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Want to Maintain Market Relevancy? Here’s What to Do

There’s no foolproof way to insulate your company from potential hardships, you can maintain relevance by focusing on the problems your products or services solve.

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COVID-19 taught leaders a lot of tough lessons and revealed that even well-established businesses could fail in the midst of uncertainty. Although there’s no foolproof way to insulate your company from potential hardships, you can maintain relevance by focusing on the problems your products or services solve.

Being problem-driven serves several purposes. First, it keeps your focus squarely on your customers. You aren’t as likely to be distracted by the “what you do” or the “how you do what you do.” Rather, you’ll always refer back to the key reason you’re in business.

A second benefit is that you’ll be more efficient with your overall processes and team time management. You’ve likely experienced some turnover due to the Great Resignation. Becoming a problem solver gives your team members direction and purpose. This helps them be more engaged and productive; they’ll be more likely to stick around because they know they’re making a difference in customers’ lives.

Finally, becoming problem-centric will help you make your products and services even better. Once you truly understand your customers’ problems, you can identify relevant solutions and tackle other tangential struggles.

Inspiring Your Team to Become Problem-Focused

Are you ready to focus your business around the problem you solve? The following strategies will help you reset your North Star so that you never forget why you’re in business:

1. Research other companies that have generated success by solving specific problems.

The best way to understand the benefits of becoming problem-driven is to read about other companies. Take Salesforce, for instance. The cloud-based software company helps its users store, manage, and analyze data. In other words, the problem Salesforce solves is helping customers stay organized and make well-informed decisions.

Subway solves a much different problem: consumers’ desire for fast food that’s also healthy and not overly processed. Subway’s entire platform is built around showing customers how they overcome this problem, right down to its “sandwich artisans” making food in front of customers’ eyes.

As a side note, you might want to consider the problems your strongest competitors solve. Do you solve the same problem in a different way? Maybe your solution is more dependable, but your competitors are doing better jobs positioning their solutions from problem-solving angles. Learn from those around you to determine the best path forward.

2. Speak with your most satisfied customers or clients.

Have you lost sight of the problems your company solves? Your biggest fans haven’t. They know why they appreciate your business. You just need to open up communication so they can give you explanations.

There are numerous ways you can gather this information. For instance, you might want to send out surveys or set up in-person or online focus groups. Depending on the type of market you’re in, you could pick up the phone and have one-on-one conversations with your best champions. For example, if you make as tangible products as linen suits, it might be a good idea to meet some of your customers in person. They will be happy to share and even show you the weaknesses and strengths of your products.

Be sure to write down all the problems that your customers say you solved for them. Then, look for common threads so you can drill down to just a few core problems. Your sales and marketing team members can provide a sort of litmus test to be certain you’ve identified the issues they hear from customers on a daily basis.

“The golden rule for every business is put yourself in your customer’s place.” – Orison Marden

3. Transform your mission and vision statements.

Do your mission and vision statements outline the problem your company addresses? This needs to be a major priority. When your mission and vision reference the problem you solve, the whole world knows immediately what to expect from your brand.

Again, this is a good place to start conducting research. Look up some successful companies’ mission and vision statements. See which ones tacitly or openly speak about problems. How does yours compare?

Just make sure your mission statement doesn’t sound pessimistic or overly transactional. Honest Tea’s mission does this well: “Honest Tea seeks to create and promote great-tasting, healthy, organic beverages.” The statement implies that not all beverages are delicious, good for you, or sustainable. But the words themselves are stimulating and appealing.

4. Make your sales and marketing messaging problem-centric.

All your sales and marketing materials should explain how your company solves a problem. By putting this messaging front and center, you’ll show potential customers exactly how you can make their lives better.

Consider the videos you produce. In today’s world, video content is essential because so many people consume it regularly. HubSpot research shows that about two-thirds of people rely on video to learn about products or brands. If you’re making a video, start off by talking about the problem you solve. Make sure the problem’s negative impacts are clear. From there, you can speak more about how your company tackles the problem and the advantages of your products or services.

Don’t forget to update your cold-calling campaigns, too. Every call should involve problem-based discussions that lead prospects to the conclusion that your company is the right partner. As you’re updating your sales scripts, remember that problems are almost always directly associated with a drain on time, profit, or both.

Your customers’ problems are your opportunities. As long as you solve a relevant problem, business will never dry up. And that’s an outstanding position to be in because it helps protect you against events such as recessions and the Great Resignation.

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Entrepreneurs

The Leadership Shift Every Company Needs in 2025

Struggling to keep your team engaged? Here’s how leaders can turn frustrated employees into loyal advocates.

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Bridging the gap between employees and employers
Image Credit: Midjourney

In workplaces around the world, there’s a growing gap between employers and employees and between superiors and their teams. It’s a common refrain: “People don’t leave companies, they leave bad bosses.”

While there are, of course, cases where management could do better, this isn’t just a “bad boss” problem. The relationship between leaders and employees is complex. Instead of assigning blame, we should explore practical solutions to build stronger, healthier workplaces where everyone thrives.

Why This Gap Exists

Every workplace needs someone to guide, supervise, and provide feedback. That’s essential for productivity and performance. But because there are usually far more employees than managers, dissatisfaction, fair or not, spreads quickly.

What if, instead of focusing on blame, we focused on building trust, empathy, and communication? This is where modern leadership and human-centered management can make a difference.

Tools and Techniques to Bridge the Gap

Here are proven strategies leaders and employees can use to foster stronger relationships and create a workplace where people actually want to stay.

1. Practice Mutual Empathy

Both managers and employees need to recognize they are ultimately on the same team. Leaders have to balance people and performance, and often face intense pressure to hit targets. Employees who understand this reality are more likely to cooperate and problem-solve collaboratively.

2. Maintain Professional Boundaries

Superiors should separate personal issues from professional decision-making. Consistency, fairness, and integrity build trust, and trust is the foundation of a motivated team.

3. Follow the Golden Rule

Treat people how you would like to be treated. This simple principle encourages compassion and respect, two qualities every effective leader must demonstrate.

4. Avoid Micromanagement

Micromanaging stifles creativity and damages morale. Great leaders see themselves as partners, not just bosses, and treat their teams as collaborators working toward a shared goal.

5. Empower Employees to Grow

Empowerment means giving employees responsibility that matches their capacity, and then trusting them to deliver. Encourage them to take calculated risks, learn from mistakes, and problem-solve independently. If something goes wrong, turn it into a learning opportunity, not a reprimand.

6. Communicate in All Directions

Communication shouldn’t just be top-down. Invite feedback, create open channels for suggestions, and genuinely listen to what your people have to say. Healthy upward communication closes gaps before they become conflicts.

7. Overcome Insecurities

Many leaders secretly fear being outshone by younger, more tech-savvy employees. Instead of resisting, embrace the chance to learn from them. Humility earns respect and helps the team innovate faster.

8. Invest in Coaching and Mentorship

True leaders grow other leaders. Provide mentorship, career guidance, and stretch opportunities so employees can develop new skills. Leadership is learned through experience, but guided experience is even more powerful.

9. Eliminate Favoritism

Avoid cliques and office politics. Decisions should be based on facts and fairness, not gossip. Objective, transparent decision-making builds credibility.

10. Recognize Efforts Promptly

Recognition often matters more than rewards. Publicly appreciate employees’ contributions and do so consistently and fairly. A timely “thank you” can be more motivating than a quarterly bonus.

11. Conduct Thoughtful Exit Interviews

When employees leave, treat it as an opportunity to learn. Keep interviews confidential and use the insights to improve management practices and culture.

12. Provide Leadership Development

Train managers to lead, not just supervise. Leadership development programs help shift mindsets from “command and control” to “coach and empower.” This transformation has a direct impact on morale and retention.

13. Adopt Soft Leadership Principles

Today’s workforce, largely millennials and Gen Z, value collaboration over hierarchy. Soft leadership focuses on partnership, mutual respect, and shared purpose, rather than rigid top-down control.

The Bigger Picture: HR’s Role

Mercer’s global research highlights five key priorities for organizations:

  • Build diverse talent pipelines

  • Embrace flexible work models

  • Design compelling career paths

  • Simplify HR processes

  • Redefine the value HR brings

The challenge? Employers and employees often view these priorities differently. Bridging that perception gap is just as important as bridging the relational gap between leaders and staff.

Treat Employees Like Associates, Not Just Staff

When you treat employees like partners, they bring their best selves to work. HR leaders must develop strategies to keep talent engaged, empowered, and prepared for the future.

Organizational success starts with people, always. Build the relationship with your team first, and the results will follow.

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Entrepreneurs

What Makes an Entrepreneurial Leader? Traits of the World’s Best Innovators

Inside the mindset of entrepreneurial leaders who transform risk, passion, and vision into world-changing results.

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entrepreneurial leadership skills and traits
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When you think of Richard Branson (Virgin Group), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple), Rupert Murdoch (News Corporation), and Ted Turner (CNN), one thing becomes clear: they are not just entrepreneurs, they are entrepreneurial leaders. (more…)

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Entrepreneurs

Building a Business Empire: Lessons from the World’s Boldest Entrepreneurs

Learn essential lessons, success strategies, and mindset shifts every aspiring entrepreneur needs to overcome challenges and build a thriving business.

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how to build a business empire
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Back in July 2017, I attended a business seminar on entrepreneurship in India. With my appetite for learning and meeting new people, I wanted to explore the latest developments in the entrepreneurial world. (more…)

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Change Your Mindset

Why Ideas Are More Valuable Than Resources for Entrepreneurial Success

Discover why ideas, not resources, are the true driving force behind entrepreneurial success, innovation, and lasting growth.

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Power of ideas in entrepreneurship
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History shows us that the greatest minds, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Walt Disney, Stephen King, and countless others, faced failure early on. Yet, instead of seeing failure as the end, they treated it as a comma in their story, not a full stop. (more…)

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