Yes, stop and smell see the roses!
Picture a person walking down a busy street, head down, engrossed in some app on their smartphone, and then crossing that street, still not paying attention and … you can guess what happens next.
In today’s “head-down” world, are you treating your business the same way? Is this you: feeling overtaxed on a daily basis, putting out fires constantly, and struggling to deal with all that is right in front of you?
We at ECS say: stop and see the roses. And in this case, the roses are your vision and strategy. You cannot effectively run an organization if you and your team are not making (and taking) the time to step back and talk (and then implement) vision and strategy.
Oh, and by the way please do not say that you don’t have time to get to strategy – make the time!
Our detailed thoughts around the idea of “stopping and seeing the roses”:
- Identify the right people to have in the conversation. Don’t just think title and level, think impact to the organization, to customers, to society, and to the team.
- Develop a vision. When was the last time you spoke about the vision of the company, and discussed your organization’s purpose, place in the market, and ultimate end game? When did you last articulate how and what roles your people, technology and finances fill?
- Create your strategic plan. We all know plans never work as perfectly as we hope they will. “Life” happens, and societal influences, rapid expansion, new technologies, market dynamics, and many other factors step in the way of our plan working as intended. It is much better to have a plan that allows you to pivot and deal with the unexpected, rather than to have either no plan or an inflexible plan that cannot adapt to the ever-changing environment around you.
- Communicate your plan far and wide. This is what we see and hear so often within a business:
Q) “Do you have a vision and strategy?” A) “Yes, of course.”
Q) “Does everyone in the company know what they are?” A) Brief pause, then: “ummm … not sure.”
Having a communication plan, both for the initial roll out and for the ongoing execution of the plan, is critical to your team’s buy-in, to their understanding of where the company is headed, and to recognizing their specific on-going roles. Clear and abundant two-way communications give your team a voice and give you, as a leader, a stronger understanding of your team’s needs. (Pivot, pivot, pivot!)
Interested in learning more about how creating a vision and strategic plan can make an impact on your business? Want to chat and bounce ideas off of a person who always looks for ways to better implement a plan within an organization? Then contact Jason Fisher, ECS Managing Partner, to have a conversation about your company and situation.
Contact Jason at jfisher@thinkempirical.com, connect with him on LinkedIn, or give him a call at (215) 850-8156.
