Michael Feuer, in an article in Small Business Northern California, issued a warning:  “Satisfaction can lead to complacency”.  What he means is that complacency by employees and leaders, even job satisfaction, can cause a business to fall behind its competitors.  He says that the best of the best leaders suffer from various degrees of “F of F”, or fear of failure.  It’s a strong driver that can spur one on to constant improvement.  If a leader is not worried about some competitor lurking in the shadows that person is kidding him/herself.   

 

So, what’s a leader to do?  He says they need to celebrate small wins but quickly clear away the party glasses and get back to the business of confronting the “interloper” (competitor).  One way is to have more than one team ready in the wings to begin working on the same project or product.  For example, when Team A has completed a project, Team B comes in to work on an improved version of the original.     Apparently, just when we thought it was a competitive advantage, having job satisfaction is not necessarily the way to build your business.

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