This is part two of a four-part series!
I want to share with you in a series of 4 brief articles, how to overcome the obstacles to effective and predictable business execution of strategic initiatives.
There are chronic issues that exist in all organizations and far too many leaders accept them as a non-negotiable part of the business environment — things like resource disconnects, decision stalls, organizational politics, weak or passive-aggressive support, or everyone simply being too busy.
Last time we talked about the first step in the model “The Middle.”
O = Organization
Today I want to talk about the second step in the MOVE model O=Organization
When you are facing the very beginning of a necessary transformation, you are thinking through all the new things that need to be done. There will be things that need to be started, stopped, fixed, invented, re-designed, and re-negotiated… And as you are cataloging all the new stuff in your mind you think about your team — your current team.
Do I have the team I need?
In these first moments of a transformation you are tying to do big new stuff, but still have the same, existing organization. You ask yourself, “Is this the right team?”
In your heart you secretly know that not everyone on your current team is the best choice to succeed in the new mission. But it’s really hard to make a change, and you probably still need them to keep working on the current plans. And you might also be feeling bad and insecure thinking, “I like these people. I brought these people in initially! Who am I to now tell them that they are not going to be part of the new business strategy? Maybe I’ll just move forward with my existing team and they will be able to evolve to be capable enough in the new job. Or maybe I really do need to change the team. I don’t know. This is hard!”
There is no effective antidote for the wrong team
There is no more important thing you can do as a business leader than to build the right team. Every time I hated my job, or felt like I was drowning or failing, a mentor would tell me, “Patty you need to build the right team.”
Every time I was in a new management position, I built a new management team. And every time, before I had the new team in place, I suffered. It was not that the individuals were particularly bad in some way. It was that the team as a whole was the wrong team to accomplish what the business needed to get done. As long as I had the old team, doing the new stuff proved virtually impossible. And I had to shoulder all the weight of thinking about the new stuff by myself.
If you find yourself working overly hard because there are too many things that you can’t delegate to anyone — you have the wrong team.
Your ideal, blank-sheet org chart
As a leader it is your job to build the team you need, not to make do with the team you have.
To build the right organization you need to think about what the ideal team would be to accomplish the transformation you need to execute. Then instead of trying to move around the people you already have, give yourself the opportunity to start with a blank sheet, and build the right organization chart from scratch.
Mobilizing the right team to execute
As a leader you need to always be asking yourself the following:
The right people
How can I attract and hire the right people and move the wrong people out in a respectful way?
The right conversations
How can I lead my team in a way that fosters the most productivity, motivation, and confidence?
Genuine engagement
How can make sure that enough people are truly engaged on a personal level, especially when they are spread throughout the world! How can I get people to truly care?
Get your copy of MOVE to help you build the right team and motivate them to personally care about implementing the new strategy throughout the long Middle.
And check back next time for the next part of the MOVE model, V = Valor.
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You can find Patty Azzarello’s upcoming book here:
Download a FREE Preview of MOVE
In my years of leading business transformations and turnarounds, building highly successful management teams, and working with countless clients to implement their strategies, I have determined what factors enable faster, more decisive execution, and reduce risk.
It’s all in the book! I can’t wait to share it! Available in February.
Get a copy for your whole team!
Or if you’d like to pre-order a copy for everyone on your team, contact us for bulk-order discounts.
- The Hazards of Business Execution, Part 4 of 4 - February 19, 2017
- The Hazards of Business Execution, Part 3 of 4 - February 9, 2017
- The Hazards of Business Execution, Part 2 of 4 - February 2, 2017