Ильдар Хусаинов – The power of freedom (страница 12)

If we had started to slow down back then, even with reserves of funds, the situation could have got even worse. This stage is difficult for most people, and forecasting periods of difficulty is relevant for everyone reading this book. It’s important to monitor market conditions. In July 2024, while writing this book, I understood that we were about to face six challenging months, but we were prepared and believed that things will get better in 2025. By the time I finalize this book in October 2024, I realize that nothing good awaits us in 2025.

We don’t view our business as problematic; instead, we see these difficulties as temporary. We adapt our motivational schemes to the current situation, support our employees, and take the full responsibility. This is the only right tactic because excessive staff reductions and the panic associated with them can lead to failure.

I always advise clearly distinguishing between “business” and “market conditions.” Initially, due to lack of experience, I confused these concepts myself. When the market was declining, I thought we were underperforming. Now I always separate these circumstances.

3. Business During Stagnation: In the third stage, when a business stops growing, it’s crucial to shift the focus back to the customer. It’s important to realize that if your operational model isn’t delivering the expected results, it’s time to drastically change your approach to resource allocation. During this period, analyzing the situation and adjusting strategies becomes critically important.

A business often stagnates due to a misunderstanding of the value it creates for its customers. You may have lost touch with them and no longer feel their needs. Understanding what the customer truly wants is akin to love; it isn’t eternal. Even if you’ve discovered a brilliant management tool, over time – whether in a year or a decade – it will require adjustments. Continuous analysis is necessary because customers don’t buy what we find interesting or appealing; they purchase what is valuable to them.

Numerous studies support this idea. A customer doesn’t always choose a real estate service just for profit or time-saving reasons. Sometimes, it’s simply important for them to have someone by their side. In some cases, clients seek real estate services because they need an expert to assess the scale of their purchase. These could be individuals who rely on external validation, which does happen. Therefore, if we misinterpret the customer’s motivation and build our system on that misunderstanding, we risk losing everything.

When a business enters a state of stagnation, the key question for management becomes: what went wrong? The problem usually lies at the highest levels of management. Often, leaders tend to blame operational units, claiming they aren’t functioning properly. However, my experience indicates that if a company is stagnating, the issue is likely rooted in mistakes made by upper management.

4. Degradation: This stage is the hardest for me to describe; I believe our company has never reached this point but has come close. The main characteristic here is that the organization stops meeting societal needs. Symptoms of this stage include low employee engagement. Outsiders often sense what’s happening within the company.

Some might argue that degradation arises from a declining market. However, if the market is falling and the organization is increasing its market share, that’s definitely not degradation. I’m speaking about the essence of the organization itself. The market can certainly impact financial results, but a company can be in a state of degradation even with strong financial performance. It might be losing market share or lowering the quality of its services or products while still making substantial profits.

For a leader, it’s essential to honestly answer the question: “Where are we?” For instance, I’ve made many personnel decisions at the peak of success. Even when everything seemed fine, people would ask me, “Why are you changing the team? Everything is great!” And I would respond, “No, it’s not as good as it seems.”

In 2024, I underwent a major overhaul of our top management team. Despite having a successful year overall, we faced significant issues with market share and performance metrics. The only thing that saved us were the favorable markets of 2021, 2022, and 2023. I was convinced we were entering a stage of degradation: we were disproportionately increasing costs and losing employee engagement. So, I decided to take action.

In a state of degradation, every step becomes critically important. It’s like in the movie “Interstellar”: one hour on another planet equals seven years on Earth. For those who find themselves in this stage, recovering previous positions can be extremely difficult. Many companies fail because once they enter a state of degradation, they can’t respond quickly enough to changes in the external environment. In such situations, two hours of delay can cost a company its very existence.

Another characteristic of the degradation stage is that people begin to protect their personal interests rather than those of the company. It’s essential for employees' interests to align with those of the company. However, during the degradation stage, this connection is lost, and corporate culture starts to focus on the appearance of work rather than actual results. In this stage of degradation, many people are more concerned with seeming productive rather than being productive.

Equally significant is the fact that the zone of risk becomes infinite; there used to be the river of risk, now it’s the sea. For example, during a storm, a person can be swept away from the shore. They either quickly try to return or they may never come back. I must admit, I sometimes feel a shiver when I realize we are being pulled into this stage. It’s a terrifying stage, and I fear it. Most systems enter it and quietly perish.

Chapter 6. About the Power of Energy in Business

Business is a pragmatic endeavor where leaders always operate based on data from reports and charts, taking trends into account. However, I believe there is something invisible yet equally important. I truly believe in the power of energy in business. There are different types of energy. There is the energy of success that genuinely drives a business forward. When a business stops being successful, everything – energy level, morale – goes down, and no amount of artificial attempts to improve the situation without real achievements will work. Many are familiar with the surge of energy that comes when work is done well and results are visible – it's like the euphoria after winning a match.

Recently, during breakfast, I had a conversation with one of our franchisees. He asked, “What’s the point of working, Ildar Borisovich? You already have so much money; why keep going?” I replied, “The meaning of life and work lies in the work itself.” I genuinely believe this. Other processes, like raising children, are understandable and important, but they are inherent to nature. Only creating something makes it possible to stepping beyond the ordinary.

I don’t seek meaning outside of life because I believe it doesn’t exist there. It’s important to recognize that each of us has already traveled a long way just to live. Therefore, life is the greatest value. For me, the main meanings are family, children, relationships with friends, and hobbies. But it’s been a while since I’ve decided that my top priority is creative work. Life becomes simpler when you set a goal to improve something, enhance the lives of others, or compete with someone in your ideology and philosophy.

Some might call this selfishness, but it’s a positive form of selfishness that benefits everyone. Within our company, we are building an entrepreneurial culture that acknowledges that each person has the opportunity to choose their tools for achieving goals as well as the goals themselves. This is the strongest energy that propels us forward.

We are gradually approaching the main idea of this book – the power of freedom, a force I have felt within myself since childhood. Honestly, I’ve dreamed of writing such a book since I was about ten or maybe twelve.

Another type of energy is the energy of individualism – a unique and unexplored force. There are no serious studies explaining why people enjoy looking at their own photos or reading thoughts about themselves. I remember my school days when many peers would fill out questionnaires about themselves and read what others thought about them. Everyone was curious about who liked whom. Those were sort of the social networks of that time.

Social media allows people to showcase what they are doing, often sparking interest from others. I post in social media mainly for the company – it’s a business necessity. Honestly, I’m not sure I would have created accounts if it weren’t for work. Perhaps if I step down from my leadership position, I will stop posting.

However, I can’t deny that I enjoy looking back at old posts, much like how we used to flip through old photo albums. The energy of egoism as the highest expression of individualism exists, and it’s essential to recognize and harness it.