Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and goalajiving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven minute Leadership podcast with your host Paul Fellovaledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to this seven minute leadership podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode three twenty four. Do you Know your Competitor's
Speaker 2: Next move? This episode isn't just about business competition. It's
Speaker 2: about leadership awareness, strategic thinking, and never letting yourself get
Speaker 2: too comfortable at the top. Whether you're running an EMS service,
Speaker 2: managing a tech startup, or leading a team in a
Speaker 2: corporate office, one truth always holds there's always someone watching you,
Speaker 2: trying to outperform you and preparing their next move. The
Speaker 2: question is are you doing the same, So let's talk
Speaker 2: straight for a second. Too many leaders operate in a bubble.
Speaker 2: They focus inward, polish internal processes, and assume their reputation
Speaker 2: or longevity will protect their position in the market. That's
Speaker 2: a dangerous mindset. Leadership isn't just about leading your team.
Speaker 2: It's also about staying sharp and anticipating what's coming next,
Speaker 2: especially when it's coming from the outside. You have to
Speaker 2: be aware of the landscape beyond your organization. So Here's
Speaker 2: how I keep tabs on competitors and use that information
Speaker 2: to lead better. Number one, I observe patterns, not just posts.
Speaker 2: Don't just scroll your competitors' social media or skim their website.
Speaker 2: Watch for patterns. Are they hiring rapidly, launching new services,
Speaker 2: doubling down on video content, expanding geographically? Every move they
Speaker 2: make is a signal, and smart leaders know how to
Speaker 2: read them. When I see another ambulance service hiring five
Speaker 2: new paramedics in a neighboring zip code, I don't ignore it.
Speaker 2: I ask why now? What do they know that I
Speaker 2: don't Is a new contract coming or they getting ready
Speaker 2: to submit for a bid that we haven't seen yet.
Speaker 2: In number two, I think like a chess player, not
Speaker 2: a Checkers player. Checkers is reactive, Chess is strategic. Leadership
Speaker 2: is chess. If you know your competitor just landed a
Speaker 2: new partnership or rolled out a new pricing model, what's
Speaker 2: your next move? Do you adjust? Do you innovate or
Speaker 2: do you go silent and wait? The leaders who win
Speaker 2: are already thinking two steps ahead, asking what's next for
Speaker 2: them and what does that mean for us? And here's
Speaker 2: the secret. Most organizations telegraph their next move. You just
Speaker 2: have to be listening and watching. Number three. I don't copy.
Speaker 2: I counter. Too many leaders copy their competitors. That's not strategy,
Speaker 2: that's lazy leadership. Real leadership means knowing the move your
Speaker 2: competitor is about to make, and having the guts and
Speaker 2: the insight to go a different direction that serves your
Speaker 2: mission better. And I'll give you a real world example.
Speaker 2: When a nearby EMS agency started pushing social media campaigns
Speaker 2: with polished videos, A few people asked me if we
Speaker 2: should do the same. My answer was no. Instead, I
Speaker 2: built our internal media training so that every employee could
Speaker 2: be confident speaking to the camera, whether in uniform or
Speaker 2: in front of a news crew. That was our move.
Speaker 2: We didn't copy. We countered. Number four. I study the
Speaker 2: game film. Just like in sports, you have to watch
Speaker 2: the film. What did your competitor do during the last crisis,
Speaker 2: How did they respond to staffing shortages? What was their
Speaker 2: customer satisfaction? Like after a big event, You can learn
Speaker 2: just as much from a competitor's failures as their successes, if.
Speaker 1: Not more more.
Speaker 2: I keep a literal folder in my notes app with
Speaker 2: observations and insights from other organizations I've watched over the years,
Speaker 2: patterns emerge, people repeat behaviors, and the writing is always
Speaker 2: on the wall and last competitor. Intelligence isn't paranoia, it's preparation.
Speaker 2: So let's just be clear. I'm not talking about spying.
Speaker 2: I'm talking about staying professionally aware. The best leaders read
Speaker 2: the room, the market, and the industry. They don't just
Speaker 2: know their own numbers, they know the other guy's playbook,
Speaker 2: or at least the parts that are visible. That kind
Speaker 2: of awareness keeps you competitive, it keeps you sharp, and
Speaker 2: more importantly, it keeps your team prepared for what's coming next.
Speaker 2: So here's the bottom line. Great leaders don't just look inward.
Speaker 2: They look outward too. They don't obsess over competitors, but
Speaker 2: they don't ignore them either. If you don't know your
Speaker 2: competitor's next move, you're not leading. You're reacting, and that's
Speaker 2: not a position that you want to be in. So
Speaker 2: start watching, start listening, and start anticipating, because the future
Speaker 2: belongs to the leader who shows up ready. This has
Speaker 2: been the seven Minute Leadership Podcast, and I thank you
Speaker 2: for listening.
Speaker 1: For more, Paul fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot
Speaker 1: com