Strategic Discipline Blog

The biggest challenge you have as a leader is, “you lie to yourself!”

I’m not saying YOU do, (of course YOU do), I’m saying WE all DO!

Our biggest sin (mistake) is we lie to ourselves.

In Smart Tribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together, Christine Comaford acknowledges, “In order to make any change, personal, professional, or organizational, you have to know where you currently stand.”

She recommends ….” if you are aiming to change something, … enlist the support of a trusted adviser, because it’s almost impossible to see what’s going on from inside… if you don’t: the blame game starts, and the next thing you know you’re on the precipitous inflection point death spiral—heading downward instead of in the up direction you want.”

She shares,” The single most important practice in creating a SmartTribe is to know where you are and be where you are: to focus. Practicing focus has three dimensions. The first dimension of focus is to be present with people here and now. This means that if you are at a meeting, you are listening to what people are saying and not thinking about the past or the future. The second dimension of focus is to be real about where you are, to make a clear distinction between envisioning an outcome and wishful thinking. The third dimension of focus is to prioritize high-value (strategic or “top-down”) activities and manage low-value (distraction or “bottom-up”) time wasters.

The Problem

“The human brain deletes, distorts, and generalizes our world every second of every day. It must, or we would go crazy from the amount of input we’d have to process—which is exactly what happens in bipolar and some psychotic disorders,” Comaford notes.

“If we didn’t have the filter that deleting provides, we would be fully conscious of every input and every factoid we came across every nanosecond.

The problem comes when we delete what we don’t want to see, hear, feel, or deal with. … Perhaps you’re deleting that your personal assistant still didn’t do what you asked, and you’ll have to give her feedback on her incomplete work. These kinds of deletions—denials, actually—are unhealthy and energy-draining if they continue too long and become procrastination. In organizations, executives sometimes delete the real problems and focus instead on trivia.”

Solve Your Perception Errors

The first step to make an accurate judgment on your business is to complete this brief Four Decisions Needs Assessment. Since you may be unable to see yourself and your business as you truly are, bring your leadership team into the mix as well. Ask them to complete the Assessment, or contact Positioning Systems to create a link for each leadership team member to complete, to provide a 30-page detailed assessment for more insights.

Most of us go for an annual medical checkup. Doesn’t it make sense to do the same for your business?

We also provide insights into the financial parameters of your business. Our 22-page Cash Flow Story report, built from your financial reports, provides four chapters of information including a profit summary, detailed Profitability trends, revenue growth vs. COG growth, overhead Growth, and profitability ratios.

Chapter 2 includes Working capital including a capital timeline.

Chapter 3 provides information on return on capital, including trends.

Chapter 4 offers insight into funding needs, trends, your equation, and your profit vs. cash flow and Operating Cash Profit vs. Operating Cash flow

Finally, the Power of One provides seven levers you can control and make incremental changes to, to increase cash flow and profit.

Assess where you are now.

Watch How Humans Process Change: Christine Comaford Speaks at Talent Management Alliance

Pay close attention to how the power of emotions plays a leading role in determining the behaviors in your culture:

Need help assessing the current state of your business? Take the Four Decisions Needs Assessment Or contact us to help you change direction and fuel growth!

To create an environment where everyone is inspired to give their best, contact Positioning Systems today to schedule a free exploratory meeting.

Growth demands Strategic Discipline.

Napoleon Bonaparte knew esprit de corps contributed more than any other component to victory on the battlefield. Culture, as noted in 1% Plan, 99% Behavior determines business success more than any other factor. Shannon Susko recently wrote a short book, The M Game, sharing insights and testimonials on Metronomics' seven systems, focusing on three soft systems, and a coach cascade that helps strengthen, develop, and achieve a harmonious culture of accountability. We’ll dig into the book and these seven systems next blog.

Building an enduring great organization requires disciplined people, disciplined thought, disciplined action, superior results, producing a distinctive impact on the world.

Discipline sustains momentum, over a long period of time, laying the foundations for lasting endurance.

A winning habit starts with 3 Strategic Disciplines: Priority, Metrics, and Meeting Rhythms.   Forecasting, accountability, individual, and team performance improve dramatically.

Meeting Rhythms achieve a disciplined focus on performance metrics to drive growth.

Let Positioning Systems help your business achieve these outcomes on the Four most Important Decisions your business faces:

Positioning Systems helps mid-sized ($5M - $500M+) businesses Scale-UP. We align your business to focus on Your One Thing! Contact dwick@positioningsystems.com to Scale Up your business! Take our Four Decisions Needs Assessment to discover how your business measures against other Scaled Up companies. We’ll contact you.

NEXT BLOG – The “M” Game