Become Great

Becoming and staying great requires:

1. Leadership, vision and strategies
2. An attractive core business, e.g., products & services that customers really want
3. An effective organization, e.g., embraces teamwork and is healthy and results-centric
4. An effective infrastructure, e.g., financing & cash-flow, equipment, systems, accommodation, ... 

.....The model is easily adapted to business units in large companies, organizations in any sectors, functional - corporate groups within organizations as well as projects, mergers and acquisitions.

What follows is an elaboration of the model.  

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The attributes of a EFFECTIVE LEADERS are shown in the exhibit on the right.  

The five attributes in the green circles are based on research conducted by Jim Collins' research for his book Good To Great.  Our complete framework for effective leadership includes four sub-attributes for each of the attributes shown in the exhibit.  Our 360 leadership feedback survey has three scale questions for each sub-attribute plus open-text questions.

We refer to highly effective leaders as 5 Star Leaders.....

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The drivers of TEAMWORK are shown in the exhibit on the right.  Teamwork assumes that the "right people are on the bus".

Teamwork requires leadership, i.e., leaders who are:

• Effective persons
• Effective team players
• Effective managers
• Effective motivators
• Passionate, yet humble

Striving to fulfill these attributes contributes to being inclusive, i.e., making team members feel like they are part of the team.

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The drivers of a HEALTHY ORGANIZATION are shown in the exhibit on the right.  Teamwork is a key building block for achieving and maintaining a healthy organization. 

Healthy organizations:

• Are vibrant, flourishing, robust, thriving, resilient and fit
• Are able to attract and keep the best people
• Have managers and employees who are innovative, good team players and routinely exceed expectations
• Have leaders who walk the talk re slogans such as "our people are our most valued asset"

Engaged employees find their work to be meaningful, feel they are making a difference, receive recognition for their contribution, are provided freedom to do their job, have the resources to do their job and are able to meet their personal needs.

Healthy organizations:

• Do not abdicate leadership 
• Are not soft on accountability for results
• Do not avoid controversy and differences of opinion

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The drivers of a RESULTS-CENTRIC ORGANIZATION are shown in the exhibit on the right.   Teamwork and a healthy organization are key building blocks for achieving and sustaining a high performance organization.

Result-centric organizations:

• Are clear and aligned -- on vision, strategy and culture (shared employee behaviors and actions)
• Execute -- move in the agreed-upon direction with minimal friction
• Collaborate -- with customers, partners and other stakeholders
• Are passionate about providing what their customers are passionate about receiving
• Renew -- continuously improve at a pace that exceeds that of their competitors

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The exhibit on the right shows examples of drivers of an attractive CORE BUSINESS for companies.

The drivers shown in the exhibit apply to private sector enterprises. Some drivers will be more critical for some companies than others.  Some companies may have core business drivers in addition to those shown in the exhibit.    

The core business drivers for organizations in other sectors are different and reflect their mandate and mission, e.g., organizations in the government, not-for-profit, health and education sectors.

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INFRASTRUCURE includes:

• Assets, e.g., buildings, equipment, patents, inventory, financial (cash, lines of credit, revenue)
• Systems and procedures
• Databanks / data
• Suppliers

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As companies such as Kodak and RIM discovered, becoming successful and remaining successful are not the same. Research studies show that there are companies that fail due to deterioration of teamwork and organizational health. Globalization and the internet have brought with them increased competition.  Organizational health is increasingly being seen as a key source of success, e.g.,  The achievement of "lean" (lean manufacturing, lean enterprise, or lean production) is increasingly recognizing the importance of organizational health  

Click HERE to see how we can help your organization MOVE FORWARD and BECOME GREAT.