Memo to business leaders – stop whining!

The budget has just been released and you would have thought that Treasurer Wayne Swan had doubled corporate taxes if the reaction from business leaders is any guide.

His crime? He is not going through with a minor planned tax cut. Instead this money (ostensibly) is going to fund a political need for a budget surplus.

This is disappointing not so much for the tax break (although any help would be beneficial) but because it breaks another promise by the Government. A lack of trust seems to be Prime Minister’s main weakness.

But let’s get on with it.

This is still the one of the best countries in the world to do business in. There is reasonable economic growth, low unemployment, a skilled work force and a manageable amount of debt. Consumer confidence is low but that can be stimulated through exciting new products and innovation (the leaders from Apple for example, do not seem to complaining too much).

And let’s not even mention that this is one of the most beautiful countries in the world to live in. Australia is a country of abundant natural resources but also a country of abundant creativity.

How about we accept the proposition that if business is tough it is not anyone’s fault but our own? Perhaps it is a failure of imagination rather than a failure of the market place.

In these times you cannot keep doing the same thing again and again and expect the same result (a sure sign of insanity). Accept this situation as an opportunity to try new things, take some risks and start innovating. In my own case I am investing in a new software product and website, which is being built by one of Australia’s leading gaming companies (3^rd Sense). I have also updated my current website and launched a new product aimed at improving the productivity and creativity of groups and teams called Blitz.

Strangely enough the past few months have been some of the most creative months of my working life. I have invented new products and concepts because I have had to. In this case necessity has been the mother of invention.

If I can do it, so can you.

Stop whining and start leading.

Leadership is about courage and imagination. At the moment I see little of either. This is a great opportunity for any business leader to step forward. Take it!