Strategy? You Need a New Mindset.
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I was reading a sponsored research presentation on LinkedIn that stated that less than 80% of CEOs believe in their employees’ ability to communicate the strategy to others. They don’t believe their employees understand the mission and strategy, especially now, post-Covid.
Another question highlighted how fewer CEOs believe their executive teams have strong cohesion. (58% in March 2020 declining to 41% in September 2020) In the last month of re-opening (June 2021) I’d ponder that the number is likely even lower, or hasn’t changed much.
This is a time of great change. And it won’t stop, as too many fundamentals have shifted.
Gone are the days when you could analyze reams of data and predict a future market with a strategy in tow. Do you really think anyone knows where we will be in 3 to 5 years?
There is a disconnect in the typical strategy process. Someone, or some team, analyzes reams of data to formulate accurate and comprehensive insights about what can (and should) be done. They then identify all of the necessary resources and planning and then proceed to convince the executive team this is the way to go. Everyone needs to “buy-in” to the new strategy, which might be more than a couple of pages long.
Have you ever sat in on one of those “buy-in” sessions and secretly wondered why they weren’t more interested in other top priorities?
The truth of the matter is, you can’t foister strategy off on anyone other than your full executive team. Your executive team, the CEO, CFO, CMO, CSO, CIO, and whoever else makes up the team, each has a perspective on what needs to be done to make the company successful in the near term and medium term from their perspective. Each may have a slightly different optic on the top three to five strategic factors necessary to drive mission and purpose. One may list technology, talent, and culture. Another may list poor infrastructure, talent, and sales methods. They may all list the same top three!
Chances are, there will be some work to be done to get everyone to the same top three unified factors. This can be done in a focused day, or two half-days. At the end of the day, you have an executive team with strong cohesion around the top three priorities. They have shared their perspectives with one another and learned new information from their peers.
You can’t have a unified workforce if your leadership team isn’t unified in lock-step. And even if you COULD formulate a 5-year strategy (you can’t,) not having a strong, sentient leadership team and an organization ready to focus on what actually matters RIGHT NOW will get you relegated to the back of the pack.
Once the leadership team is unified around these priorities, it is easy for them to disseminate these priorities to the rest of the organization. You can read about “Commander’s Intent” to see why this is important.
Fix the root cause, not the symptom.
© Mark Travis & Company, Inc, 2021
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