Most companies embrace change when they first enter the market, because change presents opportunities for start-up companies to outmaneuver larger organizations that are less adaptable and more reliant on the status quo. Anyone who has been part of a quickly growing start-up organization knows the feeling of stealing away market share simply because it’s more in tune with the buyer and more effective at marketing and delivering its solution. Those companies are drivers of change, not victims of it. The impact this dynamic is highlighted in the book Creative Destruction by Richard Foster and Sarah Kaplan when discussing S&P 500 companies: “If history is a guide, no more than a third of today’s major corporations will survive in an economically important way over the next twenty years. Those that do not survive will die a Hindu death of transformation, as they are acquired or merged with part of a larger, stronger organization, rather than a Judeo-Christian death, but it will be death nonetheless. And the demise of these companies will come from a lack of competitive adaptiveness. To be blunt, most of these companies will die or be bought out and absorbed because they are too slow to keep pace with change … Read More
The Strategy Focused Organization (Part 3): Mobilize Change Through Executive Leadership
Today’s CEO is wrestling with unique market challenges. These challenges have forced many leaders and employees to question current business models and are looking at change not as a threat but as a necessity. This openness to change provides an opportunity to inspire their team to a better destination. However, many changes are complex and can reach to the heart of the company culture. Therefore, strong executive leadership from the CEO is required to overcome these obstacles and fuel the company’s transformation. The CEO must first define that destination, and understand the characteristics the company must have in order to reach it. Those are the responsibilities unique to the CEO that cannot be replaced by consultants or even the most gifted employees. Strategic planning provides the framework to ensure the destination is defined and the path clearly mapped out. Strategic planning accomplishes this by providing essential focus that is needed regardless of the size or complexity of an organization. This focus allows companies to compete based on their strengths, and increases agility, empowering them to outmaneuver less focused competitors. The CEO must also reestablish the cultural foundation of the organization. Through establishing a vision, mission, and values that the CEO … Read More
The Strategy Focused Organization (Part 2)
Principle Three: Make Strategy Everyone’s Everyday Job Does this sound familiar? A company crafts a strategy. They develop a thorough presentation to communicate the strategy and motivate the team. They call a team meeting and present the strategy. Employees are excited about the new direction seeing a better future ahead. Then the excitement fades, old habits reemerge, and six months later the only thing that has changed is the marketing collateral extolling the virtues of capabilities never realized. Sales sell the same way, recruiting remains reactive, and management wonders where all the inspiration went. In order for your employee to adapt to the company strategy you must focus on three key areas. First, communication is not a onetime event. You must develop an ongoing communication plan that communicates the strategy in a variety of different ways over time. Second, performance goals must be aligned with the strategy, and reviewed regularly on an individual and a team basis. Third, your team’s compensation must be aligned with the strategy in order to drive the right behavior. Addressing those three areas takes a lot of time and planning, but will increase long-term buy in substantially. Principle Four: Make Strategy a Continual Process This … Read More