10 Ways of Failing at Strategic Planning

We all know how important Strategic Planning is to the future success of any business. So why do so many companies fail at creating a good plan and assuring a successful implementation?  Here are some of the main reasons they fail.

1.    The CEO is not committed to the process

a.    If the CEO is not committed to the plan, how can you expect management to be committed to it? Lack of full commitment gets the process off to a bad start, one that is destined to get worse.

2.    The plan is not created collaboratively

a.    When management and staff are told “this is it, now get going,” no one will take ownership of the plan.

b.    Without as many people as possible / practicable involved in the creation of the plan, the staff won’t take it seriously because it won’t be relevant to them.

3.    The CEO fails to make sure the right people are responsible for implementation of the plan 

a.    If you don’t have the right managers in the right positions, success will be very elusive.  Otherwise, you are depending on luck when hard skills are required

4.    The CEO does not oversee / manage the process

a.    Without oversight from the top, managers will resort to processes that are familiar to them, whether or not they are in tune with the new plan.

b.    The plan soon becomes a vague notion of its original form.

5.    No metrics, or poor metrics, are created so that progress, or the lack of same, cannot be measured properly 

a.    Your managers will not be informed of what they doing well, nor where they are deficient.

b.    Without tangible evidence, your people will feel as if they are running in place, and thus, never win the race. 

6.    A lack of communication from top down and down up

a.    Without two-way communication, the plan ceases to be a plan, and instead becomes an announcement.

7.    Don’t review and / or update your plan on a regular basis

a.    Continuing to implement an old plan in a changing business landscape will ensure that new customers, with new needs, will not bother with you.

b.    It also means that your innovative and visionary employees will be seeking jobs elsewhere.

8.    Don’t share the rewards of a successful plan with your employees.

a.    If you think they should simply be happy to have jobs, then you will have a team of people looking to do the minimum required to get paid.

9.    Don’t delegate responsibility

a.    When the CEO tries to do everything himself / herself, it undermines the morale of the managers. This weakens the entire organization.  

10. Don’t hold people accountable

a.    If you don’t hold your people accountable for executing the plan, then when it fails, the plan gets the blame.

b.    Non-performers keep their jobs and continue to non-perform, and the plan gets kicked to the curb.

Now, if you do exactly the opposite of what is listed above, your chances of creating and implementing a successful strategic plan are much improved.           

The CEO must be involved in the process of the plan’s implementation. Working with the managers for mutual success is an essential part of the whole process.  Successful businesses cannot operate in a vacuum.  Communication has to be a two-way street.  All members of the team must be informed of their progress. The more communication, the better for everyone. But communicate the important stuff; don’t inundate your team with info that they can’t use.

Remember that a strategic plan is a living, breathing document. The world changes, and so should your plan.  An annual plan review, at minimum, is necessary.  Quarterly would be better!

Monetary rewards and teamwork are the essence of a successful plan. Your people should be rewarded for a good job, but with the full understanding that not meeting the goals means not receiving rewards.

Finally, once a plan is created, communicated, and implemented, you must let your managers manage.  Don’t worry, there are plenty of other things for the CEO to do!

Business Strategy: How to Get There from Here

Business strategy is a substantial element to any – or shall I say, every - organization.  And as your business gets larger, the strategy becomes more and more important.  From even the smallest business, it all starts with a vision of your company.  As a small business owner, you have your own goals and objective.  You form a strategy in your mind, whether you realize it or not. Even from a bodega, a little mom & pop convenience store somewhere, or a gas station, all the way up to the huge, multi-national businesses of today, such as technology, distribution, manufacturing, food service, restaurants.  Everything starts with the owner’s vision, and a strategy on how to get there.

For example, restaurants owners typically have great visions of their company and the image that they want to project.  This applies to the ambiance of the room, the atmosphere, training of their staff, the product that they put out.  It’s all in the owner’s mind.  And then he’s got to execute this thing, which is the really fun part (depending on how you define “fun”).

The thing to remember when you’re thinking of business strategy is that, number one, everything comes from the owner of the company.  That vision is what the company should be, what he or she wants the company to be, going forward.  That direction comes from the top. The commitment.  The vision.  The goals and objectives.  All of that has to be communicated from the owner, through his top managers.  

And the top managers have to buy into that, because from here on, it’s a collaborative effort strategy.  Owners get to set the vision, but you have to create your strategy amongst all of your people.  You just can’t sit down and pull a strategy out of your hat and say, “Okay boys, girls, this is it.  Go do it.”  They're not going to embrace it, no matter how good a strategy it may be. 

You have to be inclusive; you can’t create it and do it all yourself.  Some people still try to do that, but for the most part, a quarterback can’t do everything alone.  He’s got 10 other men on the field to help him out. He’s also got coaches, training, options.  That old-fashioned notion of a quarterback on one knee drawing out a play in the dirt is just not relevant anymore. 

You have to communicate the vision and communicate what it is that you think has to be done to your top managers. You must articulate what’s in it for them, to get them to buy into it, to put some skin in the game.  They have to be able to have input into the creation of the strategy, so that it’s a buy-in, in a co-creation.

The vision and missions tells everyone who you are, what you are and who you want to be.  You have to stress the communications to all employees, customers/clients and the vendors with whom you do business.

This is all pretty basic stuff, which makes it all the more difficult to execute.  Execution will require the right people in the right positions to make sure the strategy is carried out properly.  Hold those people accountable by creating metrics to measure their progress.  A business strategy is a living thing. It will change as the times change. It is not set in stone. It has to reviewed, tweaked, and updated regularly.

That can be really tough, especially for small and family-owned businesses. Well, in the family-owned business, you know you’ve got to stop arguing long enough to figure out a strategy. “And dammit, we’ll do it this way, ‘cause I’m the Daddy and I say we’re going to do it this way!”  Seriously, that's how many of these businesses are run.

That may not be the best way to run the organization, but it could be worse. When the patriarch or the matriarch is taken out of the picture, it becomes very dysfunctional, very quickly.  Everybody starts fighting.  It’s not very pretty. This is why it is crucial to keep the vision of the business at the forefront when creating the business strategy, and to have buy-in on this strategy from all senior management.  Figure this stuff out in advance, with everyone’s agreement, and then you have one less thing to fight about when that time comes.

So, to reiterate…

• CEO is to create the vision and oversee execution
• Create strategy plan collaboratively with top management, so there is buy-in
• Have the correct people in the right positions to execute, and hold them accountable
• Communicate up, down and sideways, and do so frequently

If the business strategy is born out of a solid vision, and holds true to that vision, it makes the execution of day-to-day business much clearer to the staff, and creates trust in the eyes of customers and vendors.

3 Things You Should Know to Run a Successful Business

1. Communicate: To your employees, the Company Vision and Mission. I know you hear a lot about “this vision thing,” and that's because it’s very important. It’s how you see your company and what you want it to be to your employees.
2. Communicate: To your customers, so they know what you do and why you are unique. This is your business' value proposition.
3. Communicate: To your suppliers, investors and bankers about who you are, what you are, and what you want to be. Communicating these ideas will help you get there. 

The Vision is probably banging around in your head. Write it down! Show it to your management team and the rest of your employees. They will appreciate it. They will give you feedback. They will understand your company better, and you may understand it better, yourself.

The Mission should be prepared inclusively. The more people who participate in the process the more they will all take ownership and pride in it.

Put your Mission Statement everywhere: in the office, on your stationary, your business cards, your website, on your trucks, if you have them. The more you and your employees see it, the more it will become ingrained in your day to day operations.  The more your customers see it, the more they will connect it to the products or services you provide.

Try this; I have done it. It really does work.  Feel free to call me and let's talk about it!

Selling Your Business: Now or Later?

As you can see from this recent article in the Wall Street Journal, timing is everything when you want to sell your business.

Although this recession, in  many instances, has put off plans for selling a business, many people have good businesses that can be sold today for a “good” price, even in a bad economy. However, the prevailing feeling is “if my business is worth $X now it will be worth $Y in a few years, so I’ll just wait.” 

Very bad idea, very bad.

When I was looking to buy a business, I ran into situations like this all the time. The seller was looking for a price he/she was offered five years ago, but waited on the theory it will be worth more in a few years. But as we've seen, things change rather quickly these days, and before long, they realized their business was now worth substantially less than it had been. It’s a hard pill to swallow.

The moral of this story is that the passage of time does not always guarantee an increase in value of a business.  Sometimes, it is just the opposite.

I owned several businesses. I learned very quickly that timing is everything in life. When it’s time to sell, then SELL. Do not wait.

For more thoughts on this topic, I invite you to check out this article.  For some nuts & bolts thinking on the sale of a business, check out this article.

Delegating for Success

After reading an interesting article by Vanessa Merit Nornberg called Leadership: 4 Traits of Incredibly Effective Delegators, I had some additional thoughts...

Of all the difficult things a small business owner has to do, Delegation is one of the most difficult in the beginning.  It's a lot different than just giving orders.

Every small business owner or entrepreneur thinks he/she can do it better than anyone else. However, as the business grows you can’t do everything yourself. If you try, it will deflate your important people’s egos. They will feel you don’t trust in them or have faith in their ability to carry out their responsibilities correctly.

Try it. In the beginning it will be awful! However, once your people begin to succeed, they will be much happier and you will have time to actually run your business, rather than working 20 hours a day.

I learned this the hard way. I had some very unhappy people who were very important to the future success of the company. They came to me and asked for the responsibility. Reluctantly at first I gave it to them. The deal was they had to agree to be held accountable, as well. After a few stops and starts, it really worked well. Soon I had ample amounts of time to think about tomorrow while my management team worked on today.

Delegation is a wonderful thing - if you do it correctly, and with the right people.  If you are interested in delegating smarter, give me a call and we can discuss.

You Should Be Committed

John Spence has touched upon the Four Biggest Challenges Facing Industry Leaders in his recent article.  He explores some excellent points here.  However, I will take the liberty of adding a fifth:

Commitment

Nothing will get done well in any business without the 100% commitment by the CEO/Owner. The old saying goes “A fish rots from the head.” If the CEO is not committed then it is impossible to expect full commitment from any of the top management, department heads,  and so on down the line.  However, with full commitment from the CEO to a goal or ideal, dedication becomes contagious. 

What does Commitment feel like?
A corporate culture that lives and breathes the Corporate Mission.

Recently I received an email from a company that I had worked with in the past. They are only 20 years old but have grown tremendously, with offices all over the US and three continents. In the email they stated their corporate values then gave examples of the milestones they have reached in pursuit of these values. By taking these values off the plaque on the wall and communicating them in real terms to customers, partners and employees, they have demonstrated commitment in action.

What does Commitment look like? 
Everything each employee says or does is in the best interest of the company, fellow employees and vendors, and most importantly the customers.

A client in the service industry received a call from a customer on Super Bowl Sunday with a major crisis that couldn’t wait for Monday morning. The CEO took the call, and went out to the site himself with his top managers, where they assessed and fixed the problem. As difficult as it was to get his men away from the game, the fact the CEO was the first to be there, fix the problem, and now has a customer for life. Maybe even future Super Bowl tickets...

What does Commitment sound like?
The differentiation in the marketplace that says we are better than our competitors and we can prove it by action, not words.

I was involved with a manufacturing company as an investor and investor in a very competitive business. Moving quickly to respond to customers’ needs was and is paramount in this business. We discovered, through surveying our customers and prospects, that most companies were taking too long to get back to them with quotes. Sometimes it would take as long 2-3 weeks. 

We made a commitment to respond with a preliminary quote within 24 hours. There were some starts and stops in the beginning but once we reached our goal of 24 hours, we impressed the hell out of our present and future customers, and stood out immediately in the marketplace.  Money where the mouth is.

These are just some of the benefits of a truly committed leader, whether you are one, want to be one, or work for one (or wish you did).

Management by Objective

Management by Objective is not a new concept. It has been written about in many books and articles over the years. If used properly it can be extremely useful to any company. I used this in a company I owned many years ago. It was so successful I continued using MBO in every company I owned after that.

The concept is very simple:

• Create a set of goal for your company. When you do this make sure you include your management team. This way they will buy into and take ownership of the concept.

• You will have the overall goals for the company such as increased profits, increased market shares, etc.

• Present the goals to the whole company

• You then set divisional goals

• You then set goals for each individual within each division

• Make the rewards whatever you think will motivate the whole team

• The rewards are only realized when all employees act as a team. If there are slackers on a team, the other team members will put pressure on them to produce or leave.

This is a great team builder. But remember, if the CEO and by extension the management team is not fully committed to this concept it will not work.

Benefits of a Board of Advisors

Most small and medium size businesses think an Advisory board is just for big companies. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I have owned several businesses during my career. I have made more mistakes than I could count. However, I think the biggest mistake I made was one of omission: not having a Board of Advisors.

The CEO/Owner of a business is the BOSS, the decision maker, the visionary, the person at the top. This person will surround him/herself with a strong management team presumably. As a team, they will create the strategy to take the company forward. However, the company/CEO may need more than that to reach both his/her personal and business goals. This is where a Board of Advisors could be of crucial importance.

Assembling a Board of Advisors is as much an art as well as a science. Each member should have skills/experience in an area of expertise that will be helpful in advising and guiding the CEO. They should also posses access to other outside people that the CEO in the ordinary course could not reach. Board members will have a fresh outlook of the company. Bring new ideas to consider, do not be afraid to criticize the CEO. Be available when the CEO has an issue to discuss.

Members of a Board of Advisors should be paid for their services. Asking them to take a half to a full day of their time for a lunch or dinner is not a way to pay them for their expertise, experience and advice.

I have served on many Boards of Advisors. The CEOs that take this activity seriously will benefit greatly from it.

What Makes a Good Business Leader?

There are all kinds of ways of defining a good leader. Therefore there are no right or wrong answers to this question.

I think the best leaders are determined by results. However these results can be measured both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Quantitative:

• Did he/she attain the stated sales/profit goals?
• Did he/she attain the stated increase in market share?
• Did he/she launch an important new product successfully?

However, in many cases, the Qualitative measurements are at least if not more important in certain circumstances such as in a “turn around” situation or a new company start-up in its later stages.

• Does the CEO (leader) have a clear vision and able to articulate it to management?
• Has the CEO (leader) recognized his/her weaknesses and hired people who posses those strengths to fill those weaknesses?
• Is the CEO (leader) able to “rally” the troops to get the job done?

Both of these measurements are very important. Although sales and profits ultimately define the success of a good leader, long term success relies on the qualitative as well.

Hey, no one said this was going to be easy!

Bad Bosses are Bad News

I recently read an interesting post on Harvard Business Review's blog, called How Damaging Is a Bad Boss, Exactly?  Having witnessed the ill effects of poor leadership in businesses throughout my career, I believe that is a significant determining factor in a business' overall success (or lack of same).

Bad bosses cost the company in so many ways:

• Loss of good employees - the better the employee, the less tolerant he/she will be of a bad boss
• Cost of replacing and training - for every good employee you lose, there are valuable resources used to try to make up for that loss
• Bad morale -  your service will certainly suffer with a bad boss, as customers will bear the brunt of your employees' unhappiness
• Loss of productivity -  your business' production will certainly underachieve, if not suffer, due to lack of motivation

It is incumbent upon senior management to recognize bad bosses early and to replace them with good ones quickly. If not a company will have nothing but trouble going forward.

If a good employee is honest at an exit interview he/she will tell why they are leaving. Management should investigate immediately, and act quickly and decisively!

Decision Making

It has been my experience, both when I owned my own business and while working with clients, that the Decision Making process is arduous, difficult and sometimes gut-wrenching and very time consuming.

One example is the termination of long time employees.

I found this to be the most difficult of all decisions. People who had been with me for many years were just not able to perform as the business grew. They had reached their “Peter Principle”. They were dragging down their co-workers, slowing growth and causing co-workers and themselves not to receive bonuses. 

The decision to terminate comes after working with them for significant periods of time to get them to change were fruitless, but sometimes you still just can’t do it.

Well, you finally decide it has to be done. When it’s over and they are gone, you look yourself in the mirror and ask “why didn’t I do this a long time ago?” Everything is running a lot smoother. My team is happier, productivity has increased dramatically and teams are receiving bonuses again! Why did I wait so long?

There is no easy answer, and I am not advocating “pulling the trigger” too soon. However, putting off too long can cost you a lot on the long run. I know, I’ve been there.


Here are some tips on handling this unfortunate, but sometimes necessary function.

Family Businesses That Work Well Together

I recently read a good article on the FastCompany.com site titled How Great Family Businesses Skirt The Feuds, And Other Pitfalls, on how three different family businesses have managed to run successful organizations without the resentments and turf wars that often infiltrate such situations.

This article discusses the importance of trust and collaboration, and clear delegation of responsibility.  While these are not radical concepts in the business world, they often become more challenging within the family dynamic.  It's interesting to read how these businesses navigated these issues.

If you work in a family business, I'd be interested in hearing how you have dealt with the complexity of running an operation and keeping peace in the family.

“Delegate and Trust”

I recently read an article in the April edition of Entrepreneur Magazine by Christopher Hann, entitled “Control Issues -  as your company grows how do you transition from start-up entrepreneur to leader?" The online version is titled a bit more pointedly: Can You Evolve From Control Freak to Emotionally Intelligent Leader?

Mr. Hann quotes extensively from Professor Ed Hess and his book Grow to Greatness: Smart Growth forEntrepreneurial Businesses. Professor Hess’s research has shown that successful entrepreneurs go through stages: from owner to manager to leader to coach. In this process, Hess says, they often need to adopt personal qualities that conflict with their very makeup. That is they must delegate and trust.

I can identify very well with this. I owned several businesses in my career from retail, distribution, assisted living and others. I learned many times the hard way that delegation of responsibility and trust is the only way your company will ever become truly successful.

As an example, I once went away for a three week executive education course. I would diligently call in each day to check on what was going on. A few days after I left, a real disaster occurred. Certain industries, as you know, are bound by specific rules and regulations, and even one employee violating those regulations can injure the entire business’s standing. In other words, a disaster. And not a good time for me, the owner - the Boss - to be away. But my COO was ready for the task at hand, and handled everything to a satisfactory resolution. I didn’t even learn about the matter until after the fact! It was then that I realized the power and potential of delegation and trust.

I won’t kid you; delegation and trust is very difficult at first for most of us small business owners.  You really have to hire well.  And train well.  And communicate well. But once you’ve got the right people in the right jobs, you’ve got to get yourself out of the way and let them do their jobs themselves.  Once you break through that barrier it will allow your business to thrive.

Identify and focus on your strengths - this is where you will do your business the most good - and delegate those other tasks to trusted associates. Try it, you’ll like it. And so will your management team.

Best,

Jeffrey Ross

If you would like to discuss business & leadership matters further, please feel free to contact me. I would be happy to meet with you.

I recently read an INC. article by Damian Bazadona entitled “6 Traits of Great Leaders”

He nailed the most important ones. His entire list is extremely important to a leader's personal and professional success.

However, I would like to submit there is a seventh trait: the ability to give responsibility to others and let them do their best.

Many entrepreneurs cannot get it through their heads they cannot do everything themselves. They must give responsibility to their managers to get the job done well and many times better than the entrepreneur alone.

In the many businesses I owned and managed, giving responsibility to others to get the job done was, quite frankly, difficult to do early on. However, once I learned this was the only way a business would grow and prosper, I found it much easier to delegate.

Read the article; tell me what you think.

Business for Sale?

I was reading an interesting article the other day on selling one’s business, and some thoughts came to mind.

As you grow your business, you must always keep in mind that everything has a life-cycle. If you subscribe to this belief, you must always keep in mind that your business will probably be sold one day.

In order to realize full value for all your years of hard work, you should pay very close attention to the questions raised in this article; it has some great stuff in it. And frankly, if liquidation is a real consideration, then it is probably too late to do anything else.

That said, an executive coach can keep you centered on the areas that are most important in growing your top line and, more importantly, your bottom line. A coach will make you aware of the unstated assets that are not on your balance sheet such as Quality of Management, and the value of your name, just to mention a couple of important items.

Here are some situations where a good Executive Coach can help you get maximum value:

• Identifying and clearly articulating the owner’s personal and professional goals
• Identifying the priorities to make the business more valuable in sales, profits and quality of management
• Identifying and articulating the Uniqueness of your product or service
• Strong financial controls
• Re-investment in plant and equipment
• Awareness of your competition and what they are doing in the marketplace
• Employee compensation and motivation
• Having someone where you may have an opportunity to talk, express your fears, wants needs and desires.

Being at the top can be a very lonely place.

What thoughts are on your mind concerning your business? Perhaps we should talk.