Future-Proofing Your Startup_Leadership and Strategy for Long-Term Success - TechBiz.pdf
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The document discusses the importance of leadership and organizational culture in achieving business success, highlighting that strong cultures can lead to significant increases in revenue, profitability, and employee satisfaction. It outlines key elements for creating a culture of excellence, such as strong leadership, clarity of purpose, and accountability, as well as provides a framework for strategic growth planning. Additionally, it emphasizes the necessity of strategic planning in guiding an organization to effectively achieve its goals while avoiding distractions.
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Future-Proofing Your Startup_Leadership and Strategy for Long-Term Success - TechBiz.pdf
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- 2. Jeff Standridge, Ed.D. Managing Director - Innovation Junkie - Conductor - Cadron Capital Partners [email protected] www.JeffStandridge.com 2
- 3. Future-proofing your Startup - 1. Leadership 2. Culture of Excellence 3. Systematizing your Growth Strategy 3
- 5. Leadership Drives Success “Leadership is the most important requirement for business and personal success. In simple terms, it is defined as the willingness to be held accountable for results, and then to fulfill that responsibility, no matter what the external situation, circumstances or pressure.” Jeff D. Standridge, Ed.D.
- 10. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Peter Drucker
- 11. Some Compelling Facts about Culture & Engagement 1. Revenue Growth: Organizations with strong cultures experience a 4x increase in revenue growth (Forbes). 2. Profitability: Highly engaged teams produce 21% more profit (Gallup). 3. Customer Satisfaction: Companies with strong, positive cultures have 30% higher Customer Satisfaction scores (Forbes). 4. Health Cost Reduction: Companies with a highly engaged workforce incur 50% lower health-related costs (APA) and 40% lower absenteeism (Gallup). 5. Employee Turnover: Organizations with weak or poor cultures experience a >3x increase in employee turnover (Columbia). 6. Productivity: Disengaged employees cost organizations 34% more than their fully loaded annual salaries (Gallup). 7. Safety & Quality: Disengaged employees cause 49% more accidents and 60% more errors and defects (Gallup). 11
- 12. But what, exactly, is “culture?”
- 13. Defining “Culture” ● Refers to the shared values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that characterize an organization. ● It emcompasses the unwritten rules, norms, and social patterns that shape how employees interact with each other, how they approach their work, and make decisions. ● It is the collective “personality” of an organization, influencing its overall work environment, employee engagement, productivity, and ultimately, organizational success. 13
- 14. 14 Everything about an organization makes up its culture - meaning, the presence or absence of its stated values, aspirational values, accidental values, its leadership expectations, work processes, unwritten norms, bad habits, & etc. The overarching goal, over time, is for the espoused culture to become the culture-in-use.
- 15. Human behavior (individual and collective) is the cornerstone of an organization’s culture.” 15 At the end of the day …
- 16. ”Nothing changes until the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change.” ~Jim Burns 16
- 17. 17 Creating a Culture of Excellence
- 18. Culture of Excellence 1. Strong Leadership - A team of Senior Leaders who live by the core values and who combine assertive personal ambition with personal humility and servant leadership. 2. Clarity & Focus - Leaders who are crystal clear about the Purpose and Direction of the organization, as well as about the key outcomes the organization must achieve. 3. Engaged & Committed Teammates - A team of highly competent and committed individuals, with winning attitudes, who are in clearly defined and accepted roles. 4. Empowering Communication - A culture that results from strong Leadership, where employees feel strong and confident in the fulfillment of their individual responsibilities. 5. 100% Accountability - The key result of a planning and management process where everyone submits themselves to being held accountable for impeccable execution. 6. Organizational Agility - The ability of an organization to renew, adapt, and change quickly in an ambiguous, turbulent, and/or rapidly changing environment. 18
- 19. “We don’t rise to the level of our goals. We fall to the level of our systems.” James Clear
- 20. Strategic Growth System ©
- 21. A few points about “strategic planning” … 1. A compelling strategic growth plan not only fuels collective effort to produce high-quality outcomes, it properly limits potential distractions. 2. Most strategic plans are heavy on the “plan” part, and very light on the “strategy“ part. 3. Strategy attempts to articulate the “fields” we choose to play on, and the “games” we choose to play on those fields, because we can WIN those games, on those fields. 4. Strategy says that, based on our experience, our research, our collective expertise, and our examination of the internal and external factors, this is what we THINK will happen and how we believe we should respond. 21
- 22. A few MORE points about “strategic planning” … 1. No three-ring binders allowed … 2. A high-quality strategic growth plan will say as much about what an organization is NOT going to do, as it will about any new initiatives or activities (at the very least by omission). 3. A good strategic growth plan is not a substitute for leadership judgment. It provides a framework through which better decisions can be made. 4. A “plan” alone is not enough … you need a SYSTEM - a system that produces planned or predictable results year-after-year. 22
- 23. Strategic Acceleration ... 1. Clarity - the ability to get crystal clear about the purpose & direction of your organization, as well as about the outcomes your organization wishes to achieve. 2. Focus - the development of a laser-like guidance system in order to avoid distraction and to concentrate on activities that will produce the greatest results. 3. Execution - the ability to effectively deploy and direct resources in order to achieve the desired outcomes. 23
- 24. JS
- 25. Strategic Growth System ® - 10 Big Questions 1. Why do we exist? (Mission) 2. What behavior is expected from everyone in the organization? (Values) 3. What do our clients expect from us? (Brand Promise) 4. Where are we going, and when will we arrive? (Vision & Strategy) 5. What must we accomplish to get where we are going, by the date we have planned? (Long-term Targets) 6. What must we accomplish over the next 12 months to ensure we stay on track (Short-term Goals) 7. What must we accomplish (as a Team, and Individually) in the next 90 days? (Quarterly Priorities) 8. What are the critical measures we must review weekly in order to maintain the pulse of the organization? (KPIs / Scorecard) 9. What obstacles stand in our way? (Key Issues) 10. How will we ensure 100% Accountability (Monitoring & Review Cadence) Who are we? Where are we going? How will we get there?
- 26. 26 Mission Values Brand Promise Vision & Strategy Long-term Targets Short-term Goals Quarterly Priorities (Rocks) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Key Issues & Challenges Meeting & Review Cadence Planning Management Key Stakeholders Key Stakeholders Key Stakeholders Key Stakeholders Strategic Growth System ©
- 27. 27 Event Annual Planning Q1 Review Q2 Review Q3 Review What? Two-day Planning Session One-day Review Session One-day Review Session One-day Review Session When? End of Q4, Start of Q1 End of Q1, Start of Q2 End of Q2, Start of Q3 End of Q3, Start of Q4 How? Review Q4 Performance Refine/Adjust Acct. Chart Refine/Validate Vision Refine/Validate LTTs Team Development Establish STGs Establish Q1 Priorities Refine/Adjust KPIs Identify Key Issues Review Q1 Performance Establish Q2 Priorities Tackle Critical Issues Review Q2 Performance Establish Q3 Priorities Tackle Critical Issues Review Q3 Performance Establish Q4 Priorities Tackle Critical Issues Weekly Same Day, Same Time, Same Agenda (60-90 mins.) As Needed “Tackle the Issues” Annual / Quarterly Planning Cadence
- 28. Fighting the Whirlwind - Four Disciplines of Execution 1. Focus - Focus on the Wildly Important Goals (LTTs & STGs) ○ The Vital Few versus the “Trivial Many” ○ An exercise in subtraction, not in addition 2. Leverage - Act on the Lead Measures (KPIs) ○ Lag Measures describe “results.” You can’t act on them until it’s too late. ○ Lead Measures are actions/sub-goals that can predict success of the LTTs / STGs.. 3. Engagement - Keep a Compelling Scoreboard ○ People play harder and more seriously when they are keeping score. ○ Create a game that the Team can win by relentlessly tracking success. 4. Accountability - Create a Cadence of Accountability ○ A “laser-like” guidance system to avoid distraction and to concentrate on activities that produce the greatest results ○ Occurs at the same time, every week and is Sacrosanct - ”No Whirlwinds allowed!” Sacrosanct - “Too important or valuable to be interfered with.” 28
- 29. Jeff Standridge, Ed.D. Managing Director - Innovation Junkie - Conductor - Cadron Capital Partners [email protected] www.JeffStandridge.com 29