The Truth about Your Business

No Time for Strategy Is It Time to Rehire The CEO? Have you ever heard of a CEO who informed his board of directors that he had no time for strategy? What if he actually did that? I assume he'd most likely get fired. Let's be frank, you have a lot on your plate. If you are like the rest of the pack, you juggle so many things and it's only a matter of time until something is dropped. If I asked you why you juggle so many things, you’d probably respond by saying that all these activities are urgent. No one argues. So, who has time for strategy? You see, that is already one ball that has dropped from your juggling act without even being noticed. When was the last time you took some serious time to reflect on the strategy you have chosen to lead your business, your career, or your life? Many people (and yet, not nearly enough), engage in that kind of self-evaluation around New Year, for apparent reasons. So, it is quite possible that you have thought about some strategic moves in preparation for the year ahead. No matter how much time has passed since then, have you really gone through any serious planning about implementing those actions and followed through on them? Who is the CEO of your endeavor? How about making some meaningful time now to review and evaluate the success of your actions and their alignment with your overall strategy? Your Vision Can End Up In a Drawer Unless, You Take Specific Steps What happens when your vision takes a form of a strategy to be implemented throughout a quarter, a year, or even a much longer time period? Getting used to reviewing your plan periodically is critical to staying focused on your game plan and producing results that are in line with your vision. Without a meaningful review time, you can spend all the time you want planning and then life gets in the way. You get to the end of the period realizing how far off you've been from manifesting your vision. You might as well put the plan with your vision in a back drawer. Some of my clients have asked me how often they should engage in reviewing their strategy and their vision. I'm not referring to a daily checklist, rather, review time is when you: Evaluate the plan progress Identify delays and challenges Discover resources you may need to reach out to, and, Make adjustment to your plan. The more complex and involved your plan is, the more frequently you will need to engage in review. And if others (employees, vendors, etc.) are necessary to implement your plan, make sure that they are aware of your adjustments, or even become part of your evaluation process. I have worked with managers who incorporated a monthly review, and were able to maintain a high level view, understand the details, and adjust resources in a timely manner. In some cases a bi-weekly review did the trick, due to having more people and resources involved. What about your vision? Use your vision as a beacon. At the end of each review ask yourself: If I continue to do what I’ve done so far, how much closer will I get to my vision? If the answer doesn't satisfy you, it's time to work with a professional and get some leverage on yourself.