Business Leadership

As I look at Ireland in March 2010 after the toughest year we have had in a long time I have noticed that Irish people have re discovered what it means to be in business. There is a willingness to do business in 2010 which was missing in 2009 but what we need is Leadership among business people. It is not good enough to wait for someone else to lead us out of the mess we find ourselves in. We have to do it ourselves. As we enter Dun Laoghaire County Enterprise Week It is up to me to do something positive to impact the business Environment. It’s not about big things; it’s about lots of little things. So I have 3 things to ask you to consider and act on if you have influence.

Journalists need to behave responsibly in economic coverage.

We have talked ourselves into the greatest crisis in confidence in 50 years. I believe that the first step to recovery is talking ourselves back out of it. Ireland has weathered storms of this nature before, in the 50’s and again in the 70’s. We will recover from this too. I plead with the journalists to stop talking the economy down and give confidence a chance to grow. If consumer sentiment changes, it will go a long way to helping business and the economy to recover. So please do what you can to influence what people are saying.

We the business people of the county need to spend our money in the county with IRISH firms

Right now we can only rely on ourselves to get us out of the mess. So let’s vote with our feet. Let’s buy our groceries, our personal and our business services, our white goods and our furniture, from other businesses in the county of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown. Let us also buy Irish. It may cost a few extra Euros to do this but if we grow the local economy there is more in it for all of us, our families and communities. We can also bring business into the county by doing our promotional work or training or socialising in Dun Laoghaire or Dundrum or Stillorgan instead of in the city.

Encourage a spirit of hope in the county.

In Killiney Castle for the next few weeks (until april 16th) the ‘Angels Beacons of Hope’ will be in residence. These angels are the brainchild of a local businessman, Nollaig Fahy and have been sponsored by numerous celebrities. They are a fundraiser and a symbol of what one man can achieve if he really wants to. Check out the web www.angelsbeaconsofhope.ie

Peter Cronin is a coach, business mentor and trainer. Peter accepts e mail queries on peter@alaymont.com