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Quadrants 2022: Realigning and Refocusing a Business

This article belongs to a multi-part series about what to expect from Quadrants 2022.

With more than 160 businesses in the Volaris Group family, we continually strive to create an environment where networking and learning are accessible to our leaders at an intimate scale. 

Our flagship learning event, Quadrants, is an example of how we help customize learning that suits our business leaders' needs. Participants at the September 2022 conference will be part of one of four tracks, based on their organization’s stage of growth. This programming strategy ensures we meet businesses where they are, while encouraging them to have conversations with colleagues facing similar challenges.

Portfolio Manager Chris Wildsmith is leading the track for leaders that are refocusing or realigning their businesses. He shares what participants can expect.
 


1.    What are common challenges of leaders who attend your track?

Chris Wildsmith's Photo

Leaders who are attending this track are often in the middle of realigning and refocusing their business. Often, parts of their business are heading in different directions. Leaders may lack a strong narrative about why improvements are needed in the business. They may face a dilemma of tough choices and need clarity on where to focus to get the results they need. They may feel alone—part of why Quadrants is so useful.

Fundamentally, leaders of these businesses are aware something is sub-optimal in the business, and the analysis that Volaris can provide helps give clues. We are also interested in recognizing early warning signs in the business before any issues get worse.

Ultimately, the goal for leaders in this track is to create a plan that ensures staff, processes, and customers see the plan and goals that result in a successful outcome. What helps is to recognize it’s not a one-quarter battle—since Volaris is a buy-and-hold acquirer, we have the ability to strategize more than a quarter ahead, which makes the process easier and more effective.


2.    What's your experience with companies that belong to this track?

When businesses realize they need to refocus, I think there are a range of human instincts that may kick in initially: denial, panic, attempt to fix everything, or blame. But ultimately, companies who are in this position come around to accepting issues in their businesses and building a plan around the most effective levers they have access to.

The most successful stories that typically come out of this track involve a fully-engaged team who sign on to a plan they all buy into. Along the journey of improving their businesses, they celebrate their successes, and accept setbacks as part of the process, instead of giving up. Successful plans usually require acumen with finances and people, and these skills should be high priorities to drive change. 


One huge value in belonging to Volaris is the ability to network. Sometimes when a business leader is faced with issues, the tendency is to close in, rather than seek outside advice. It can take an agent from outside the business to present a clear and objective view, because it can be very easy to get lost in the detail when problems are surfacing.


3.    What sort of strategies might your track explore for the companies participating?

We are really trying to cover the whole range of strategies, from metrics and deeper analysis to people management, to tips on how and where to focus—as well as the tried and trusted metrics and drivers that are used so effectively through Volaris.
 

4.    Why else should people be excited about your track?

I am confident that this track will help make a big material difference to participants, and help drive business performance. The goal of this track at Quadrants is also to allow stronger networks to develop that will extend beyond the event, and continue to help leaders as they go on a journey to further improve their businesses.
 

5.    What value do you think Quadrants brings to the Volaris community?

Quadrants is a totally unique experience. It’s not often that software leaders have opportunities to meet such a wide and diverse group of people. To be able to learn from the many common issues and challenges that our participants share will allow everyone to strengthen their learning, professional networks, and understanding of the Volaris journey.

 

Learn more about Volaris Quadrants: