We’ve worked with hundreds of small and mid-size businesses. The smallest is probably $800K per year; the largest is a $200 million multi-state operation. Strange how much the strategic leadership issues are the same. The smaller businesses fighting the battle towards a breakthrough, the larger businesses trying to move their executives to a higher level of engagement and results delivery.
“High purpose environments are filled with small, vivid signals designed to create a link between the present moment and a future ideal.” – The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle
What matters is being able to tell the story. Stories are not just stories; they are the best invention ever created for delivering mental models that drive behavior. Build a story around moving from here (not satisfied) to there (cohesive team delivery of ‘impossible’ results).
So many of our clients know about vision, strategy, and planning. Few have the clarity to create and tell the stories that unlock the next level of performance. Not knowing how to do it, and not having good models to follow, equally contribute to frustration and failure in this critical task.
Strategic planning and thinking is not as daunting as most imagine. Move from simple to complex as you and your team collaboratively create language around the answers to these five questions.
- Who are we? (Purpose, Values, Culture, Identity)
- Where are we? (Current Situation, SWOT)
- Where do we want to be? (Vision)
- How will we get there? (Plan)
- Who is responsible for what? (Assignments)
A list of clear priorities has great value. A well told vision that gets the heart, mind, and soul of your team engaged is 20 times better. We have a worksheet we will make available for free this week to help you get the first draft of questions 1-3 in writing (click here to download).
We also have several boot camps to help you in 2019 and beyond. Leaders must close the gaps where they are weak in strategic planning. Leaders must maximize their results to achieve their vision.
Xtra Mile Boot Camps
“It’s the leader’s job to make the IMPOSSIBLE seem INEVITABLE.” – Condoleezza Rice