Grolistic

Committing to Strategy Execution

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The planning season is upon us. Visions and missions are being reconsidered. New goals and objectives are being defined. Strategies and action plans are being developed. When the planning turns to strategy execution, before finalizing action steps, success metrics, barriers, and resource allocation, consider if the company can commit to implementing the strategy. And since changing circumstances ensure that few strategies survive without adaptation, consider how that commitment may be challenged if the need arises …

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Discovery Makes a Difference

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Solving problems involves two steps…a diagnostic assessment, followed by the application of a remedy. Earning a customer’s trust relies on the same formula. If the growth of your business depends on building and sustaining relationships, versus increasing the number of transactions, then conducting a rigorous diagnostic, or discovery, process is essential when a new opportunity arises. In a market that cultivates commoditization, where needed information is readily available and simplistic assessments are used to hastily …

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Taking Ownership

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For customers, it’s the first person they contact who creates that critical first impression of your business. If that person listens more than talks, probes to learn more about what the customer needs,and takes ownership for resolving that need, then it is likely that the customer will welcome the opportunity to build a trust relationship with your company. Recognizing that trust can only take root once your promise to the customer is realized, taking ownership …

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5 Strategy Execution Attributes

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Executing a new strategy involves acting in a new or different way; it’s a change process. Because the strategy is a change, there will likely be some resistance to it. Those who will implement the strategy, and those impacted by it, want to understand its objective and why this is the best way to achieve it. They will assess how well the strategy aligns with company culture, and how they will personally be affected by …

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That First Prospect Meeting

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When first meeting a prospective customer, the objective is to establish rapport, a personal connection, something you have in common, that can be the kindling for igniting a new relationship. The connection might emerge from the circumstances that caused you to meet, or from a shared experience, or from something you notice about the person. It’s what launches a conversation thatreveals your common experiences and values to one another, the human touch that enables trust …

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The Value of Doing

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The prime directive for leaders is to improve results. One way they accomplish this by nurturing a culture which understands what has produced success, challenges the status quo, and cultivates ashared commitment for embracing productive change that creates value for their customers and their business.  A key component of building this culture is recognizing their responsibility to develop those they lead. Their experience has taught that the most beneficial learning is accomplished by ‘doing,’ so these leaders …

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3 Steps for Resolving Differences

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Securing a team’s commitment to a direction, decision or action, typically requires the resolving of differences within the team to identify and agree on the best way forward. These 3 steps can help: 1. Employ empathy. As the discussion begins, listen empathetically to the differing perspectives, asking questions to clarify or confirm. If the dialogue stalls, use expressions of consideration and tolerance to remove any sense of threat so the sharing of ideas may continue. A typical comment would be: …

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Driving Change Amidst Turmoil

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Supply chain challenges and rampant inflation continue to disrupt businesses of all sizes, causing them to revise strategies and priorities as they adapt to new realities. Having navigated Covid shutdowns, and the subsequent transitions back to work, leaders are now compelled to control rapidly escalating costs that are crushing margins and constraining the achievement of revenue goals.   It’s one thing for leaders to drive proactive, productive change when the business is growing; it’s another when strategy and structure revisions are required in …

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Competition

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Competition is fierce and growing. The dynamic market and internet access to abundant information ensures that no technical advantage is sustained for long.   To keep pace with the market, competing companies react to one another by offering comparable solutions while struggling to differentiate themselves. Often this results in declining prices and margins. Monitoring your competitors is essential, but it tends to make a business more reactive than proactive, which can complicate goal achievement and cause you …

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Finding Talent

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Businesses are struggling to find and hire talented people. Job postings cite requirements and experience levels, which translates to expertise. Companies hire for expertise.  But not all expertise is equal. Attracting and retaining the most talented people, those with the highest level of expertise, is expensive and time-consuming; and it can be risky if the person hired ultimately isn’t the right fit for the business. So, most companies design jobs that can be done reasonably well by a person …

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