Do you ever wonder how a business as successful as Kodak could invent digital photography, and then completely lose it and all relevancy?  Or how Blockbuster could dominate home video sales, and end up bankrupt?  It happens because leaders don’t move early enough to understand customers, and don’t move quickly enough to react to customer needs.

This podcast uses the Biden crisis to demonstrate how leaders make monumental mistakes.

• By not paying attention early to disgruntled customers.
• By paying insufficient attention to external data – especially data that you’d prefer not to hear.
• By surrounding themselves with people who depend on their success, so defend the leader rather than explore alternatives
• By not investing in teams that explore options
• By paying too much attention to a narrow constituency rather than looking across all constituencies to see if change is needed
• By trying to explain yourself through defending your past rather than demonstrating a willingness to change in the future.

There is a playbook for being a more effective leader.  This podcast explains in detail how leaders can do better by taking actions the Biden campaign failed to take.  Understanding this case study can help you be a better leader to avoid such a crisis, and a better leader at effectively dealing with a crisis.

Thinking Points:

• Do you study external data more than the data you internal system feeds you?
• Do you use data you’d prefer to ignore as part of your decision-making, or rely on the data that supports your viewpoint?
• Do you have an early warning system that alerts you to soft signals for change?
• Do you have teams dedicated to understanding your constituencies’ underserved needs?
• Are you ready and willing to adapt when trends move in a new direction?

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