Leadership Strategy For 2011

We thought the "perfect storm" was over, and we had just begun to roll out our growth strategies, and inspire market confidence. Mid 2010 finds the Euro is in free-fall, and the roller coaster ride appears to have begun again. Once more, our investors are nervous, and our workforces anxious. More uncertainty, more cautious investors, and less confidence in our future survival? How do we, in these conditions position ourselves to thrive in 2011?

3rd Quarter - The time for Visionary Leadership!

This article argues that this is a not a time for timidity, and one that requires truly creative vision and strategy, and truly aggressive action.

Q3 2010 - strategic planning time... and time to get really creative! Consider these suggestions - they may be painful, and they may not be for you.... BUT.....

Think Blue Ocean

How cautious were you in 2010? Did you attempt significant revenue growth, or were you content to 'survive'? Did you consider any new major acquisitions? or developing new products and services? Did no opportunities in emerging markets present themselves?

Survival strategies are not success strategies! Now is the perfect time to get BLUE OCEAN in your thinking:
* seek out the un-served market segments;
* search for pioneering technologies;
* challenge your supply line model and break the value - cost trade-off;
* Challenge existing market boundaries, and create uncontested market space.

An Example of Blue Ocean in Action

The NANO motor car, created by the TATA Group in India, represents Blue Ocean thinking in action. In targeting a previously un-served segment of the Indian car market, those who could spend only $2500, TATA needed to reinvent its 'supply chain'. This required placing a limited number of suppliers in one place , wot work through all potential problems in manufacturing the NANO at a viable cost. By doing so, TATA were able to create a new value proposition based on low unit profit margins, but enormous market presence, which was underpinned by a radical overhaul of supply chain strategy and management the 'Blue Ocean' opportunity..

Re-Align your Organization

How did you react to the recession in 2009? Was it simple downsizing? Or did you see the opportunity to re-align key units, consolidate teams, or remove costly layers of management?

How will you remain competitive within the current 2010 market, and in the future 2011 market place, with your existing organization? Is it time to take the opportunity now to re-align your resources, to consolidate business units, to acquire fragile competitors, to invest in the capabilities which will enable you to differentiate in 2011 and beyond?

To position for success in 2010, companies need to take portfolio decisions which:
1. Exploit their core and ideally, unique competencies;
2. Build on core competencies through acquisition of complimentary businesses, and
3. Divest complex, or ill-fitting businesses which require additional management resources, and drive up costs in times of uncertainty.

As has been demonstrated in 2010, there has been significant disruption or discontinuous change in the structure of most global industries. Winning businesses in 2011 will need to immediately and continually adapt themselves to structural change which is continuous, and to see these as strategic opportunities. Undoubtedly, some of these same opportunities are in front of you right now.

Senior Executives need to ask:
* Is this business core to your company's future value?
* Can you envision it as the basis for a sustaining stream of growth opportunities?
* Does it offer a path to building financial performance that is greater than what investors can earn elsewhere in their equity portfolios?

Instinctively, we react cautiously to any surgery in the portfolio fearing the loss of a revenue stream now, which cannot ever be recovered. More likely however, the disappearance of poorly performing assets, will mean an opportunity to focus on growing more promising lines of business, or facilities at a faster rate.

Create an Organization Culture for Success

Fear permeated all workforces in 2009. Fear crushes motivation and energy. Creativity and innovation are inextricably linked to energy, and motivation. The creative spirit is essential to drive your organization out of the current economic and emotional malaise.

Conventional organizational therapy wisdom will suggest we need to apply techniques of engagement, and engender "discretionary effrort" in order to get more out our detached and demotivated workforces.

The truth on the ground will be more stark. In entering into any discussions of more assets realignment or divestment (human or other), senior leaders will need to work very hard to build confidence and trust.

It is important to first, truly understand your organization culture. Is the workforce in alignment with your vision and your value systems - do they trust you? Are the processes of decision making participative? Is the organization cohesive? Are your managers strongly performance - focused? If so, in a downturn, they will fail the pain most - in their egos and their pockets.

We suggest you survey your culture to learn what you have, and know what you need. Then align organizational development initiatives with your strategic growth priorities.

Take Leadership Develop Seriously

Your talented high performers will probably be very skeptical of simplistic approaches to "cultural engineering". Indeed, it is our contention that high performers are often turned off by bureaucratic process, by internal politics, by smoothing over the 'crack's with statements of "shared cultural values", and - above all -, they will be disenchanted by inadequate leadership.

How much has ineffective leadership cost your organization? There is not gentle answer to this. We must honestly ask how many companies have fallen by the wayside due to failures of untrained, poorly educated and myopic leaders?

We often consider the role of the leader to provide certainty in what are uncertain times. Certainty is, as has been seen, an illusion. The truly great leaders will instill the ability to 'adapt' and cope with the constantly changing environment which our economies face in the coming years.

Adaptability, managing change, thinking strategically are learned competencies - they are not simple attributes. Invest in DEVELOPING your leaders as a matter of priority.

Embrace Web 2 - Really!

How much has your ERP or your CRM system cost you to date? Is it 5 times the original costs of the software (the typical total cost of ownership)? Are you aware that there are WEB 2 alternatives? Web 2 is much more than just a web site and intranet.

Software as a Service is the largest growing sector of the IT market today - delivering much, if not all of the functionality of conventional server based software, at a fraction of the total cost of ownership. (Salesforce.com etc.)

How web 2 are your communications systems? Do you still fly managers from field operations, or offshore locations in for QPRs - why... how much does it cost? Does your organization embrace inter-connectivity? Do your employees collaborate virtually? Are there forums for them to do so? How much value can be generated through enhanced collaboration?

Web2 can save you a lot of money - enabling the potential to outsource, or offshore a lot of the tasks previously considered impossible to manage 5 years ago. Have you considered off-shoring your drawing office for example?

Don't forget Marketing - Facebook, Twitter, Squidoo and many more.

2011 - Let it be your year!