I hear a recurring issue from CEOs. They’re frustrated with the silos that have formed in their organizations and don’t know how to break them down. Everyone is so focused on his or her own priorities, and therefore, there’s no alignment.
Four Steps To Creating a Culture of Accountability
One of the biggest — and most common — pitfalls in business is a lack of accountability. You can have a rock-solid strategic plan with clear areas of responsibility and measurable metrics, but if you don’t hold each other accountable, you won’t reach your goals.
If that sounds like your team, you’re not alone. I uncover accountability issues in many of the teams I work with, including some who are otherwise highly functional. The good news: It’s a relatively easy fix if you’re not afraid to say “the buck stops here”, “you can’t blame others” or “it’s your issue.”
Building Your High-Performance Team
What’s the greatest differentiator when it comes to achieving your company’s ambitious growth goals? There’s no question: It’s a tightly aligned, high-performing leadership team. You can have the most eloquent vision statement and a well thought-out strategic plan to back it up, but if you don’t have a strong team to execute, you won’t reach your goals.
Steve Jobs said, “Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” I couldn’t agree more.
Who’s ready to hit the ground running in 2018?
Are you going to reach your 2017 growth targets? Were you and your team focused on all the right actions this year to meet your goals? Did you stick to your plan? Was it really a plan or just a long to-do list?
The 4th Quarter of 2017 is fast approaching. What does success look like in 2018? 20% annual growth, 10% increase in margins, 2 times cash flow, double the number of “A” player employees, record number of customer acquisitions and retention and additional new markets and products/services? What can you do now to set yourself up to achieve those goals in 2018.
Are You Playing to Win — Or Playing Not to Lose?
Start Your "Stop Doing" List Now
I’ve never met a CEO who said, “I just don’t know what to do with all the spare time I have.”
As business leaders, we invariably have far too much on our plates for any mere human to actually tackle. We typically take more and more on instead of delegating, or we fail to ensure a task provides real value and is worth our time.
Why Are Core Values So Important?
As Jim Collins says in Good to Great, “you cannot set organizational values, you can only discover them. Nor can you instill new core values into people. Instead, the task is to find people who are predisposed to sharing your core values.”
It’s so true. Your core values are WHO you are as a company and WHO you are as a leader — the DNA you all share. It’s what makes the organization tick. And without shared core values, there can be no alignment, and without alignment businesses cannot grow.