Improving All Of Your Results…All At Once

Posted by Jim Connolly on 6 August, 2009  Email This Post -  Print This Post

 Revenue, profit, productivity, performance, etc.  Each of these is a measure of organizational performance.  Each of these is important to your organization and is a predictor of future organizational results.

However, there are two challenges with focusing on these measures in our efforts to improve results in our organizations.

First, most organizations generally consider these measures independently.  Meetings are convened to discuss “How can we improve our productivity?”  “What steps are we taking to triple sales in the Midwest region?”  And so on.  Considered independently, plans are implemented to drive one measure sometimes at the expense of another.  Or worse, efforts are made to increase these measures, but with different strategies.  Think of a car full of people, each with a different map, each giving different directions to the driver.

The second challenge with focusing on these measures is that we’re focusing on the wrong measures to begin with.  Sure, each of these is a measure and a predictor of results.  But, there is a measure that is more predictive of results and it has a high impact on each of the measures we’ve already discussed.  What is it?  Measure and improve the quality of the leadership strength in your organization and you’ll impact results in your organization like never before. 

Now, I know that as a business leader, or THE business leader, that I might be talking about YOUR leadership strength, but hear me out.  The fact is that if you can increase the leadership strength in an organization, all of the measures we discussed above can go up.  But, don’t take my word for it:

• Jim Collins in Good To Great talked about the 5 levels of leadership and his team’s extensive research on the topic. 
• Ken Blanchard developed Situational Leadership II to document the process of building peak performing leaders.  Some twenty years later, more than 400 of the Fortune 500 have tested the model in pre- and post-test assessments and found it to be very effective. 
• Marcus Buckinham’s research focused on talent as the most predictive factor in building a true strength.  In this case, finding and developing leadership talent will improve leadership effectiveness.  

The list goes on.

As your company emerges from the dark forest of the Great Recession, you’ll have a decision to make about what to focus on to build competitive advantage in this new landscape.  Sure, measure and focus on revenues, productivity and profits.  But, put building leaderhip strength at the top of your list and find the resources and the time to focus on THE factor that can drive all other factors.