As a leader, you know you and your team leaders set the vision, the point where you want to go next. For most leaders, it’s either around growth, efficiency, profit, or some combination. Vision is what aligns a team where everyone knows the target.
But even with a sharp vision of your “Point B”, the right strategy is critical. And this is where I see many leaders making mistakes. They aren’t fatal, as evidenced by so many multi-generational companies still having success. However, they can seriously sloe down the process of vision achievement.
Mistake #1 – Never questioning your business model. In long-term family companies, there is a tendency to think that what you are selling and doing is what you are meant to do. And therefore, strategy equals MORE only. More of X product, charge more of develop more of existing Service Y.
If you are one of the minority of companies that sets a budget, you likely take last year’s revenue line items and apply a growth factor and think that’s strategy. While that can and does work, how much more profitable would your company be if you thought creatively?
Solution – Include at least one new product or service to at least try!
Mistake #2 – Allowing your existing team or technology to limit your strategy. Long-term companies tend to get bound by their current staff and condition. When evaluation exciting strategy, I’ll hear owners say, “we don’t have talent for that” or “we don’t have systems where we could do that.” That’s the point where I say, great! Why? Because we are about to get a breakthrough when the leader realizes they can always get talent, we can develop or buy systems.
Another way to tackle your talent and tech constraints is to ask, “what would break if our company doubled revenue next year? That question alone will give you a clue where you need to uplevel even if you keep products and services exactly the same.
For example, I had an owner tell me they would love to add X number of sites, but their manager of that division would implode! They were already seeing personnel problems, turnover, lack of coaching for managers by this person, etc. Guess what? They already have a weak link. And they later made a painful personnel change but with the new division manager in place, all those problems went away, the new manager organized and restructured, and now they are back to major growth without the old hiccups and headaches.
Solution – Set strategy, then ask what people and systems we need to accelerate reaching our goals.
Mistake #3 – No Clear, Concise and Concrete Execution Plan. Call it the 3 C’s of Strategy. If you have your vision in place, you have used out-of-the-box thinking for your strategy, but not everyone is completely clear on the EXACT actions it will take, who is responsible for each step, and when it’s to be done, you don’t have a Strategy. You have wishful ta wish. You can wish all you want but you won’t hit the goal!
Clear, concise action plans are essential. Making sure that there is a person responsible, and they have the time, resources, and talent to actually execute is vital.
An effective technique we use successfully when working with leaders is to ask them to explain their understanding of the task. Then, we ask them on a 1-10 scale, where ten is the top, how confident are you this will happen on time and on budget.
If you don’t hear a ten answer, your next question needs to be, what would you need for it to be a ten? Boom! You have just discovered potential snags, things to be solved. You can then see if you can provide what they need, or you may realize you have a leader who won’t achieve, even with resources, so you can get a different leader.
A ten response means you can now hold that person accountable to the plan, and mutually set milestones and check in points. Does this guarantee perfect execution? No! Of course not. Life happens. But you will have far better results than without this process.
So, to have an even more amazing year, question your business model, get the talent and tech needed for major leaps forward, and execute! When you do this, you’ll have your best year ever!
Meridian Associates has been partnering with family-owned businesses for over 30 years to remove barriers, accelerate business growth, build their legacy, and reduce stress levels. With three, high-impact business events each year, The CEO Exchange, Women in Family Business, and The Family Business Intensive, we continually provide best practices & proven strategies that keep multigenerational businesses thriving. Discover how Meridian can help your business thrive through our combination of high impact business coaching, advisory, M&A, and precision company valuations by visiting www.askmeridian.com or calling us at 817-594-0546.
