Strategic Planning | Coaching Churches

Category Archive: Strategic Planning

The 4 Kinds Of Leaders Who Create The Future

Posted by on January 5, 2018

I have noticed one very dramatic change within the last year of working with coaching executives. In the past they were constantly looking for strategic innovation when they were not squeezing every ounce of productivity out of their process. Today, they are all in some way having to respond to the powerful forces of disruption. This HBR post is excellent:

“Alan Kay, the educator and computer designer, famously declared, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” But what does it take to invent the future in such a turbulent and uncertain world? How do successful organizations build on their history, even as they craft a new point of view about what comes next?”

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How To Ensure Change Translates Into Culture

Posted by on January 3, 2018

Leading change is one of the most challenging leadership assignments period. The pain of the present must be greater than the fear of the future for most people to even be open to change. The hard part though comes after all the communication of the new vision and now its time to embed the new process into the culture. This Forbes post will give you a good framework:

“Power dynamics are shifting. And though change brings a sense of liberation for some, for others, it brings angst, fear, stress and discomfort. Change is a scary or frustrating process for many.”

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How To Excel At Both Strategy And Execution

Posted by on December 8, 2017

Some leaders are always coming up with new creative ideas that never seem to make it to the point of driving sustainable results. Others kill it daily on execution but never look up enough to see where the organization is actually going. Both are extremely important and great leaders find a way for their organizations to excel in both. This HBR post is excellent:

“For decades, we’ve often thought of leadership profiles in unique buckets—two popular varieties were the “visionaries”, who embrace strategy and think about amazing things to do, and the “operators”, who get stuff done. We intuitively knew that there must be leaders that span these areas, but in fact, few do.”

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Leaders Prepare For A Period Of Constant Transformation

Posted by on December 6, 2017

We have all known and said for years that change is constant and we must continue to be innovative to improve. What is new is that disruption is now becoming the major threat and without constant transformation we are always at risk for a total failure. There is obviously a major difference in leading innovation and transformation. This Forbes post helps us understand whats at stake:

“According to his firm, at any point, about a third of large U.S. companies endure a severe, two-year decline in their ability to create shareholder value. And of those companies, about a third fail to recover within the following five years.”

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Change Your Leaders To Change Your Culture

Posted by on November 27, 2017

I have spent a lot of time this year reading about the importance of organizational culture in the success of companies. There are many variables involved but the one constant is the attitude and core values of the leader. These leaders walk their talk and place a high priority on the environment where their people work. This Forbes post is a good read:

“Research done on culture and organizational performance by Kotter and Heskett defines culture as “…gained knowledge, explanations, values, beliefs, communication and behaviors of large group of people, at the same time and same place.”

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The Importance Of Strategic Focus

Posted by on November 17, 2017

When I started working with a new large client last year I was introduced to Michael Porter’s HBR work on strategy. I found his findings challenging to understand at first but later realized just how critical his principles are to every organization. To put it simply being a mile wide and an inch deep is not a good place to be in any market. This post by Ann Latham is excellent:

“A good strategic framework provides focus by limiting the number of directions the organization runs. You’d be foolish to try to extend all your products while simultaneously expanding all your markets while also ramping up capacity or shifting your business model to include new types of production, sourcing, sales, delivery, and partnerships.”

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Is Execution Where Good Strategies Go To Die

Posted by on November 13, 2017

One of the greatest challenges in leadership is to take the hours of planning within a small group of leaders at the top and drive it down throughout the entire organization without loosing effectiveness. Great innovative ideas that come out of a small group of executive leaders sometimes simply don’t work well in the real world with execution constraints. This HBR post is excellent:

“Execution is an odd word. On the one hand, it means “the carrying out of a plan or course of action.” On the other, it means, “the carrying out of a death sentence.” When leaders “execute a strategy,” they usually mean the former — putting an idea into action. But those efforts all too often end up meaning the latter. Execution is often where strategies go to die.”

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5 Steps To Resolve Work Conflict

Posted by on November 8, 2017

I think lack of alignment may be the most significant issue within most organizations. This may lead to serious gaps between the demand on the people that consistently exceeds the capacity. Many times these gaps can be closed by significantly improving daily feedback when problems occur. This Fast Company post will help:

“Not getting along with a coworker? Disagree with your team about the direction a project is heading? Chances are it’s not personal, even if it feels like it. But there’s a real risk that it’ll get personal if you aren’t careful. At the root of many of these issues is a simple, common problem: miscommunication. At work as in life, it comes in many forms.”

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How To Connect Strategy To Sustainability Goals

Posted by on November 3, 2017

It’s really amazing how long we have been talking about empowering people and yet we consistently miss the best ideas coming from the people on the front lines. In essence we talk a lot about knowledge workforce and yet we still walk like all the best ideas come from the top down. This HBR post nails it:

“In a recent survey, Bain & Company found that just 2% of companies are successful in achieving their sustainability goals. While this can be disheartening, it doesn’t have to be this way. The company I lead, Ingersoll Rand, is a 146-year-old organization that over the past few years integrated sustainability and business strategy to anticipate and address major global trends, most prominently climate change.”

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Great Leaders Learn To Delegate Well

Posted by on October 16, 2017

Great leaders have come to the realization that it is more important to develop people than it is to deliver results. This will empower their people to use their competencies and significantly increase the capacity of the organization. Empowerment is also directly linked to job satisfaction and a major factor in retention. This HBR post is excellent:

“One of the most difficult transitions for leaders to make is the shift from doing to leading. As a new manager you can get away with holding on to work. Peers and bosses may even admire your willingness to keep “rolling up your sleeves” to execute tactical assignments. But as your responsibilities become more complex, the difference between an effective leader and a super-sized individual contributor with a leader’s title is painfully evident.”

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