Four elements of a successful organization

It is often debated what makes an organization successful. There is no prescribed recipe that can guarantee success. But studying different successful organizations one can identify a few elements that will help an organization to be successful. Sharing my thoughts on what works for making an organization successful. This comes from my personal experience.

There are at least four elements that are essential for being successful -

1. Inspiring Leadership: I am sure that no one will argue on this. Unless we have a Leader who inspires the members of the organization, success will not be achieved. If you take any successful organization you will realize that there is an inspiring leader or a group of inspiring leaders who motivated the team members to achieve excellence. History tells us how Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Martin Luthar King led their men to achieve success by their inspiring leadership. In more recent times we saw how Nelson Mandela led African National Congress to glory with his inspiring leadership. In the corporate world also there are many examples of inspiring leadership. To name a few - Paul Polman of Unilever, Jack Ma of Alibaba, Steve Jobs of Apple, Indra Nooyi of Pepsico, etc. There are many such examples. But the key point to be noted here is that these people were able to inspire their organization to reach a much higher level. Everyone has potential. But it is important that people are motivated enough to explore and use that potential to be successful. Inspiring leaders consider themselves to be on a mission and create a clear vision for the organization that can unite all members.
2. Dynamic Organization: Successful leaders always focus on building a strong, dynamic, and empowered organization. Great leaders are self-confident, they do not suffer from any insecurity. As a consequence, they can build a strong network of brilliant people with varied skills and experience around them who can work independently and are not yes-men. These top leaders focus on building a strong and effective Leadership Team and empower them to take the organization's vision forward. For this reason, all corporates or even political parties have the concept of the Executive committee (Management Committee) in place. But successful are those organizations that can build an effective, empowered second line of leadership. Once the Leadership Team is in place the next level of focus is to create a simple but effective organization structure. The Leader ensures that the entire organization is connected and is driven by the mission and vision of the organization. Goal alignment for all members of the organization is a must and it should happen within the framework of the Mission and the Vision set for the organization. The top Leader of the organization ensures that the Leadership team works unitedly at all times. It is his primary responsibility. If the top leader can build an effective leadership team that works unitedly, there is a major chance that the organization will be successful. The organization structure should be such that it can implement the strategies for achieving its goals. It is important to remember the role of frontline people who will implement those strategies. An organization can have great strategies but if those are not implemented well then no result will be achieved. So as part of building a dynamic organization, the Leadership team must empower their frontline people enough with relevant knowledge and skills. Building a learning culture in the organization is the Leadership Team's responsibility.
3. Impactful strategies: Once the Leadership Team is in place, it focuses on building great strategies that help the organization to achieve its objectives, both short and long-term. For any organization strategies are not static, it's always dynamic. So Leadership team's role is to review the strategies on a regular basis and make changes/ adjustments. Unless there is a dynamic leadership team in place it won't be possible. Also, it is important that all strategies are impactful and help the organization to achieve it's short and long-term objectives. Many organizations fail despite having great brands, services, or ideologies only because the strategies are not effective and impactful.
4. Transparent and consistent communication: Communication plays a very important role in any organization, both internal and external. Unless an organization builds a process to communicate to its own people transparently and consistently, especially to the frontline, it can never build a motivated and dedicated team. If the team is not motivated and dedicated 100% it is impossible to win on the battlefield. So, every organization must find a way to communicate transparently to its people. Communicating the goals, objectives, KPIs are very important for the organization. It motivates the people and builds a stronger team. If the target is clear, it is easier for the frontline to fire. It is also important for every organization to win the battle of perception. For that, the organization must consistently communicate with its external stakeholders. The communication must be easy to understand, consistent in its messaging, and should be targetted for its core audience first.

These are the four key elements I believe will help an organization to be successful. But of course, there is no guarantee. There are many other factors that can impact/ influence the performance of an organization. But if at least these four elements must be in place for organizational success.