Consider these comments from a recent article in Prospect about UK politics:

“But one thing is certain: it is going to be harder to govern, especially for the long-term. Increased flux makes for exciting contests but it does not help governments win mandates for tough choices. “

“A clear blueprint for winning campaigns in new times is emerging: ride the volatility, stay flexible and stay light on the big tough questions.”

“British politics is more uncertain and unpredictable than it has ever been but this volatility creates opportunity too.”

“Volatility creates fertile ground for change. A First-Past-the-Post electoral system still poses a challenge to insurgents, but in this new era of flux, new leaders and new movements can change things remarkably quickly.”

Imagine if you replaced all of the political references with business references then would these comments be out of place describing the current business environment?

Probably not.

Therefore, are we seeing the short-termism of political cycles play out in the business world?

And, does that mean, like in politics, that the hard decisions and bigger changes that need to take place in many organizations, to deliver the competitive and differentiated customer experience that customers desire, get left to the next CEO or C-suite executive that comes along?

Well, a piece of research from The Storytellers, a culture change consultancy, from a couple of years ago found that 65% of leaders believe that it’s not up to them to tackle the customer centricity challenge and that it is up to the next generation or the next C-suite to tackle this problem.

Add to this a recent piece of research from Forrester which predicts that  30% of companies over the course of the coming year will suffer from a decline in growth due to an under-performing customer experience. This will come about due to leadership teams not taking the right sort of steps to make meaningful change to their organization such that it creates real value for their customers.

These pieces of research suggest that there is a group of leaders out there that are intent on kicking the customer experience ‘can’ down the road.

That’s not acceptable or fair to customers, employees or shareholders.

Leadership teams need to make a choice and decide what group they want to be part of.

• The group that will do what it takes to stand out, to be bold, to show courage and to dance to a different tune.
• The group that says all the right things but doesn’t commit and ends up muddling along.
• Or, the Forrester 30% group that will won’t take taken the right sort of steps to make meaningful change to their organization and will end up kicking the ‘can’ down the road.

Know this.

Customers are waiting and want you to succeed.

But, it’s your choice.

We all know which group will matter more to your customers, your employees, your shareholders and other stakeholders.

This article was originally published on Forbes here.

Thanks to Pixabay for the image.