The Gutsball Blog
Articles posted in Current Events
Out of Chaos Comes Opportunity. Maybe
I’ve been absent from the blogosphere for a while. Between Hurricane Sandy and business travel, the month of November was a bear. But now, I’m back and sharing with you my view that 2013 is shaping up to be a tough year. “Really? Speak to us, oh oracle. Enlighten us with your brilliant insight!”
Well, as my good friend and longtime colleague, Dan McCarthy, likes to say “out of chaos comes opportunity.” I couldn’t agree more. The question is, are you in a position to take advantage of the situation immediately or are you, yourself battling headwinds that require remedial measures first?
Do You Belong in The Gutsball Hall of Fame?
There are a couple of reasons we chose to call this “The Gutsball Blog.” One is that “Gutsball” was the working title for my book (nka “Out Executing The Competition”) until the publisher had other ideas and I had a felt need to use the term somewhere, somehow. But I’d like to think the most important reason is that the ability to play gutsball is a characteristic common to most real leaders. In scanning through my previous blogs, you’ll see that leadership and what makes for great leadership is a rather recurring theme.
Right about now, if you haven’t read the book (Shame on you! Don’t you want to be enlightened?!), you may be saying to yourself, “Hang on, gutsball? What the heck is this guy talking about?” So, for those of you who need it, permit me to elucidate:
--Gutsball Noun: The ability to overcome apprehension or anxiety and to rise to the occasion. 2. To feel free to take action while acknowledging potential consequences, but not fearing them.
Business Cycle Realities
This may spark a reaction in some circles (e.g. the Obama Administration?), but I do not believe we are in the midst of so much as a mild economic recovery. U.S. unemployment is over 8%, Europe is a mess; even those juggernauts of growth, India and China are experiencing stalled economies. In years past, it was said that “when the U.S. sneezes, the world catches a cold.” That’s arguable today, but for whatever the reasons, most of the globe seems to have come down with the flu and it’s been spread around by a number of countries with symptoms.
What do business leaders do? What are the tactics for weathering the storm? Ensuring survival? Maintaining morale?
What does the future hold for the economy in China
What does the future hold for the economy in China? While growth there continues to surpass by a significant margin, the stagnant, if not troubled, western economies, I sense “a disturbance in the force”. Moreover, I would advise caution with respect to reported growth rates, not a lot of transparency there, when considering first or further investment.
To begin with, the business environment can be challenging for foreign companies. Regulatory and licensing requirements are difficult to navigate and time consuming. Local corruption has been well documented and seems to be accepted pretty matter-of-factly by the federal government. In a quest for more revenue, perhaps brought on by a slowing economy, tax laws seem to change somewhat quickly with emphasis on stricter standards; so, taxes are more burdensome, the rules more arcane. Not what you’d expect from a flourishing economy, especially as is typical nearly everywhere else, one seeking foreign investment to stimulate growth. Lastly, the competition for qualified people is pretty stiff, expect to pay up.
On Global Accounting Standards
So, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) here in the U.S. has decided they may not be so crazy about the idea of one global accounting standard, according to the New York Times over the weekend. Huh? Now you come out with this? After how many years of international squabbling and causing every business person I know to wring their hands, if not freeze in place, at the thought of yet again more reporting requirements and government oversight.
I’m all for more transparency, and if the Enron / WorldCom scandals have taught us anything, surely the lesson is that the cheaters get caught eventually. And I know there will be a hue and cry for more regulation in light of the latest saga of corporate misdeed and greed with respect to the Libor rates uproar. But you can’t regulate everything, you’ve got to pick your spots and apply at appropriate levels, e.g. why do small businesses in the U.S. have reporting requirements similar to these of companies in the Fortune 500 under Sarbanes Oxley, better known at SOX?