It is vitally important to spend time thinking strategically about the future of your business.
There is a saying, ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast every day, because if you don’t have a good culture you will never successfully implement your strategy’. Therefore, a positive work culture cultivates greater employee satisfaction; greater employee satisfaction contributes to higher performance; higher performance impacts improved customer outcomes; improved customer outcomes contribute to service excellence.
Taking a strategic approach with planning and culture, leaders take ownership in helping facilitate the success of others. Yet, most leadership teams fail to do so. They fail because they do not have a clear and simple way to get this strategic thinking time into their business routine or regular flight path.
Take a closer look at your ‘regular’ day;
• What does it look like?
• Is it filled with various meetings and customer deliverables?
• Maybe a fire to put out here and there?
Consider, the business you lead is built on an idea and no leader is sitting on his or her butt waiting for something strategic to do!
Being busy with the day-to-day operations of the business is the most common excuse for not having time to think and work on winning moves. Then, a few years down the road, the business growth flat lines. They are left scrambling desperately for growth.
"We don't have time" really means that a strategy for growth was not important enough. If you truly believe that it is important prioritise it above the other things that compete for your time. Develop a simple system to help your team execute better and faster.
Recent studies on leadership have found that the #1 ranked most valued skill in leaders is strategic thinking.
All growing businesses encounter ceilings of complexity, usually when they hit certain employee or revenue milestones. In order to burst through ceiling, after ceiling and innovate with growth, a company must develop a reliable system that prompts leaders to be proactive and pivot when the need arises.
Drawing on his experience as a successful serial entrepreneurial and speaker, author Patrick Thean in his book, ‘Rhythm: How to Achieve Breakthrough Execution and Accelerate Growth’ demonstrates how to identify the signs of setbacks before they occur, track those signs and make adjustments to keep your plan on track and accelerate growth. Thean introduces a simple system to empower everyone in your business to be focused, aligned, and accountable ⎯ a three-rhythm process for effective execution:
1. Think Rhythm: A rhythm of strategic thinking to keep your teams focused and working on the future of your business.
2. Plan Rhythm: A rhythm of planning that will allow you to choose the right priorities and get your departments or divisions aligned with those priorities.
3. Do Rhythm: A rhythm of executing your plan and making effective and timely adjustments every week.
Thean's process applies to any growing business and ensures that your company gets into the habit of achieving success, week after week, quarter after quarter, year after year.
Reference: Patrick Thean, 2016. ‘Rhythm: How to Achieve Breakthrough Execution and Accelerate Growth’
