It’s so well entrenched in research that unless senior executives and managers have the same strategic “mindset”, growth will be capped, and organizational dysfunction will fester.
Thousands of books and articles have been written on building and writing strategies, but have you read any of them? I’m guessing that most business owners have not.
We constantly hear that “Culture eats Strategy for lunch”, but is that because your business strategy sucks?
The reality is that Culture is the byproduct of strategy . That means if you have a great strategy, your systems and people are humming; that your culture is stable and contributing to your success. After 30 years, we have found that many executives can’t even agree on a common definition of strategy.
The other issue about strategy? Unless the senior executives are of the same mind, along with lower layers of leadership, the barriers to competitive growth are capped. Why? Because the meter for determining strategic success is based on how thrilled and happy your customers score on their pulse surveys. Shame if you don’t have a constant customer pulse. Poor NPS customer scores require immediate adjusting of your strategy.
In the Economist Magazine, I read a definition of strategy that I thought was brilliant: Decide, with your people, on “The plan to outperform your competition.” Include in the plan, the processes needed, people skills and tools, corporate values, customer sentiment and managers skills needed.
This is so down to earth, easy to remember, and welcoming to those managers that ACTUALLY delivers to and speak to your customer. Who might be the best to know how to outperform the competition and delight customers? Who best knows what customers care about TODAY verses last year’s thinking and doing?
This is the ultimate in corporate agility for those that want to be kept current!
So… if growth is your objective, get the best in customer feedback upon which to base your strategies. Consider ongoing customer pulses so leaders and managers alike have a “finger on the pulse of the customers.”
I know a company offering a free strategy PULSE that might even predict the future of your business. USE IT!
Stanley Labovitz, J.D., CEO
SurveyTelligence, Inc.
2640 Lake Shore Drive, Suite 1716
West Palm Beach, FL. 33404
1-508-400-4094
Author: Back From The Brink
