Does Your Leadership Style Help or Hinder Your Strategic Planning?

Once school starts, businesses usually turn their thoughts to next year’s planning.  We do this because by the time we get to the middle of November, for all practical purposes, the year is over.  For many members of the planning team the balance of the year is focused on using up vacation before it is lost, planning for and attending holiday parties, traveling to family get-togethers, and getting shopping and other holiday activities completed.  

So with a little more than two months of solid planning time remaining, I found myself considering the impact leadership style has on the way we plan.  Does one style vs another create a better outcome?  What would your team say about the impact your style has on the annual planning process?

HBDI Quadrants

Just to give full disclosure, I want you to know that I am certified to administer a number of assessments that help individuals and teams explore leadership and work style preferences.  I enjoy exploring possibilities with clients through the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI).  The HBDI Strategic Issues Model is depicted below.

I love the HBDI for the journey of personal discovery it allows each participant to explore.  The HBDI profile provides in-depth information about an individual’s preferred way of thinking and acting, as well as how to effectively and productively integrate the preferred style with the styles of others, in order to achieve the greatest positive impact.  

I’m thinking about style because we cannot overlook the fact that the leader’s preferred work and thinking styles influence the strategic planning process, just as much as they do all our other business activities.  Ned Herrmann, creator of the HBDI, wrote in his book, The Creative Brain:  "In the corporation of the future, new leaders will not be masters, but maestros.  The leadership task will be to anticipate the signs of coming change, to inspire creativity, and to get the best ideas from everybody."  Isn’t this so true for today?  Based on this quote, perhaps my question should be:  “Does your style have you acting as a master or a maestro?”

Leaders planning for 2012 need to tap into the creative energies of all of their employees.  As the model illustrates, there are four basic quadrants that summarize how their preferences, and the preferences of their planning team, could influence the planning process.  Writing in very general terms, the Quadrant A leader most likely will approach strategic planning from an analytical, logical, fact-based manner.  The Quadrant B leader has many similarities to the A leader, but B has a strong desire to understand how things worked in the past and how the organization got to where it is, in order for action to be planned and executed.  A B leader may have little patience for the intellectual information Leader A is interested in.

On the other hand, a Quadrant C leader will probably view the process through a lens of  sensitivity and desire to involve as many stakeholders as possible.  This leader is very aware of moods, attitudes and energy levels.  The C leader is very tuned in to the human side of business.  And as much as the C leader is excited by the human dynamics of growth and change, the D leader is excited by new ideas, possibilities, variety, and questions.  In fact, the D leader needs to be mindful of a tendency to speak in metaphors that may be difficult for other quadrant styles to understand.

Utilizing the HBDI process to imagine how each leader might influence the strategic plan and the process for developing it, you can begin to see that the most creative and innovative plans will be realized by those organizations engaging a variety of thinking styles:  A, B, C, and D preferences. 

So to answer the question, “Is there a preferred style of leadership for planning?”  I would respond – “Yes!  The leadership style should be focused on broad participation from a diverse group of individuals interested in the future.”  The benefit to this approach will be not missing the three other styles that offer different perspectives, ideas, questions, and opportunities to make the process richer and more robust.  An additional benefit of a collaborative process is the buy-in developed during the process. 

So What’s Next?

Economists report that 2012 will continue to reflect the types of challenges we have experienced over the past few years.  The more creative and innovative an organization can be dealing with uncertainty, risk and changing times, the better.  Along with the diverse thinking of a Strategic Planning Team, an excellent model for strategic planning involves the following steps:

1. Get Real – Collect and analyze appropriate data about the past 12 months.  Where is your organization or business today?  It might be helpful to utilize tools such as a SWOT, or conduct an analysis of your competition.
2. Envision the Future – Use creative meeting exercises to help the team get out of the box of “getting real” to a more playful, open and future-oriented vision of what could be.  If there were no constraints, what should the organization be doing?
3. Conduct an Environmental Scan – In the profession of Organization Development (OD) an environmental scan refers to content analysis of market, industry, clients, competitors, etc.  This step usually involves reviewing appropriate briefings, presentations, reports, research etc. to identify and highlight key, repeated words, phrases, and ideas.  These elements are then used to identify themes that illustrate the possibilities for the business in the future.
4. Play with Scenarios – Utilizing the data, themes, opportunities, risks, etc. identified in the first three steps, play out the “What If” scenarios of each, answering the questions, “So What?”  “Now What?”  “Then What?” 
5. Develop Feasible Options – Based on the data, activities and imaginations, hone in on the strategic options the organization should focus on, and then verify the reasonableness of those options by inviting a population of stakeholders to participate in focus meetings.
6. Articulate the Strategies, Goals and Metrics – Write, communicate and reference the Plan in a way that makes sense to everyone.  Everyone should know how their job tasks contribute to the Plan, and where the organization stands relative to the goals and metrics on a continuous basis.
7. Be Attentive, Flexible and Willing to Change – Everyday business is time consuming;  I guess that’s why they call it work.  Don’t get so caught up in the “work” that you forget to keep your eye on the horizon.  You need to stand ready to lead a remapping session as the realities of the journey to your destination become clearer.

I started thinking about this topic last week when a colleague mentioned that she would be doing the bulk of her planning ahead of getting together with her team.  Her thought was to not pull them away from their jobs for a few days of planning.  She would do the bulk of it; just utilizing them for one day. 

I understand the investment of associates being pulled away from productivity.  And if that’s your style or operational dilemma, then perhaps it’s best not to label the team coming together as strategic planning, but instead for providing feedback on your plan.  Don’t set the expectation that you want input and ideas about how to make next year better, when all you may want is a blessing on your vision.

I see something as important as strategic planning for my business, as well as my clients, as too important to be attempted in a vacuum.  Find some creative way to gather your  stakeholders that are knowledgeable, creative, logical, curious, passionate, and compassionate.  Be sure as you encourage exploration, analysis and innovation that you are keeping a watchful eye on your style as you orchestrate the symphony of synergy.  Leaders with strong styles that have a tendency to quiet the voices of different thinking styles may consider engaging an outside facilitator tasked to keep the process open, moving, reasonable and fun.

So what are your thoughts on the idea of Strategic Planning as a Master or a Maestro? 
Please share your comments below.

The 5 L's from Peter Cook

Collaborate for a Solution

www.evolutionmgt.com

770.587.9032

Strategies for Managing in Difficult Times

It appears the economy is in for a wild white water experience through the rest of this year; and perhaps into 2012. Questions I’m hearing include: "What does this mean for my business?" And, "I was thinking of making some changes in 2012; does it make more sense to implement them now?" And, "How much longer can we afford to hang on?"

What does the dialog with your leadership team sound like? What are you thinking about when you hear how your customers are reacting to these challenging times, and how their "adjustments" might influence your need to adjust?

As a business owner I too am concerned, trying to make sense out of where things are headed. The optimism of the first half of the year seems to have melted away, scorched by the heat of this unusual summer weather, leaving us with the familiar uncertainty of global markets, a lagging job market, Wall Street instability, unsuccessful political leadership (on all sides) and lots of hard-working individuals feeling high levels of stress and frustration about their jobs, careers and dwindling retirement accounts. But just as we do when confronted by other major issues, we have to take a step back to assess what we know and make decisions based on facts and research (90%) and then of course, integrate our decision with our expert judgment based on experience (10%). After that, it’s a matter of working the plan and continuing to modify it as time continues to change the global atmosphere.

We continue to hear that it will be small- and mid-sized businesses that lead us out of these troubled times. But these business owners can only take on so much debt and risk without customers lining up for their products and services. In order to assess the level of risk and determine reasonable next steps, management should gather the leadership team to take stock of what’s going on in the firm, with customers, and around the globe. The next six to nine months may not be as promising as the first half of the year suggested they would be, but with the right level of leadership and preparedness, strategies associated with operations, finance, and the workforce can be adjusted to make the ride through the white water up ahead more bearable.

5 Business Strategies to Incorporate

Today, looking through the consulting lens of Organization Effectiveness, I see a worthwhile need for incorporating these five strategies into a ‘Second Half Business Review and Planning Retreat.’ Would these work for you and your team?

Planning - Assess what’s currently going on in your industry and business community, and envision what the next 12 months will require. Engage your leadership team, as well as gather ideas from employees, customers, suppliers, etc. Your agenda should include, at a minimum, the following. After you conduct the planning retreat, modify your Strategic Plan as appropriate and communicate the near- and far-term expectations with employees.

• Gather and analyze feedback from customers about their plans for the next 6-12 months.
• Generate ideas from a variety of stakeholders about short- and long-term trends in marketing, technology, day-to-day operations. What does the organization need to keep doing, what can it let go of, and what should it add?
• Review the Strategic Goals previously planned for the 3rd and 4th quarter. What changes would you suggest?
• Examine the markets that are working, and others where investment may not be paying off at the moment. What changes might be useful here?
• Conduct a SWOT Analysis to identify organizational Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats/Risks, and analyze the data in order to develop themes that will aid future planning efforts.

Workforce - Based on where the organization is headed and the changes in technology that have been or will be implemented, what impact can the organization expect to see on its workforce? Is the organization structured in a manner that drives strategic goals through an environment of collaboration and transparency? Are employees engaged for a healthy and productive day of work, or can they be organized in a more efficient way to improve the effectiveness of their time and contributions? Is retraining or new training required? Are part-time contractors the answer for now, or is the organization ready to commit to full-time workers? Hopefully the idea of layoffs can be avoided, but if not, what transition assistance can the organization offer those displaced workers?

Roles - Considering the jobs employees should be doing, are job descriptions and processes for communicating performance expectations up-to-date and effective? Has leadership communicated changes to the vision/mission/goals and specifically informed employees about what they are responsible for and how their contributions impact the success of the organization? Employees need to be engaged in order to produce the performance expectations that will drive the strategic goals. Is leadership satisfied with how engagement and performance management goals are articulated and implemented? If not, what changes should be made?

Performance - What does the scorecard look like? Do metrics reflect organizational goals and objectives? Are expenses reasonable for the growth and productivity you are achieving? Are there initiatives the organization should explore such as teleworking, volume buying, or consolidation of facilities that would make sense and save money? Are there ways to introduce technology applications to streamline processes and reduce costs? Can a variety of workforce solutions (full-time, part-time, consultants, temporary) help manage payroll and benefit costs in the short-term until workload is more stable and predictable?

Investments - What’s on the horizon to drive and support business growth that the organization should be considering investing in right now and down the road? What’s the plan for how these investments will be financed? Does capital need to be secured? What expectations does the organization have for how these investments will pay off and when?

So What’s Next?

A good project manager will tell you that planning is essential for success. As significant changes are taking place in the business and financial markets, leaders are well-served by taking a step back to objectively assess the impact of market changes on their organizations. And no successful leader would take on this type of assessment and planning without the participation and collaboration of thought leaders and stakeholders.

In order to improve the results of the leadership retreat, be sure to engage with a skilled facilitator who will partner with you to design the meeting agendas with a focus on full participation, strategic objectives and desired outcomes. The benefits of having a facilitator assist will be evident in the quality of the conversations, creativity produced from seemingly conflicting viewpoints, and outcomes achieved from collaborative brainstorming and open dialogs.

Often impartial facilitators are available internally. (Not to sound like a commercial, but if you don’t have someone available within your firm to assist with meeting planning and facilitation, please consider having us work with you.) The point is, a key stakeholder should not plan to design, facilitate and participate in the meeting. That’s too much to expect and usually negatively impacts the ability of the group to achieve quality outcomes.

I’m the eternal optimist. I see the events of the last few weeks more as a sad statement of what our political system has disintegrated into rather than what we are capable of achieving. My glass is definitely more than half full, and I’m hopeful that we’ll find a way to embrace solutions that will spur the growth and innovation I believe our country can achieve. For anyone in Washington reading my blog, please note that I’d be glad to work with you to facilitate some productive meetings focused on what it’s going to take for leaders to act as leaders. Call me (770.587.9032).


Now, my question for you -- What do you think? Do my five strategies resonate with you?   What would you add or change?
I’m interested in hearing your thoughts. Please share your comments below.

Collaborate for a Solution

www.evolutionmgt.com

770.587.9032

Music and Nature - Enjoy!