Speed by John H. Zenger & JOSEPH R. FOLKMAN

Author:John H. Zenger & JOSEPH R. FOLKMAN [JOHN H. ZENGER & JOSEPH R. FOLKMAN]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
Published: 2016-10-24T00:00:00+00:00

Communicate Powerfully

A strategy remains clear when employees are reminded of it on a regular basis. We live in a sound bite culture where we are constantly bombarded with new information. It is absolutely critical that leaders continually reinforce and remind others of the strategy and direction of the company.

Recently one of the authors was in an organization whose main product maintained a 95 percent market share. But the week before our session a competitor had released a new product that had similar functionality. Many employees in the company were quick to downplay the new product saying that it really was not in direct competition to their product. The CEO, however, took that time to reinforce the long-term vision of the company, the need for the company to reinforce its market position, and a plan for minimizing the impact of this competitor.

In a meeting with another client, one of the authors was delivering a report of turnover of key executives to the CEO. As he was walking to the meeting with a vice president from the organization, the escort said, “Don’t be surprised if in the middle of your presentation the CEO starts talking about our company strategy.” The author replied, “But I thought we were going to discuss turnover of executives.” “Yes, we will discuss turnover,” the vice president said, “but the CEO connects every topic back to the strategy and vision of the company.” After about 20 minutes of the presentation, sure enough, the CEO connected executive turnover back to the company strategy. At the time the author thought that this was a bit of an overkill. But watching the excellent performance of the company year after year made evident that the amazing execution of the company was partly due to the clarity of every person about the strategy of the company.

When people lack clarity, they slow down. When people get lost on a hike, they first stop and look around. They look for a landmark to figure out their location. They may start in one direction, then turn around and walk in the opposite direction. Survival experts advise novice hikers that if they think they may be lost, the best thing to do is stop. Don’t waste energy going in the wrong direction.

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