
Leadership in a VUCA World
“The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” ~ Mark Zuckerberg
We need to take risks to achieve our goals in business, but things feel much more complex and uncertain than years ago. Yes, that’s because we’re living in a VUCA world.
VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. It’s a state of constant change. Companies are disrupting industries. Your competitor is investing in innovative processes to win market share. It is the new normal in many industries. As a result, VUCA demands that you adopt new agile ways of leading and managing.
How do you counteract VUCA in your business?
Have a compelling vision to share with your clients and employees. Share your story repeatedly.
Understand what is going on. Study your competitors. Speak with your clients. Learn what they want.
Communicate clearly. Explain it so your grandmother will understand. Keep it simple. Remove jargon. Don’t assume.
Be agile (adaptable). Don’t plan out every detail. Plan in phases. Listen and learn. Try new approaches.
Encourage diversity of thought. Actively listen and accept feedback and suggestions, no matter the source.
Coluby Consulting & Coaching can help you build that vision, understand the environment, communicate clearly, create an inclusive environment, and take an agile approach. We can give you the tools to be successful in a VUCA world.
Commitments We Make to Our Clients
Be Customer-Centric - focus on the client's (end-user) needs and experience —> The payback will come in loyalty, higher sales, and revenue
Drive Change - fix what is broken, fill in gaps, or remove redundancy —> Make it easier to do business with you
Have an Inclusive Culture - employees who belong are engaged and share their diverse perspectives —> Get better outcomes
Have Integrity - be open and honest about the situation and share knowledge —> Do what’s right for the client
Keep it Simple - the world is complex —> Let’s keep it simple - the communication, the plan, the vision.
We work with you to understand your business’s challenges and develop an insightful, measurable, actionable plan. As a result, we help you achieve your goals.
Elizabeth has experience growing businesses in a VUCA World …
“Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.” ~Colin Powell
Elizabeth has been a cross-functional leader for over 25 years. She has a proven ability to think strategically, execute tactically, and lead change across channels by building digital-led strategies and consistently managing multi-year financial plans to drive revenue by growing the business. She wants to help companies grow, overcome challenges, and achieve revenue targets.
Having led teams of up to 125 people, Elizabeth believes a servant leadership approach is best. First, she aligns with her direct reports on strategy and milestones, then she steps back and lets the magic happen, jumping in to guide them slightly or to remove roadblocks. Next, when presenting results, Elizabeth shines the light on the team that did the work to give them credit and motivate them to take it to the next level. Finally, she builds trust by coaching and communicating to support their growth.
“The sole purpose of marketing is to sell more to more people, more often and at higher prices. There is no other reason to do it.” ~ Sergio Zyman
Who doesn’t have a smartphone today? Consumers and business owners live in a digital world. Therefore any strategy needs to be digitally-led, focusing on improving the client experience to enable clients to focus on what’s important to them - their lives and families. But, again, it’s about solving a problem for a prospect or client that, in turn, resolves a problem for a business, not focusing on the business problem as the priority.
Elizabeth has developed and led strategy for acquisitions, engagement, customer satisfaction, and revenue by delivering analytics-driven innovative solutions and products designed to create value for the client and the business, including a modern agile customer origination and onboarding journey plus the right offers and communications to the right customers at the right time in the client’s lifecycle through personalized offers and content through smarter targeting across channels by better-anticipating customer needs. She regularly leverages data and insights, engages and collaborates with stakeholders for critical decisions, prioritizes resources, and has risk vs. opportunity discussions. In addition, Elizabeth has led diverse cross-organization work teams, from ideation and development to seamless launches.
“If we are not a little bit uncomfortable every day, we’re not growing. All the good stuff is outside our comfort zone.” ~ Jack Canfield
Elizabeth has been changing and adapting all her life. When she lived in Taiwan and Chile as a young adult, she quickly learned that things could successfully happen in very different ways than what she was used to seeing happen in the US. There are many ways to look at a situation before determining the “right” way. Diversity of thought on a team will allow you to identify alternatives to consider when choosing a path forward.
She works with product and marketing teams to use data to develop insights by understanding the client’s buyer journey. Then, she leverages data, analytics, and various points of view to create innovative omnichannel strategies and programs that drive accelerated growth. Elizabeth has also led agile software development teams digitizing processes to make them modern by removing friction from the process.
Elizabeth has successfully developed and marketed products and services for companies in various verticals, including Financial Services, Media, Medical Implants, and Technology. For some companies, she simplified the product set. For others, she developed a new product to fill a gap in their product line. As a result, Elizabeth has developed processes that save companies millions of dollars a year.
“I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.” ~ Socrates
Elizabeth earned an MBA in International Management from Thunderbird, focusing on Marketing in Latin America, and has a BS in Applied Economics and Business Management from Cornell University. In addition, she is also certified in Advanced Design Thinking, Scrum Product Ownership, and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. She earned her First Class Award from USA Girl Scouts Overseas while growing up in Taiwan.
A citizen of the world, Elizabeth lives near Cleveland, OH, with her husband, two sons, and two dogs. Previously, she lived in Taiwan, Chile, Mexico, Spain, Puerto Rico, and 8 US states. Elizabeth speaks Spanish, some Portuguese, and a little Mandarin and is learning Italian. She likes to travel, watch foreign films (with subtitles on), and connect with people on a personal level.
Specialties:
Translating Vision into Strategy
Change Management
Product & Lifecycle Marketing
Customer Experience (CX) Strategy
Customer Insights & Innovation
Customer Acquisition & Demand Generation
In-language/in-culture marketing campaigns
P&L Management
Cross-functional Team Leadership
Team & Capability Development
Personality Test Results:
Clifton Strengths Finder: Individualization, Relator, Arranger, Adaptability, Input, Achiever, Learner, Self-Assurance, Maximizer & Connectedness
DiSC - iD profile