It’s weeks like this where I hope you see the true value of ‘Ben Thinking’. You can try and find all the info on tariffs…or you can just trust this newsletter to have done that for you. (The challenge was writing this on Monday, when the market looked like my heart rate during game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.)
Onto what we've all been thinking about:
Tariffs are here. So what do we do now?
Chief Executive tapped into its leadership/c-suite network to remind companies about what has worked in the past during times like this. (I like that last one, a lot.)
- [An] abundance mindset. As bestselling author Stephen M.R. Covey pointed out in a recent interview, this world contains plenty of everything we need to thrive, and that will be even more true as AI grants us extra helpings of our prized commodity: time.
- Control what you can control. Obsessed with the news? Ask yourself: Is it helping you lead, or is it just exciting/habitual? Monitor your media consumption and that of your senior team and focus on the trade data that impacts you directly.
- Refocus on the customer. When things are topsy-turvy, it is grounding to remind people that the point of all this effort is the customer. Without them, there’s no business. Don’t let operational thrum drown that out.
- Build energy and urgency. Pull together a war room. Signal an acceleration in rhythm. Put time on the calendar, dedicate a physical space, pull together HR, finance, purchasing, sales, operations, whoever else for a high-cadence group. Push them to look for opportunity—not just patching holes.
- Pricing flexibility = profits. This is essential. Inflation is likely to rise, tariffs—even the threat of tariffs—will present opportunity for profitability, if you can add surcharges and get smart about adjusting with agility. Make sure you can.
- Get out of your office. Hunker in the bunker is not a winning strategy. Don’t delegate listening and connecting. Get on the phone, get on a plane. Show up for customers, suppliers, trade groups, lawmakers, regulators, industry conferences. Learn a ton, grow the network, bank goodwill and get smarter while your rivals stay home.
- Create esprit de corps. Some people, some teams just get better as the pace accelerates and the challenges mount. You know who they are. Give them the ball and let them run. Their energy is contagious.
- Cull. Inertia thrives in good times. This is the moment to revisit projects, people, ideas that you likely lacked the energy or discipline to examine closely in blue-sky weather. Then, make some choices. Narrow your focus.
- Don’t sacrifice the future. The places not to cut? Automation, R&D, AI pilots, digital transformation, training, etc. You want to grow stronger while others grow weaker.
- Revisit comp. It’s been tough to have tough conversations here for a while. Realign around what—and who—builds actual value in your company.
- Map the opportunities. Companies you really like, salespeople your salespeople hate competing against, customers you wish you had—they may all become available. Ask your frontline folks for thoughts. Reach out to rivals. You never know who’s ready to deal.
- And finally, communicate, communicate, communicate.
More on that 'communication' point
Do you have a tariff toolkit ready for your communications team? You do now. (You’re welcome!)
Thank you to the Ohio Manufacturing Association for featuring the Akhia Toolkit in its most recent newsletter.
Tariffs round-up
- 5 key details in Trump’s global tariff order (Manufacturing Dive)
- Ram Charan on what happens next (Chief Executive)
- Paul Krugman on the ‘biggest trade shock in history’ (The Ezra Klein Show)
- Warren Buffet says to do this when stocks fall (Make It/CNBC)
Customer expectations of your brand - on social - in 2025
Did that headline (from SocialMediaToday) scare you a little bit? Are you nervous to click on the article? If so, we should talk. The good news: there are ways to leverage your brand and align with customers. Bad news: it’s not an immediate fix.
Don’t let more time go by. We have the data and the ability to be better. Let’s do it.
Do you know what 'hidden feedback' is? (HBR)
The book Radical Candor teaches us how to ‘say it’. However, as someone who has read (and loves) that book, it isn’t always easy, and we fall into old habits.
This HBR article is important because it helps people translate that passive, subtle ‘hidden feedback’ leaders give as they walk right up to the line of radical candor…but don’t cross it.
This raises an interesting point…who’s responsibility is it to give critical and constructive feedback? This article, which is well-intended and valuable, seems to imply that it’s shifted to the person receiving the ‘hidden’ feedback. One of the side effects of that, by the way, is employees will see 'hidden' messages everywhere and you'll create a culture of 'what did they really mean?'
But learning a new, radical language takes time. And we don’t have time anymore to hope people get what you’re saying.
I guess if you’re not going to say it…we need to train others to hear it.
I don’t like it. Just saying that’s what it is right now.
Extend the spring cleaning to your workplace: Tackle OSHA’s top 10 violations.
This is the time of year when you start looking around your yard, remember you left things out because it was too cold to pick-up and now wish you had done a little more clean-up that ‘one day’ it was 65 degrees.
I’m willing to bet that feeling exists when you walk around your manufacturing facility. Why? Because people (specifically Khara Huhta, MA, CSP, ATC from BSI Consulting) are blogging about it.
One more thing about tariffs: we’ve been…here…before.
So much has happened in my time at Akhia (joined in 2000) and especially since I assumed a senior leadership position (2005). I won’t go through it all…but it’s why this comment from a Chief Executive email grabbed my attention. Dan Bigman, the chief editor of Chief Executive was at Jeff Sonnefeld’s CEO Conference, talking with other CEOs/senior leaders:
“I was talking to one of the best industrial CEOs I know—it wasn’t an interview, so I won’t name her here—and I asked her about the present moment, navigating all the tariff craziness and the geopolitical upheaval, AI et. al, and she kind of shrugged. Having come of age as a CEO during Covid like a lot of CEOs, she hasn’t known anything different for most of her tenure.”
Ain't that the truth.
Just for fun: Coors Light introduces ‘Obstructed Brews’ (Marketing Dive)
(from the article) “Obstructed Brews” invites consumers who are sitting in obstructed-view seats to visit a microsite and upload a photo of their spot to be scanned using AI. If the seat is deemed “less-than-chill,” the user will receive a Venmo payment that can be used on Coors Light.
Coors Light is just the latest company to integrate AI-driven strategies into its marketing programs. What are you considering in your marketing program? (If you can’t answer…may I suggest subscribing to the AI Round-up?)
Wait, don't go!
A quick word about these images… Mike Lawrence, Akhia's creative director, continues to outdo himself. And if you were wondering about the man behind the magic, Mike wrote a fantastic (and funny) blog about his journey into the world of AI and testing image gen tools. I highly recommend the read – it’s insightful and enjoyable.
Thanks for reading, everyone. Remember, here if you need me!
-Ben