Lesson From BC Premier

Consider the challenges of losing market share, hearing critics bash your brand, coping with internal staff upheaval and watching your main rival woo consumers with a product that’s disturbingly similar to your own.

For B.C. Premier Christy Clark, those were her political challenges – in business terms – as her B.C. Liberal Party began the 2013 election trailing its NDP rival in public opinion polls. But Ms. Clark and the Liberals managed to stage a surprise victory, winning a majority government in Tuesday’s election despite near-universal predictions of defeat.

Here are five key lessons for any business person facing hurdles:

Lesson 1: Deliver a consistent message about the future
Ms. Clark displayed her leadership qualities by being persistent, narrowing the focus and setting ambitious goals, management experts say. In post-election analyses, that victory is being attributed, in part, to her relentless hammering at the notion that only the Liberals could safeguard British Columbia’s economy.

The person who is able to articulate an idea in a clear, convincing and consistent way induces people to follow them. You don’t want to follow somebody unless you trust them, and you can’t trust them if they keep shifting messages. The power of saying things over and over again is that after a while, people start believing you. Staying on message resonates.

Lesson 2: Don’t shy away from being realistic
Employees won’t buy into unrealistic corporate goals. Workers have to see a bridge between words and some sort of action. Once an executive outlines a vision, employees will want to see those growth initiatives supported.

Lesson 3: Be realistic about the short term
Executives are better off delivering bad news, even though it would hurt morale in the short term. CEOs would want a message that says we can deal with the negatives. The message you want to get across is to be realistic, but also optimistic that if we all work hard and accept the pain, we will deal with a problem. We don’t have to be defeated by it. You don’t wallow in it or ignore it.

Lesson 4: But don’t shy away from long-term ambition
Whether it is a small business or large one, it takes strong leadership to have the conviction that you will be able to act on a vision, despite many challenges. Part of leadership is creating aspirations that even if you fall short, it focuses people’s attention and gets them moving in the same direction.

Lesson 5: Go retail
Keep in touch with employees, though business leaders caution that CEO styles vary widely, so some will be better than others at speaking with workers in small groups. In the case of courting voters, Ms. Clark knew the power of images. She wore a hard hat on one campaign stop and dressed casually in a classroom of children on another stop. She gave the impression of someone who is willing - whether to workers on the assembly line or kids in school.