In today's heightened state of panic, the hustle-and-bustle excitement of running the business has in many quarters been supplanted by doom-and-gloom worry of uncertainty – in certain instances the culture of fear is almost palpable. People and companies are running scared, with a sense of helplessness driving their fear ever higher.

Part of the problem is that through meteoric growth and cheap capital, some of today’s managers don’t really have a lot of hands-on managerial experience; a deficiency that becomes highly amplified when it comes to managing people. Gone are the days where you could spend a problem away or buy an entree into a new market by simply acquiring your way into it – today’s valuations are lop-sided and easy-money has all but dried-up. The era we live in is one where organic growth is king and many managers who are in leadership positions may be out of practice; or worse, don’t have a clue of how to do it.

In the past decade, businesses have gone through trends that have transformed the relationship between:

• Employees and employers
• Companies and customers
• Markets and geographies
• Everyone and everything…thanks to the internet

Along with these fundamental changes, companies have also endured:

• Ever-shorter boom and bust cycles in the public markets
• Credit squeezes
• Right-sizing
• Down-sizing
• Out-sourcing
• Off-shoring
• Waves of M&As
• The Greening of business and the Eco-movement
• Cause marketing

But today’s environment is forcing the hands of those who formerly got by with just a checkbook or over-valued stock. The reality is that transaction and investment money is scarce, so organic good ole’ fashioned elbow grease is the order of the day – that’s how growth needs to be achieved in this climate. In the absence of a deal or push-button solution, this management effort will require new thinking – not just ideas, but how we take advantage of them – innovation at every level. Your communities already have many of the answers – reaching-out and engaging them is both efficient and effective – you just need to know how to do it.