Swimming Naked and more on Tides

We like swimming naked. There… we have said it. It's out there. When and where that happens we’d rather not share with you.

We recently heard a story attributed to investor Warren Buffett in which he used the following analogy about evaluating businesses when times get tougher:

At high tide when the water is in you can look over a beach and see everybody swimming. You see a lot of heads and everything looks good. People are enjoying themselves, having fun and looking quite the same.

When the tide goes back out and those still swimming find themselves thrown up onto the sand, you can then see who has been swimming naked…. And sometimes it can be pretty ugly…

The same analogy can be used when tougher times expose bad managers, ineffective leadership and generally inefficient people practice and processes.

Engaging your senior team in developing itself is an ongoing event and not something to be left until someone is on the sand, naked, exposed for all to see by those who might look to that person for direction.

Making ongoing senior development a key strategic and competitive advantage is a sound business practice.

Even getting them away off site to discuss how they see the business is a start.

What are you doing in the upcoming quarter?