Monica Woo, Executive Vice President, Ecommerce & Chief Marketing Officer, Nutrisystem spoke to us on what leaders should be doing today:

All business leaders are navigating through turbulent economic times, not only in their local markets, but also, on a geo-political basis. I don’t profess to have all the right answers, but would like to share some pragmatic tips that have worked.

1) Don’t Play The Blame Game

It is very easy to blame the economic downturn as the sole reason for disappointing business performance, but neglect to assess weak links in the business’s value chain, and continuously optimize the drivers of sales and profit.

Now more than ever, business leaders need to rigorously assess the fundamental drivers of sales and profit growth, and continuously optimize those drivers.

2) Steer With A Steady Hand

During traumatic times, it is tempting to over-react and hastily make sweeping changes in strategies or organization structure, without the benefit of analyses or testing. The goals and strategies designed for survival and prosperity in the long-term continue to be important. One may need to reprioritize the initiatives required to achieve a goal, or implement a strategy with less time and money, but one should not over-react and abandon a sound strategic course. Pendulum swings not only cause confusion, but also, undermine the rank and file’s confidence in their leader.

3) Stabilize the Here and Now, while Investing for the Recovery

Leaders must invest in high-return longer-term strategies, such as product or service innovations that require long lead time, in order to prepare for future economic upturn. We need to be able to conduct a moving train, while simultaneously building a new station and train track.

4) Necessity Is the Mother of Invention

I would like to share a story as child growing up in Hong Kong. One day, I bought a frozen pizza from a posh Western-style supermarket. Mind you, I did not know what a pizza was, or how to cook a pizza. When my mother and I read the instructions that the pizza must be baked in an oven, we faced “a moment of truth”. As a low-income Chinese family, we did not have an oven! So, what did my mother do? She proceeded to stir fry our pizza in a wok! My first pizza -stir fried—was, by far, the most delicious pizza!

I told this story because necessity is the mother of invention, and invention is a critical currency in a recessionary economy. We need to challenge our team to leverage existing manufacturing asset, distribution capabilities, or media properties, to create incremental profit streams or solve business problems, without additional CAPEX or Operating Expenses.

5) Pursue Coalition to Deliver More With Less

I am a big believer in partnerships and strategic alliances in good times, and even more so, in tough times. Pursue marketing, sales, or innovation partnership with third-party brands to accelerate expansion into new geographies, new customer segments, or new channels, without the significant investments needed to create new businesses from the grounds out. Furthermore, join forces with non-competitive brands in “bartering” assets (e.g., “pay” for display ads on a partner’s site with incorporation of the partner in one’s TV ads), or secure better media rates by consolidating buying between two partner brands.

6) Communicate and Celebrate

During challenging economic times, leaders must frequently communicate up, down and across the organization, from weekly updates of performance, to progress on key business initiatives.

Also, we must make every effort to celebrate successes, whether small (e.g., leads have expanded by 10%) or big (e.g., launch of a redesigned website). Communication and celebration are especially important to the Millennials – those born between 1980 and 2000, and are inspired by inclusive communication, collective goal achievement and positive attitude. Communication and celebrations cost almost nothing, but can generate substantial return.