#943 – Super Leadership has the Right Strategy

Years ago when I had the opportunity to coach high school sports, one of the things I enjoyed the most was preparing for a game. The games themselves were fun, but the results would sometimes depend on how well you were prepared. Going out and scouting a team or watching video tape of your next opponent became a ritual of looking for weaknesses and ways to capitalize. I’d take those notes and work them into a strategy that would work for our team, based on the players we had (see: The Right People on the Team). As the game went on, adjustments to the strategy would need to be made, but the work strategic work done in advance,would be key to whether or nor we won or lost.

Strategic plans have always been interesting animals to me.  I’ve sat through presentations about how to have strategic planning retreats, read books on the proper forms of a strategic plan and downloaded strategic  planning templates. With each book or retreat, I have come away with a new nugget to be used and implemented. However, I’ve also left feeling like the strategic plan is sometimes meant to be seen, but not really used.

If you look at most any job description of a senior leader, strategic planning will be one of the items listed that organizations are looking for.  People want to know whether or not the leader has any strategic planning experience. But developing a strategic plan and  implementing a strategic plan are two different things. It’s like having a scouting report for a game but never putting it into the practice plan to prepare for the game.

The right strategy has to be a plan that is :

1. Forward thinking
2. Based on reality
3. Flexible
4. Budgeted for
5. Executable
6. Assess-ability

Every organization needs vision and that’s where the forward thinking piece comes in.  But vision has to be based on reality, or at least a fair assumption of what reality will be. As good as a plan may be, successful strategic plans are ones that are flexible in their approach. Flexible to market conditions and flexible to financial constraints. A proper budget has to be set up for a strategic plan. There is the regular operational budget and then there is the money set aside for strategic initiatives. It needs to be there because you don’t want to cast a forward thinking, flexible plan and not have the ability to pay for it. The plan then needs to be one that can be executed  with the right people in place to make this happen. A poor group of leaders without the ability to implement a plan can stall the best of ideas. Finally, the strategic plan needs to be one that can be assessed for results so that changes and tweaks can be made for the plan to improve even more.

The right strategy can be a key to taking the organization to the next level. Make it forward thinking and real, one that is flexible and paid for, then execute and make needed adjustments based off of the results. Then I believe you will have a winner!

Now GO Lead!

(This is the third in a six part series on Super Bowl Leadership)