- Has your business model adapted to the changing competitive environment?
- Do you have a strategy that will create a breakthrough for your organisation?
- Will your vision, business plan and values drive significant change?
- Do you have the leadership and people capability to enable the changes that are required?
- Do you have an execution plan that ensures that the intent of the business plan does not get lost amongst daily crises and demands?
Our common experience of small to medium sized organisations is that “strategy” is an informal process or at best a document written by senior management or the entrepreneur and signed off yet unlikely to stimulate engagement beyond this small team. It rarely triggers passionate debate that opens up enthusiastic engagement and explores future possibilities.
However, we have also encountered and worked with leaders where change and strategic intent represents an opportunity for personal development and the creative challenge of leading an organisation on a sustainable journey. These organisations have also generated significantly higher value and we refer to these companies as Supercompanies. They have found ways to stimulate a coherent strategy and supporting processes to manage current reality whilst discovering new possibilities as the future unfolds. These transformational individuals are conscious and responsive to their environment and adapt in an agile manner to unfolding events.
At Leading Performance Consulting we have been working with customers to explore the following:
- Business model and strategy to open up change and learning in the organisation – not just iterating the next strategic round.
- Open up new strategic possibilities – both seeking and finding strategic breakthroughs.
- Creating new strategies and remaining engaged in implementation where learning is intense.
- Focusing on both revenue resilience and cost resilience as essential elements in a globally competitive and disruptive world.
- Acting with clear intent that builds alignment, energy and engagement within the organisation.
The challenge we see in small to medium sized organisations is that they are struggling to scale up. Whilst the article specifically refers to SMEs – these experiences are not limited to the SME sector. Often larger organisations have more robust systems and processes but they are still constrained and we have worked with them to identify the constraints. They have the vision and passion but keep on stumbling as they take steps to move to the next level. Our work at Leading Performance Consulting is characterised by collaborating with good leadership who have a clear sight of their vision and purpose and have the best intentions of the organisation.
In today’s global market place there is an absolute need for excellent management and leadership with effective and efficient processes – a focus on both cost, quality and customer service to meet customer expectation and address customer needs. This flows from a clear customer centric purpose focused on addressing customer needs rather than from a product centric perspective. Feeling proud of belonging to a stunning best in class organisation that delivers real value and where you can connect your contribution to the overall purpose is very energising – and easier said then done but it is possible. The actions and outcomes generated by staff and managers have a clear and direct line of sight with the purpose of the organisation. People feel responsible for upholding the purpose and it helps prioritise work and isn’t lost in the bureaucracy and management speak.
Leading Performance Consulting has developed a powerful approach that enables organisations to develop, articulate and implement strategy in a way that is creative but grounded in the realities of the current context. It also ensures that there is the right level of thinking within the team to ensure an effective strategy. This grounding forms the basis for new possibilities out of which they form their strategic actions.
The approach addresses the development of leadership and organisation capabilities and of a culture for ongoing renewal and action. It provides a framework for regular review and goals setting to develop robust systems of processes to move the organisation from good to great.