LEADING CHANGE: WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM BEZOS, GATES, HASTINGS, AND MUSK

Change! Change! Change! In today's fast-paced business environment, change is the only constant. It emerges from various directions: technological breakthroughs, shifting consumer behaviors, and unexpected market shifts, to name just a few. Leaders constantly find themselves at a crossroads, faced with a critical question: Should I drive change, adapt to it, or continue with business as usual?

As a leadership coach and business growth adviser, I help my clients answer this question. But there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Rather, there are multiple ways leaders can deal with change, as the stories of visionary leaders like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Reed Hastings, and Elon Musk tell us. Their stories provide diverse strategies for tackling change and often inspire those I mentor to consider their own paths.

Here are the insights and core tenets that can guide you through the ever-evolving landscape of change and digital transformation.

Failure to Adapt: Leadership Lessons From the Past

The annals of business history are filled with examples of leaders who misread the signs of impending change, leading their companies to downfall. Kodak's leaders failed to embrace the digital revolution, missing the potential of technology they had invented themselves. The result? Bankruptcy and irrelevance.

Blockbuster's executives missed the rise of online streaming services like Netflix and passed up the opportunity to buy Netflix itself. Their failure to adapt led to the company's dramatic demise.

The leadership at Nokia, once a dominant force in the mobile phone industry, was slow to react to the smartphone era. Despite being technological pioneers, their reluctance to change led to a loss of market share and ultimate irrelevance.

These examples are not mere corporate failures; they are leadership failures, dire warnings for today's leaders. The key lessons I've drawn from these leadership failures are:

• - There is always someone coming after you.
• - Complacency and overconfidence in leaders can be catastrophic.
• - The key to success is to recognize the signs and adapt.
• - Organizations don't go through fundamental change unless their leaders create a sense of urgency.
• - Change often starts small but can escalate quickly.
• - In the face of change, doing business as usual is not an option.

While these cautionary tales provide important insights, it's equally instructive to study the companies that have successfully navigated change. One such example, offering valuable lessons in leadership and business growth, is IBM.

Adapting to Change: A Leadership Success Story

Louis Gerstner, who served as IBM CEO from 1993 to 2002, shifted IBM's focus from hardware to services, saving the company from near collapse. His successor, Samuel J. Palmisano (2002 to 2011), continued to transform IBM into a business solutions company, championing innovations like the "Smarter Planet" initiative. Later, Ginni Rometty (2012 to 2020) led IBM's foray into areas such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, although critics say she was too slow at adapting to change and creating a real champion.

However, there is a lot we can learn from IBM's enduring success in the rapidly changing tech industry. It is the result of purposeful transformation steered by visionary leaders. Gerstner's vision and strategic pivot guided the company's focus; Palmisano's innovative spirit and expansion embraced new horizons; and Rometty's risk-taking adaptation moved IBM further in the right direction.

The examples of these leaders have taught me:

• - When confronted with change, you'd better craft a forward-thinking vision of how to turn the threat of change into an opportunity to grow.
• - Promote and expect ongoing innovation! Don't rest.
• - Be willing and empower your teams to take risks.
• - Adapt with agility.

Driving Industry Disruption: A Visionary Leadership Approach

As the IBM story tells us, some leaders excel in adapting to change. However, visionary leaders like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Elon Musk have gone further by actively disrupting and redefining entire industries. Bezos transformed retail with Amazon and launched AWS (Amazon Web Services), altering not only the way we shop but also the infrastructure of the internet itself. Gates, through Microsoft, revolutionized the software industry and personal computing, setting standards that have shaped technology's role in our daily lives. And Musk has disrupted multiple fields, from automotive with Tesla's electric vehicles to aerospace with SpaceX's reusable rockets, challenging traditional business models and inspiring a new era of innovation and environmental consciousness.

The stories of these industry disrupters have taught me that visionary leadership means:

• - Not merely following trends or adapting to change but committing to a future-oriented vision and setting the agenda.
• - Thinking outside conventional paradigms and shaping change.
• - Relentlessly pursuing a vision, no matter how audacious or uncharted the territory may seem.

Embracing Self-Disruption: A Radical Leadership Paradigm

In the context of disruptive leaders, Reed Hastings stands out for a different kind of innovation: self-disruption. Hastings understood early on that the greatest threat to Netflix's DVD rental model was the looming advent of online streaming. Instead of waiting for the change to impose itself or for a competitor to seize the opportunity, Hastings chose to disrupt his own business model. With a visionary move, he transformed Netflix from a DVD rental company into an online streaming giant, leading the entire entertainment industry into a new era. But the transformation did not stop there. Netflix further innovated by creating its original content, becoming a significant player in the production of movies and series.

Hastings's leadership and Netflix's business success taught me:

• - In light of change, have the courage to make bold decisions.
• - Don't accept statements like, "We should not do this. If we did, we would cannibalize our own business."
• - Embrace the potential for self-disruption as an opportunity rather than a threat.
• - Courageously innovate, even if it means redefining your organization's core identity.
• - Cultivate a culture that encourages continuous evolution and transformation.

ChatGPT: A Contemporary Example

The frontiers of disruption continue to expand, and artificial intelligence (A.I.) is at the forefront. One salient example is ChatGPT. ChatGPT's prowess in crafting human-like text opens doors to transformative applications across diverse sectors. For instance, its impact reaches customer service, where scripted responses give way to dynamic conversations; content creation, where A.I. assists in generating rich and tailored materials; education, where personalized learning becomes accessible; health care, where diagnostics, patient engagement, and personalized treatment can be enhanced; and professional services like legal and management consulting, where ChatGPT offers the potential to automate routine tasks.

The arrival of ChatGPT and similar A.I. technologies is beneficial. But it must also ring a warning bell for businesses and leaders slow to adapt or mired in complacency. The stark reality is this: Persisting with business as usual in the wake of these technological leaps is a pathway to obsolescence. The wiser approach is to recognize that emerging technologies like A.I. can disrupt entire industries, and only those who act decisively to embrace these opportunities will thrive.

Guiding Principles for Dealing With Change

In our rapidly shifting business landscape, leading change is not just an option; it's a necessity. As you navigate the complexities of your industry, consider these guiding principles drawn from the successes of visionary leaders like Bezos, Gates, Hastings, and Musk:

• - Avoid complacency and overconfidence: Today's success doesn't guarantee tomorrow's. Stay vigilant!
• - Watch out for change: Keep an eye on industry trends and competition. Be prepared to act.
• - Embrace change proactively: Seek opportunities to innovate, and evolve.
• - Lead transformation in your industry: Be the disrupter and also disrupt your own model to stay ahead.
• - Be agile: If you cannot drive change, adapt with agility.
• - Create a culture of innovation: Encourage creativity, risk-taking, and continuous improvement.
• - Be a role model and never settle: Your commitment sets the tone for the entire organization.
• - Don't consider change a threat: See an opportunity in every change.

I hope these principles will also help you lead change in a world where change is the only constant. The choice is yours: Embrace change or risk irrelevance.

BY PATRICK FLESNER, INVESTOR, LEADERSHIP COACH, AND AUTHOR OF FASTSCALING AND THE LEADERSHIP HOUSE@PATRICKFLESNER