Getting A Leg Up Through Strategic Thought - While Keeping Your Feet Planted Firmly On The Ground
Figuring out the strategy of an organization can be an all-consuming venture. The business world is constantly changing. New products, services, distribution channels and markets are popping up continually. Operating in a fluid world takes an overriding focus on the part of the organization’s leaders.
The first elements of that focus are the values, mission, and vision of the company. Why was it formed? What does it stand for? How does it see its place in the present and future? What will its legacy be? How does it treat its employees and customers?
Those questions are the cornerstones of any business. A company that loses focus loses market share and profits. That doesn’t mean that an organization can’t add or change products, services, markets, or distribution channels. Those can be important issues for growth. What it does mean however, is that when those changes occur they happen within the overall cultural standards of the company.
When leaders of successful businesses devise strategic plans they realize that anything that deviates from its value system can be a formula for disaster. Employees get used to the culture of a business and changing it can create a culture shock that could take precious months or years to recover if, in fact, recovery ever becomes a reality. When culture shock is too severe it can cause the business to fail.
The values of a business convey why it does what it does. If an organization was founded on the principle of helping the downtrodden live better lives, then abandoning that position can create critical moral problems for employees. If the company was formed to make money in the financial markets for its clients through low risk investments, changing that philosophy can have terrible consequences for its employees and customers as well.
A Vision Statement conveys the organization’s direction. Where it’s going and how it will get there. It states, within it narrative, the direction for its future. Having a Vision Statement that is opposed to its values creates an inherent confusion in its direction. The vision may include such things as growth, “To bring our products and services to the people of the world, for the purpose of eradicating hunger and disease, by identifying new areas of need and creating easily accessible means of distribution.” Or profitability, “To create effective and efficient means of production in order to create value for our customers and a profitable organization for our employees and stakeholders through constantly monitoring our products, services, and procedures.” Vision Statements like these instill an understanding of where a company sees its future.
The Mission Statement is more about values and how the company views its place within those values. “ABC Company is dedicated to making the world a better place by creating an environment of productivity, camaraderie, fun, and community for its employee family while bringing products and services to its clients and the global population at large that enable all people to breath clean air, drink clean water, and eat healthy foods.”
Understanding that the values, vision, and mission are the foundation of the company, it becomes easier to establish viable goals that coincide with those stated objectives and values.
The strategic plan now has a foundation on which to build.
Top organization leaders use that foundation to dissect potential geographic markets, get a more concise view of existing and potential products, understand the demographics of its market population, create, rearrange, or increase distribution channels, and build marketing strategies that uphold the foundational principles that drive the organization.
It’s not unusual for leaders to want to try new things. However, operating outside of the aforementioned principles can create internal and external confusion about the company’s products or services. When leaders plan according to their stated guidelines people within the organization and those outside of it, including customers and the general population, build a trust factor with the business that help with market share maintenance and growth.
Of course, any company and its leaders must up-date methods, products, and services to keep up with changing tastes and demands. This can always be done without losing focus of why the company does what it does and how the company’s values and mission integrate with that change. Growth doesn’t happen by stagnating processes. But growth can certainly be thwarted by losing direction and focus as to why the company was formed and the course of its cause.
Effective top-level leaders build on foundational principles in order to have buy-in for new ideas within the overall philosophy of the organization. It is so much easier to establish goals and objectives, drive marketing initiatives, products, and services, and grow into new areas when everyone has the same focus of purpose.
Diversification doesn’t have to mean divestiture of principles. It’s just another aspect of growth. However, diversifying into an area that is so opposed to the core values, vision, and mission of the company is another route to a potentially malcontented workforce and confused customer base.
We all know that there are specific companies that we have no problem dealing with. We trust their products, have faith in their services, and recognized their proven methods of operation. You can safely bet that their leaders strategically planned for all those factors. The faith and trust we have in every one of those organizations is built upon their internal adherence to their values, vision, and mission.
The company’s leaders painstakingly go through the mechanisms that make their organization’s successful and know that by adhering to them the chances of failure are minimized and the road to success in optimized. They don’t take chances on corrupting the philosophical infrastructure of the company because they know that it’s the lifeblood and the energy that keeps their businesses running smoothly.
They have given themselves a leg up on their competitors. And…there’s a lesson to be learned from their efforts for all top leaders of organizations.
Having both feet planted firmly on the ground is the best way to gain a leg up on your competition!
Dan Goldberg, MBA, is President of Dan Goldberg Consulting L.L.C. a training, coaching and business development firm located in the Philadelphia, PA area. He is the founder and former owner of “For Eyes” the highly successful international optical company and an internationally recognized keynote speaker. Dan is the author of the book
Tags: business management, leadership, management, mission, strategic planning, vision statement
