Leadership Review
“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”
Leadership Review
Before we really dig into Management, let's have a quick review of what we learned in the Leadership book. The key goal of Leadership is to set your business up so that it knows exactly who it is and what it is trying to accomplish. Everyone in your business at this point should understand the basics of organization. Each employee, partner and stakeholder should have a clear picture of what it means to be a part of your business.
Mission
Your Corporate Mission answers the question, “Why does your business exist?” It gives your business a purpose beyond that of simply making money. It offers something everyone can get behind. It offers purpose. Your Corporate Mission will give your employees a compelling reason to come to work. A Corporate Mission will also give your lenders and your suppliers a greater sense of purpose concerning doing business with you. It will foster customer loyalty and give potential customers even more reason to choose your business over the alternatives. Most importantly, it will ensure that your business exists to fulfill its founding purpose, that is, to serve your Personal Foundation and move you toward your Personal Mission.
Write out your Corporate Mission Statement in the space below. Read it out loud. How does it feel? Does it properly describe the reason that your business exists? Does it feel like something that key stakeholders in your business can get behind?
Corporate Values
Your Corporate Values are the humanity and the personality of your business. Like it or not, Corporate Values already permeate your business. The question is, do they serve or take away from your Corporate Mission? Are they organized in any way or are they random and accidental? Do all of your people have a clear understanding of what they are and do they truly believe in them? How about your customers? Do they appreciate the values expressed by your business as a whole or do they just enjoy working with one particular member of your staff? You perhaps?
Your Corporate Values are concerned with issues relating to values, beliefs, and ethics. You documented these with your Wardell Advisor as you completed the Leadership Book. They clarify and formalize the “personality” of your business in a way that supports your Corporate Mission.
Review your Code of Conduct. Read it out loud. How does it feel? Does it properly describe the way you want your people to behave?
Statement of Values
Your Statement of Values (sometimes referred to as Core Values, Core Beliefs, Statement of Beliefs, or Corporate Ethics) indicates the way your business interacts with the world. It describes your organizational integrity, ethics and beliefs.
Your Statement of Values represents the standard for business that you are committed to. It makes it clear to everyone that your business strives to operate within a set of ethical and practical guidelines. It says, “We practice business here in a particular way and we want the world to know it.”
In a world where business ethics are the exception rather than the rule, a strong Statement of Values can help to differentiate your business from your competition. A Statement of Values lets people know where you stand, and indirectly where they stand, when they do business with you. So long as you live up to their expectations, it gives people tremendous confidence in dealing with your business.
Review your Statement of Values. Read it out loud. How does it feel? Does it properly describe the way you practice business? Does it feel like something that key stakeholders in your business can get behind?
Corporate Vision
Your Corporate Vision defines your business aspirations.
A well-designed Corporate Vision will draw your business toward an exciting future. It will inspire you, set a course for your future, and energize you into action.
Unlike your Corporate Mission, however, your Corporate Vision will be in a constant state of evolution. It’s a huge ongoing project, not something you can solicit feedback on once and be done with. Why? Because the world is not static. The information we use to predict our future with today, could be completely different tomorrow. Success in today’s business world demands we keep a vigilant watch on the future.
Vision Statement
Your Vision Statement is a short, carefully crafted statement that answers the question, “What is the ‘big picture’ direction of my company?” It is a statement that encapsulates your ‘big picture’ goal. Its purpose is to concisely represent your Corporate Vision to the world. It represents your corporate Vision to your clients, your employees, your suppliers and your lenders in a form they can digest.
Review the Vision Statement you built. Read it out loud. How does it feel? Does it properly describe the direction of your business? Does it feel like something key stakeholders in your business can get behind?
Strategic Objectives
Your Strategic Objectives describe the specific goals of your business. They paint a clear picture of what your business will look like at some predetermined point in the future. Typically, they are the end of a natural stage of development, such as maximum growth in a facility, market domination in a specific area, or the completion of a large, company-wide project.
Once everyone knows where your business is headed, they will have a better understanding of how and why their work plays a vital role in getting it there.
The reason for the review at this point is everything you do as you work your way through the following sections will be informed by these leadership documents. These documents form the foundation that describes your business, and lets key stakeholders know who you are and where you're going. Management brings those documents to life through actions.
Revisit the Strategic Objectives that you built. Read them out loud. How does they feel? Do they properly describe the current and specific goals of your business? Do they feel like something key stakeholders in your business can get behind?