October is a time to think and convince. It is a time to have an impact. It is a time to be bold and audacious. It is a time to inject some oomph into your business.
How is this related to alternative investments? I am taking the word alternative to a different dimension – organisational and cultural. I am giving the word investment a new angle, a leadership perspective. I am asking: how can you invest in your own company?
Investing in women (see my previous article) seemed to be much more foreign to you than investing in vintage cars – an article that made Global Corporate Venturing’s most read list. So what about investing in your future and the future of your company?
Jack Welch, GE’s chief executive from 1981 to 2001, would say: “Keep you organisation engaged, keep it moving, never let your people rest.” Disrupt them, push them out of their comfort zone, make them adjust. An easy way to do it is with graduates. Commit to hiring a certain number of graduates every year and you will inject energy, disruption and innovation into your organisation, because young graduates are plugged into the reality of today’s world and represent future markets. They are the future consumers and know what they want and how they think.
Because they are new to the workforce and do not have a strong frame of reference, they can force your organisation to snap out of complacency. Through questioning, they will help you reassess why you are doing things the way you do and look for improvement.