Perspectives from Rebecca Homkes
Growth Opportunities in Uncertainty: The need to Survive, Reset, and Thrive
A once in a generation crisis. The week that will have a dramatic impact on markets for decades to come. A historic drop in consumer confidence. The Great Reset. The Great Recession. The Great Crisis. Everything changes after this.
The Cost of Chaos
Tariffs are on and off. Negotiations are happening and then not. Departments are cancelled, and then some are put back. Forecasts get doomier but contain multiple caveats. Stock markets tumble, and then slightly correct. Consumers report elevated uncertainty as cause for their pessimism. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell wrapped his press conference by noting ‘uncertainty is remarkably high.’
Markets hate bad news, but they hate uncertainty more.
We are constantly sling-shotting between headlines in a news cycle that has moved from 24/7 to incessant and inescapable, each hour something else may or may not matter.
Uncertainty alone is challenging enough — but when its intensity, frequency, and emotional implications all intensify simultaneously, we face something more disruptive: Chaos.
Breakthrough growth strategy: Do you have one? Here’s 4 phrases that signify you probably don’t
The sub-title of Survive Reset Thrive is ‘Leading breakthrough growth strategy through volatile times.’ I have always loved the concept of breakthrough growth, but in the past months of discussions, it’s clearer that while most leaders espouse the need for a breakthrough growth strategy, and many believe they have one, few do.
Breakthrough growth means breaking out of that and setting a new growth curve. This is hard as it means you must be willing to break things, including habits and processes that are mostly working now in your operational strategy.
How to plan for 2025? Don't! You need to shift from planning to preparing
Nothing feels more comforting to a leader than starting the New Year with the annual plan. But ironically, the more planning is done, the less progress is made.
Why? Because the only thing we can be certain of in the year ahead is uncertainty.
How to strategically assess your year end (no complicated templates required)
So how did you do on your last strategy?
It’s a question I ask as we start the SRT process, and it’s surprising how many leaders say they don’t know, or have a varying view from their team. Most teams are fairly good at tracking plans, conducting MBRs and QBRs, and reporting on progress. But assessing the overall strategy is usually lacking.
What can leaders learn from this election? Three brief takeaways from the 2024 USA election
After months (ok years…..) of election discussion, we have an outcome in the US election. While much has been written about the emotive election and its outcome (which I cover elsewhere), I wanted to move slightly away from the policy and character debates and focus on three takeaways for organizational leaders.
Does Macro matter? Linking macro trends to strategy
We’re a few days away from a pivotal election in the USA, geopolitical tensions remain fraught, strikes at companies such as Boeing and ports pose questions as to future supply shocks, and a persisting economic overhang means demand pressure remain a concern. But the bigger question, and a frequent one I get from leadership teams, is does macro even matter? When developing a strategy, how much, if at all, do macro trends matter?
It’s time to RESET, again: The Discipline of the Reset
Don’t just Survive - Thrive! While a popular phrase, and one that we hear increasingly after market turbulence, it misses the critical point. Just surviving will not get you to Thrive. If you are not prepared to go through a Reset — and if you are not prepared to manage the changes that come along with it — you will likely not get to Thrive. The power is in the Reset.
And now, even more uncertainty: Reframing uncertainty as a growth mindset
When we entered 2024, uncertainty was at the top of every leadership agenda. Election uncertainty, regulatory uncertainty, AI uncertainty, geopolitical uncertainty. The list of trends with consequential unknowns is long and growing. And over the past few weeks, organizations based in or connected to the USA got another jolt of uncertainty as the 2024 Presidential elections shifted in course once more.
Reset means Change, and Change is hard
Don’t just Survive - Thrive! While a popular phrase, and one that we hear increasingly after market turbulence, it misses the critical point. Just surviving will not get you to Thrive. If you are not prepared to go through a Reset - and if you are not prepared to manage the changes that come along with it - you will likely not get to Thrive. The power is in the Reset.