Choosing to Lead
Welcome to a conversation. About purposeful, effective leadership. At a time when it is crucial.
I’m sharing a series of practical, actionable tips on business strategy, leadership and management. I think these ideas can help many businesses, organizations, teams and knowledge workers and entrepreneurs—hopefully, you and yours.
These articles will provide how-to insights on real challenges, difficult choices, and important but perhaps unseen opportunities facing leaders and managers right now.
Why you?
As an entrepreneur, leader or manager of a small business or nonprofit organization, or as an independent freelancer selling your own product or service, you are being challenged now more than ever.
Small business is the lifeblood of our economy. But small business is inherently risky business. One in five small businesses fails in the first year. Half go out of business within five. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, small-business jobs are disproportionately at risk. The vast majority of nonprofits are small businesses—some very small businesses. And many nonprofits struggle to attract and sustain the resources—human and financial—they need to survive. Freelancers are by definition “one (wo)man bands,” whose success depends exclusively on the capability, leadership, and resourcefulness of an individual.
Could more effective leadership reduce the failure rate and increase the success rate of these businesses? I believe so. And why not start testing that hypothesis with small businesses, sizable nonprofit sector, and diverse and growing workforce of freelancers and entrepreneurs?
Why me?
Like Vince Lombardi, I believe leaders are made, not born. There is a leader inside many of us, looking for a stimulus or reason to emerge. In times of accelerating change and disruption like today, we have an opportunity to step up and out—to lead.
I’m probably best known for my years as CEO of Procter & Gamble (2000–09; 2013–15). In that role, and others, I’ve lived and worked through my fair share of crises over 50 years. My five decades of work experience stretch from the oil crisis and recessions of the 1970s, through 9/11 to the global financial crisis and great recession in 2008– 09, to the present confluence of COVID-19 pandemic, economic downturn, and social unrest. My work experience also spans small, medium, and large, for-profit and nonprofit, start-up and going businesses—some of which succeeded, and some of which failed.
I have learned a lot from the successes, and even more from the failures. What I’ve learned could help you and your small business, nonprofit, or independent freelance operation.
Why now?
We’re living in a VUCA world. That’s Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. I believe that small businesses, nonprofits, and independent workers need all the help and support we can give them to navigate the current crises.
Leadership is ultimately about choices. And I’ve chosen to share relevant business and management lessons that I’ve learned right now, when business and nonprofit leaders must make their own critical choices.
I want to hear about your experiences with how—or whether—these ideas are helpful and useful. I’d love to learn more about your stories about leading in this moment and to share them with others. And, I’d be happy to try to answer questions that are relevant and important to our community.
About the author
A.G. Lafley is the former CEO of Procter and Gamble, who worked for decades in and with large public companies. Over the last 15 years, he has turned more of his attention, energy, and time to small businesses and nonprofit organizations. He currently serves on the boards of Omeza, Snapchat, Tulco, Hamilton College, and as the founding CEO of the Sarasota Bay Park Conservancy. A.G. is the author of two best-selling books, The Game Changer about innovation and Playing to Win about strategy, as well as numerous articles on leadership, management, and business strategy for Harvard Business Review.