I’ve written about this topic before and here’s why I’m talking about it again.
I’m currently working with a manufacturing company, Stage 3, and the CEO wants to talk about their goals. The challenge I’m having is: the team isn’t cohesive, roles aren’t well defined, they aren’t seeing the bigger picture, no one is leading, and there is no accountability. They are struggling to get products out the door and can’t stop long enough to make critical changes.
I wanted to talk about this issue again because alignment of the team IS the most important goal of any company.
Planning sessions are tough. They require a lot of focus and a willingness on the part of the players to be honest, forthright and objective.
As a GCS, you can provide a Stages of Growth X-Ray, an alignment tool that allows the CEO and his/her management team to address issues based on past, current and future stages of growth challenges. With this effective alignment exercise, you’ll be able to engage every single participant in addressing the concerns they care about. Once you get people to share and discuss their areas of concern, the X-Ray process provides clarity of purpose and priority.
I’ve witnessed too many examples of great goals gone bad because the CEO didn’t have alignment within their team. If you have companies that are getting ready to begin their strategic planning for the coming year, here are 5 benefits you can share with a CEO to position the X-Ray.
1) Allows the CEO to hear the truth about how people view the company – the company’s strengths and its weaknesses.
2) Provides an approach where business issues are presented in a way that each and every person involved can feel safe and secure in voicing their concerns.
3) Discover the next best thing that everyone agrees on that will increase performance.
4) Identifies the top five challenges the team agrees need to be addressed, creating instant buy-in.
5) Uncovers areas where improvement will make significant changes in the company, so everyone can work with common goals and specific initiatives.
Talk to your CEO about CEO Disease — when people withhold information from leaders, especially negative information. Let them know that the X-Ray process is a non-threatening way to view organizational challenges and uncover obstacles that have been hindering growth.
Remember, the X-Ray process takes the guesswork out of planning by providing research-proven information critical for each stage of a company’s growth. And with the 5 stages of growth assessments that all participants complete prior to the planning session, everyone’s top issues are uncovered.
You aren’t pulling ideas out of the air. These are real issues felt by each participant.
The final planning tool isn’t a ’sit on the shelf’ set of planning documents. It’s the company’s own visual Growth Map outlining the top 5 initiatives that align with the company’s current stage of growth. Issues that were relevant, clearly stated, with agreement and accountability from the group on each priority.
I will take this Stage 3 company through the X-Ray process. It’s just a matter of time.
Knowing you have a solid solution to help a CEO bring alignment, engagement and implementation to their organization, should make your marketing efforts much easier. Remember, you aren’t selling an X-Ray, you are helping company’s get the traction they need to improve profitability, performance and productivity.
Your Success. My Passion.
Laurie Taylor
