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Balanced Scorecard, Strategic Planning
The Balanced Scorecard deals with effective business performance measurement and implementing strategic planning.
Balanced Scorecard approach is a well documented management approach developed by a group of people from Fortune 500...
How Effective is Your Leadership Style?
How Effective is Your Leadership Style? Motivating employees according to their needs. by Dr. Marilyn Manning Would your staff say that you are easy to work with? Would they call you picky, overly analytical? Do they accuse you of dropping the ball...
How to Create a Great Mentoring Relationship
Everyone who is passionate about being a business owner or moving up needs and wants a mentor. Maybe there is someone you know or you just know of who can help you to take your life to the next level. How can you get that person to happily share...
How to Develop a Successful Board of Advisors (...and Why You Should!)
In today’s rapidly changing and highly competitive markets, many privately held companies are creating outside advisory boards to give owners and CEOs fresh, knowledgeable advice. Even for small businesses, setting up an advisory board can give...
Public Relations: Converting the Non-Believers
What’s the real reason some managers shy away from public relations? I believe it’s because they don’t understand, or believe, the direct connection between what public relations is capable of delivering and their need to achieve specific ...
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Managing With Vision
Managing with vision Harnessing the power of strategic planning
By Mark Wardell
Strategic planning is one of the most powerful tools available
to today's managers. Simply put, it is the process of deciding
where your business intends to go, and how it is going to get
there. In other words, it is the concept of working in the
present, with a constant eye on the future. It's a simple
concept, but its impact can be dramatic.
Peter Legge is the president and publisher of Canada Wide
Magazines & Communications. In a recent conversation, I asked
Peter how he is able to give over 100 lectures a year, author
numerous books, volunteer for his church and community, play
golf, spend time with his family, and still find time to run
Western Canada's largest publishing company. His answer was
straightforward, yet insightful. He said, "I have a fabulous
staff who understand my vision and who are empowered to make
independent decisions based upon that vision."
Great companies are made up of great people, but even great
people need to know where they are headed if they are expected
to make practical decisions. A clear vision and a little
planning can go a long way towards helping people link their
personal activities with their company's goals, transforming a
group of individuals into a unified team.
This concept is not new by any stretch of the imagination, but
it's amazing how many businesses fail to take full advantage of
its potential. They send their executives off on a weekend
retreat to come up with a corporate Vision Statement, proudly
post it on the wall in their lobby, and then go back to business
as usual. Why? Because a brand new shiny Vision Statement is, by
itself, worth little more than the paper it's written on. Its
true value stems from the work that goes into its creation and
from the way it is used after it's written, not from the
statement itself. So when a company develops a Vision Statement
simply because it seems like the right thing to do, it rarely
adds value. In fact, a half-hearted Vision Statement can even
have a negative impact on an organization. At best, it's seen as
just another time waster.
On
the other hand, a well thought out vision can point your
organization in the right direction. Just like a sports team can
rally its players around the vision of becoming national
champions, your corporate vision can become the focal point
around which your entire company can rally. Of course you and
your managers must walk your talk. If you try to "sell" your
vision to your staff without truly buying into it yourself, it
will inevitably be viewed with cynicism. But if you stay the
course, your results will be more than worth it.
So how do you go about developing a Vision Statement that
actually works? The answer begins with your strategic plan. An
effective Vision Statement is really just a concise
representation of your strategic plan. So start with your plan,
it's what breaths life into your Vision Statement. Think about
the kind of growth you're looking for, the organizational
structure that will be most productive, the marketing position
you'd like to occupy, and so forth. Decide where you'd like to
be 5 years from now and write it down. It's important to
document this information because the process of documentation
breeds clarity. I'm not talking about writing a novel here. A
few pages of organized thoughts will do, but make sure you get a
clear and compelling picture of your future first.
Make sure your vision is large enough to be inspirational.
Inspiration leads to motivation and motivation leads to action.
People can't get excited if there's nothing to get excited
about. If you want your staff to change their working habits,
you've got to give them a reason. Offering work that has meaning
and purpose is a great place to start. A well crafted Vision
Statement can become a rallying point for your entire
organization. So get people involved, get people committed, and
start working strategically.
About the author:
About the author:
Mark Wardell is President and Founder of Wardell Professional
Development, a business consulting firm, focused on the unique
needs of small/mid sized growth companies.
Wardell Professional Development http://www.wardell.biz Email:
info@wardell.biz Phone: (604) 733-4489
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