Often, leaders mistakenly settle for “either/or” limitations, instead of insisting that their teams engage in a more challenging level of “both/and” thinking. For example, some talk about pursuing either low cost or high quality, while enlightened leaders might point out that achieving the lowest cost for producing any given design requires perfect “right-first-time” quality!
Thinking about time horizons, there’s a clear tendency to focus on the urgent while ignoring what’s important for the long-term. The best leaders are both forward-looking and focused on their team’s current performance and the key levers that serve as success drivers for their business. They develop their senior staff by constantly challenging and engaging them without losing the tension between such “both/and” deliverables. When we’re committed to proactively stewarding both long-term opportunities and the existing resources before us, we simultaneously shape our organization for the future while enabling our team to operate with unity, resilience, and sound financial performance along the way… in spite of the inevitable ups and downs of the marketplace.
As so many organizations have discovered, the surest way to actually deliver amazing long-term growth is to consistently manage a series of successful short-term periods. Few enterprises plan for poor future performance. Their strategic plans – however simple or sophisticated they are – tend to plausibly imagine a steady progression of growth and sound performance. So, why are so many derailed along the way? Inevitably, their failure in delivering the plan relates to a lack of diligence in doing what’s necessary to deliver the current and next period plan, every quarter and year along the way!
For presidents and CEOs, this “both/and” leadership task is the ultimate litmus test and is vital for shaping any enduring, high-performance organization. We might simply describe it as operationalizing a compelling vision for your business. This is the ultimate “both/and” leadership mandate. Many organizations have rather fancy plans but fall short on developing operating traction and maintaining healthy tension around truly executing these plans. Such performance requires casting a compelling vision, reinforcing the actions needed to deliver on that plan each period, and continually developing an ever more capable and proactive forward-looking team. The focus of the entire organization must be on the execution of the annual and strategic plans that are so critical to achieving the company’s vision, all while staying “mission-true” along the way.
Sometimes, uncontrollable events can occur (e.g., economic, technological, health/social, governmental, etc.) that impact stakeholder sensibilities and marketplace realities in major ways. During the period beginning with March, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic (and resultant government policies) has been one such instance. It has certainly served to accelerate the adoption of digitally-enabled commerce and work practices, while straining cash flow, and derailing many teams from working according to their long-standing habits. For those already leaning into the future with their business models, processes, and team development, the pandemic was a call to accelerate and compress, or even leapfrog, many pre-existing project timetables and plans. For others, this served as a shocking wake-up call that’s finally rocked them out of their comfort and complacency… perhaps even threatening their continued existence.
Consider the story of one company whose CEO had failed to embrace the “both/and” challenge of operationalizing a compelling vision. This client had long enjoyed a solidly profitable business in a specialized commercial distribution market niche as a regional leader in their field, having established themselves as a trustworthy supplier of quality products and value-added technical expertise. They had seen competition ratcheting up in recent years but hadn’t wanted to “rock the boat” or incrementally invest in their seemingly healthy business which had always performed like an annuity… they had weathered ups and downs before! Somewhat ignoring the demographic shift toward younger “digital natives” among their existing and potential customers, they depended on their convenient physical footprint that offered nearby service centers, localized inventories, and same-week delivery.
In spite of slowing growth and lost market share over the previous five years, they saw themselves as rock solid, even if a bit boring and traditional. They hadn’t really seen a need to develop a more compelling future vision or shake-up their very conventional business processes. Then COVID19 hit. Now they find themselves unequipped to lead in their local market niche as many B2B clients demand distanced, hands-free, digital transactions, with pre-staged fast-lane pick-ups. If such capabilities had already been on-board, they would have sharply grown share during this period while simplifying many internal business processes and helping their clients to become much more real-time and efficient. They might even have been able to acquire and consolidate a few of their smaller regional competitors at sharply discounted valuations had they already been planning for a more compelling future. The “lessons learned” in this vignette – seen clearly by their omission – are many:
1. Cast the Vision Organizations need a compelling vision in the form of shared core principles (i.e., vision, mission, core values) to bring unity (i.e., mutual buy-in and accountability) and guide planning, decision-making, and behavior in the common pursuit of exciting long-term strategic objectives. People are thrilled when they have the opportunity to work for more than a paycheck. Being a part of a winning team and/or worthy endeavor is far more satisfying!
2. Mold the Team Leadership must be effective in hiring, on-boarding, goal-setting, delegating, managing performance, shaping plans, developing the team, refining business models and processes, and providing tailored compensation and other forms of reinforcement (e.g., individual/organization development, promotions, cross-training, recognition, celebration, on-going engagement, communication, etc.) that align with and actively support attainment of the compelling vision. This involves hands-on, systematic annual efforts to ensure the organization is performing, learning, and able to remain strong and self-replicating with the future in mind.
3. Sustain Operating Fitness Engage the team in a systematic and disciplined drumbeat of feedback and activity focused on the “both/and” attainment of near-term operating plan metrics (i.e., monthly/quarterly/annually) designed to deliver the strategic objectives (i.e., 3-5 year horizon) so essential to achieving the compelling vision (10+ years horizon). This includes a sustained, integrated focus on real-time information, organizational development, and continuous improvement to drive sharpened value, responsiveness, quality, growth, and smooth job succession in key positions over time. Every manager must ably participate in this effort, as (a) organizations are arguably only as strong as their weakest link and (b) employees often leave their managers not their companies!
This is the perfect time to be challenged and inspired by ICA’s FreshLook assessment… a highly cost-effective and laser-focused look by a proven general management expert peer that has led several category leadership companies ranging from $20M to $2+B in annual revenue, and coached hundreds of owners and CEOs of firms and Christian ministries ranging in annual revenue from $5M to $4B. Let us help you identify ways to sharpen short-term operating processes and strengthen your senior team to pursue a robust strategic vision based on today’s market dynamics. We can help you identify practical steps toward achieving a brighter future based on pursuing incremental growth, improved performance/return, long-term organization development, conducting targeted executive search and succession planning, and healthy board governance. Call Integrity CEO Advisors’ Principal, Don Barefoot (336.420.2000), for a pro bono 15-minute consultation to further check-out this highly practical and cost-effective possibility.
Call Integrity CEO Advisors’ Principal, Don Barefoot - 336.420.2000