Leadership - Strategy - overview
Strategy - overview
Hierarchy
The mainstay of any leader is the ability to think proactively and not reactively.
Within this the leader has to have a ‘helicopter’ view which not only galvanises the generation of a vision but can oversee all of the necessary elements below it that will bring it to fruition.
Vision
Leadership start at the top with the vision.
If you remember, this will change every time the end period of the vision approaches and the next one is due.
The vision will identify a series of key goals which will be pursued via detailed plans later.
This is similar to ‘horizon planning’ discussed in more detail in ‘The Complete Risk management package’.
Mission statement
This often reflects the values of the organisation, customer service, environmental position, staff treatment.
It will always be true and reflect your business interest. It may be customer, employee or shareholder oriented.
It should be brief and to the point, reflect your particular business and be memorable.
Values
There are many values that a business might adopt.
In order to have the best chance of getting to your vision it is important that you can translate these values into behaviours that people see happening.
Some of these values could be.
- Respect for others.
- Trusting environment.
- Empowerment.
- Accountability.
- Job satisfaction.
- Security.
These are just a few.
It is no good just saying these exist there must be system to make them happen.
For example.
Respect for others
Conducting meetings without losing tempers. Listening to views. Giving constructive criticism and not just condemnation.
Trusting environment
Do what you say you will at the appointed time.
Empowerment
Have systems in place to promote accountability. Provide resource, clear objectives and feedback etc.
Accountability
Give clear instructions. Clear job descriptions. Agreed budget levels etc.
Job satisfaction
Provide clear job descriptions. Adequate salaries and good work environment etc.
Security
Provide good salaries with a good pension scheme. Share options. Business that values its skill base.
Roles and responsibilities
It is important that these are clear, defined and written down.
It goes beyond a simple job description which covers broad responsibilities.
For a given project it needs to be made clear who is doing what and who is accountable for what.
Putting together a team or assigning accountabilities might be influenced by their intrinsic characters.
Meridith Belbin identified specific characteristics.
For example.
Coordinator
Chairperson material, delegates well and promotes discussion and decision making.
Team worker
Good at getting cohesion in meetings. Listens well, is cooperative and diplomatic.
Deliverables, objectives and milestones
Deliverables are what you need to produce. The route to producing them is marked by milestones at intervals which are used to check if you are still on track. Objectives (or targets) are set which are measurable as deliverables.
Many people would have heard of S.M.A.R.T. objectives (targets) where the acronym refers to:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time (related)
The plan and schedule
Planning concerns more than the schedule which is a crucial part.
It will consist of many processes set down for achieving particular activities.
For example, quality control procedures, meetings, producing minutes of meetings, billing, health and safety etc.
The major part is setting objectives and then translating these into individual tasks within departments and putting the whole lot into a schedule with milestones and task dependencies.
Resources, budgets, recruitment and the role of the Project Manager are also major factors.
All of these areas are discussed in much more detail in ‘The Complete Project management package’.
People management
Empowerment is a little more than just delegation.
It is about the individual feeling as though they own their activities.
If the person does not share the overall vision they will not be motivated to achieve their potential and their performance will drop.
Empowerment is about giving people accountability but at the same time providing the necessary resource and budget to do the job.
Before you delegate you must also make sure you are happy with their experience to receive the accountability.
You will need to set and agree objectives.