Being a leader in the unknown

How difficult is it to have an emotional and professional balance when making 180ª decisions for your business and your life? This problem is very common amongst leaders. It happens to me, my colleagues, and my friends. But what is more important is to take a deep look at the consequences for the team of an unstable environment created by the imbalance we sometimes have.

As you may know, we are entering the US market, and it has been quite a challenge. Like any architectural innovation, opening a product or service in a new market brings a lot of time spent contextualizing, investigating, and iterating the pitch of the value proposition. Finding a market that sees the direct value of the product or service is the most demanding job and can cause anxiety and bad decisions for the team.

Studying many start-ups that scale rapidly and talking to our investors that decide to open their offers globally, this scenario is the most common and sometimes necessary to learn quickly about the market.

Their advice is to detect the direct benefits and the value of the product or service for that new market. Learn how the competitors present their products, decide the aspects that not only are differential but relevant to the buyer personas, and give a three-month trial to the new pitch.

Also, be surrounded by other leaders that have been there and had felt the uncertainty. This way the anxiety generated can be calmed by the experiences they have.

But something leaders must run away from is making decisions about the operation of the business. The uncertainty can provoke impulsive reactions and affect the team's environment.

We've seen our partners, clients, competitors, and investors scale and succeed in different markets. Trusting the time, the process, and the team is the secret to achieving the challenge.