. A company's age can drastically change with a change in leadership. I've witnessed this in over 200 partner companies within our network.

We had several partners on the brink of collapse, but a team change helped them grow into network leaders within a year or a year and a half. Organizations do not age like people do. While we carry a gene of aging, organizations do not. Discussions about company life stages often mask underlying management inefficiencies.

If you have a mature company, it means that the management team urgently needs to be replaced. If you are experiencing significant revenue growth but have unbalanced margins, it indicates problems in financial management, not that the company is heading in the wrong direction. Everything can be balanced with effective management.

I also find it absurd to claim that out of three parameters – price, quality, and timelines – you have to only choose two. I am convinced that it’s possible to successfully manage all three parameters simultaneously. That is the essence of effective management.

Let’s take a closer look at the stages of a business:

1. Growth Stage: At this stage, it’s crucial to focus on meeting customer needs and ensuring employee well-being, even if it comes at the expense of personal interests. Investing in these two areas will bring long-term revenue, especially if the business rarely sees repeat customers. In such cases, prioritizing internal marketing and employee engagement becomes more valuable than direct sales.

2. Stable Development in Challenging Market Conditions: When facing a market crisis, particular attention must be paid to financial stability. It’s important to ensure that the business remains profitable for investors. In my management practice, there is a strict rule: avoid losses at all costs. We have a principle that as soon as we see the business going into the red, we actively begin to cut costs. According to my management model, we cannot allow the company to be unprofitable for more than five or six months. I always say that if we don’t get any profit for more than seven months, we’ll have to take serious optimization measures. This means reducing staff and lowering salaries. I candidly tell my team that we cannot sustain the current model. There is a strong temptation to try to keep all employees on board by continuing to invest our own funds into the company, but that strategy doesn’t work. The business model starts to “suffer”, becomes accustomed to this mode, and then it is very difficult to recover. Of course, there is always a fine line between necessary measures.

As they say on an airplane, in case of an emergency, you should put your mask on first before assisting a child. The same applies to business: it’s important to protect yourself and not be afraid to prioritize the company’s interests in times of crisis. This is extremely important. This is my tactic, although others may see different solutions.

During the development stage of a business, there is a shift in internal balance. This doesn’t mean that we stop caring for employees and clients, but the conditions change. While we used to invest a lot in financial resources, now, during a crisis, our ability to make such investments is limited. A crisis means a reduction in available resources, and this issue deserves special attention, possibly in a separate chapter on crisis management.

As I’m writing this book, we are going through a challenging period. In fact, we have already faced similar difficulties before, but now we are encountering them again. For example, in January and February, we incurred serious losses – up to 85 million in January. January is always a tough month. In the first quarter, losses reached 70 million, but we have learned not to dwell on it. Instead, we focused on increasing our market share and improving processes and systems. As a result, we achieved fantastic financial results in the second quarter.