There’s a reason why the most successful organisations invest time in planning their future and in standing back and looking at the bigger picture of their current world.
For starters, that strategic time prevents:
- A Stalled Business
Do you notice that businesses frequently stall after achieving an initial level of success? It spells trouble if you don’t know where you want the organisation to go and how you’ll get there — and it is unnecessary trouble!You need clarity on your current strategic position, where you want to be in three to five years, and how you’re going to take the organisation from its current position to its target position. Regularly dedicating time to strategy and developing your strategic plan will help prevent stalls and give you an exciting future to anticipate. You’ll have a blueprint of what your organisation will look like in three to five years. - Low Staff Engagement And Higher Staff Turnover
It’s not only the senior team that needs a strategic plan. Employees, no matter what their level, will get a charge when they see their future organisation spelled out….- They’ll have more clarity about how their “little bit” contributes to the bigger picture.
- It’ll give them a bigger reason to come to work.
- They’ll feel more comfortable and more secure when they can see where their organisation is going.
- Missed Opportunities
What sorts of valuable thinking are you missing out on if you’re not considering what’s likely to be around the corner in your marketplace? Or if you’re not brainstorming the refinements you could make to your line-up of products or services? Imagine for a moment that you’re not paying much attention to planning your organisation’s future. Wouldn’t you feel nervous if you knew that your primary competitor’s senior team is on a two-day retreat off-site, planning their future businesses and how they’re going to knock your organisation off its perch? (That is probably exactly what they’re doing.)Who knows what opportunities you’ll miss if you don’t dedicate enough time to strategic planning!
What Stops You From Attending To The Strategic?
You’ve no doubt heard the saying, “Previous planning prevents poor performance.”
But nearly all executives end up with too little time to focus on the strategic.
There’s always some other critical thing that needs your attention.
But, but, but…
Isn’t it your job to play a pivotal role in designing your organisation’s future?
Isn’t the fundamental essence of leadership to design the future, to strategise?
If you don’t have time, it’s probably because you’re spending too much time in the orchestra pit, helping the violinist fine tune her violin, so to speak.
The violinist needs to learn to do this for herself. The violinist probably doesn’t like it when you meddle in her tuning efforts. The violinist would like it if you focused on conducting.
So, you need to get out of the orchestra pit and get onto the conductor’s podium. That’s where you belong.
To be an indispensable, world-class executive, there’s no question that you’ll need to be a strong strategic leader.
Continued in Carolyn Stevens’ book, “Stepping Into Your Power“.
